title: Worlds Unnumbered: The Search for Extrasolar Planets
author:  Donald Goldsmith 
description: Only a few years ago, astronomers were uncertain whether planets might orbit stars other than the sun. In the past few years, though, the experimental data has practically rushed in. In <i>Worlds Unnumbered,</i> Donald Goldsmith explains exactly how astronomers reached their conclusions, what their findings imply for the model that predicts formation of our own solar system, and whether the new findings give us any further data on the probability that life exists elsewhere in the universe (or its preponderance if it does). Goldsmith succeeds not only in describing the search for extrasolar planets, but also in conveying a feel for all the factors that contribute to the enormously complex, yet clock-like, motions of the bodies in the universe.
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  ![](index-1_1.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  EXOPLANETS
  
  
  
  
  
  Exoplanets
  
  
  Hidden Worlds
  
  
  and the Quest for
  
  
  Extraterrestrial Life
  
  
  DONALD GOLDSMITH
  
  
  _Cambridge, Mas sa chu setts • London, England_
  
  
  2018
  
  
  Copyright © 2018 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College
  
  
  All rights reserved
  
  
  Printed in the United States of Amer i ca
  
  
  First Printing
  
  
  _Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data_
  
  
  Names: Goldsmith, Donald, author.
  
  
  Title: Exoplanets : hidden worlds and the quest for
  
  
  extraterrestrial life / Donald Goldsmith.
  
  
  Description: Cambridge, Mas sa chu setts : Harvard University Press, 2018. |
  
  
  Includes bibliographical references and index.
  
  
  Identifiers: LCCN 2018005407 | ISBN 9780674976900
  
  
  (hardcover : alk. paper)
  
  
  Subjects: LCSH: Extrasolar planets. | Extrasolar planets— Detection. |
  
  
  Life on other planets.
  
  
  Classification: LCC QB820 .G64 2018 | DDC 523.2/4— dc23 LC rec ord
  
  
  available at [https:// lccn . loc . gov /
  2018005407](../../../../../https@