I see a particular grandeur about the universe. There is a majestic quality about the celestial bodies and the physics of such objects—out of reach but nonetheless alluring. It’s under that spell that I zealously wrote a thesis paper on extraterrestrial life, that I insisted on transferring into my high school Astronomy class, and that I jump in excitement with every new astronomical finding. Our knowledge of the cosmic world just barely scratches the surface of what there...