Planets in space and a spiral galaxy (Shutterstock.com)
Avi Loeb leaned in, grabbed my hand and said, “Be as critical as you like.” What, after all, was one more critic? He resembled a caricature of a scientist, his body wiry and short, in a plaid tailored suit, holding an expression that suggested both the severely etched Oppenheimer and the anxious, chain-smoking lawyer Martin Short played years ago on “Saturday Night Live.” Certainly, that’s the image many of his peers seem to hold for Loeb: one part austerity meets one part sketchy. He is a theoretical astrophysicist. He teaches astronomy at Harvard University and chaired the department for nin...
