Exobiologist 3

 (cont'd from yesterday's post)

Gonzalez and Jay Richards published their book, Privileged Planet, in 2004. They agree with the authors of Rare Earth that life is possible on our planet only because of its highly unusual features.

As an astronomer and professor, Dr. Gonzalez specializes in research on the various properties of planets and has published 68 articles in peer-reviewed science journals. He discovered two new planets and served on a NASA astrobiology panel in 2003.

Privileged Planet goes beyond saying that Earth is unusual. Our particular place in our galaxy (the galactic habitable zone) supports life, as does our place in our solar system, in addition to our planet's features. 

In fact, Earth seems to be designed in all these ways not only for life, but also for discovery - for accessible discovery of scientific knowledge by intelligent beings like ourselves.