Alien books.

September 24, 2008 2:05 PM

There was a book that I remember seeing when I was growing up on fictional extraterrestrial life that I can not now find.

I think I was in the fourth grade when I saw this book. It went in order of the planets in our solar system, with illustrations of (fictional) organisms that inhabit each planet. I also remember that the organisms on either Jupiter or Saturn resembling jellyfish that floated around in the atmosphere.

I'm sorry that I really do not have much more info than that. Anybody know what I'm talking about? What was that book?

posted by C17H19NO3 to media & arts (9 comments total)

Ooh, I had this. I think it's Our Universe.
posted by yellowbinder at 2:12 PM on September 24, 2008

I actually think the illustrations were artist renderings of hypothetical life forms that could exist based on the conditions of each planet.

yellowbinder, I don't think that book has the life forms.
posted by C17H19NO3 at 2:18 PM on September 24, 2008

Yellowbinder is right. Our Universe. I had it too (I might still have it in a box somewhere). I distinctly remember the gasbag lifeform on Jupiter, and the giant-ear-coccoon creature on Mars.
posted by adamrice at 2:26 PM on September 24, 2008

Huh. I'll go check my local library and see if they have it. I remember obsessing over it in fourth grade, I hope I'll still find it interesting.
posted by C17H19NO3 at 2:30 PM on September 24, 2008

That is it exactly. My wife and I saw that book at our daughter's music school the other day, and we both remarked about how obsessed we were with the book as children. Other creatures include the crystalline Plutonian zistles and the Mercurian firebelchers. It still holds up C17 - great infographics and artwork.
posted by Rock Steady at 2:36 PM on September 24, 2008

If you like that sort of thing, I'd recommend Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 3:12 PM on September 24, 2008 [2 favorites]

Yup, I have Our Universe right here on my shelf. I totally overlooked the "What if..." extraterrestrials (Europa's brinker-roos? With ice skates? Oh, I get it!)
posted by steef at 7:28 PM on September 24, 2008

this?

(from 'Our Universe' as noted. Sorry for the half-baked scan).
posted by thermonuclear.jive.turkey at 2:53 AM on September 25, 2008 [1 favorite]

Update:

It indeed was Our Universe. I'm surprised that the section I was thinking of is so short, as it was the most vivid memory I had of the book.
posted by C17H19NO3 at 10:12 AM on October 30, 2008