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If you met an alien, what might it be like?

Ever since childhood, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has wanted to be abducted by aliens. Here, he draws upon a lifetime’s fascination to explore the science of alien life – and to offer a practical guide to your first alien encounter.

Would an alien really be a humanoid with a pointy head, or might it look more like a worm, a roving cloud of gas, or perhaps a ‘testicle monster’? How should you communicate with an alien who didn’t speak English, and what does it have to do with the Pythagorean Theorem? Why has no alien (apparently) ever contacted us, and what does that say about our species’ likeability? And if an alien did demand ‘Take me to your leader!’, who are you actually meant to take it to?

Touching on Star Wars and Spielberg, UFOs and Area 51, Take Me to Your Leader is both a romping work of popular science and a love letter to our as-yet-uncontacted extraterrestrial friends. It is the most entertaining book ever written by one of the best-loved scientists in the world, and perhaps in the galaxy.

© Neil deGrasse Tyson 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026