The Contact Paradox: Challenging our Assumptions in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence

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Keith Cooper

The Contact Paradox

Challenging our Assumptions in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence

Keith Cooper

$34.99

Hardback

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English

SIGMA
07 January 2020

Mathematics & Sciences; History of science; Popular science; UFOs & extraterrestrial beings; Popular astronomy & space

In 1974 a message was beamed towards the stars by the giant Arecibo telescope in Puerto Rico, a brief blast of radio waves designed to alert extraterrestrial civilisations to our existence.

Of course, we don’t know if such civilisations really exist. For the past six decades a small cadre of researchers have been on a quest to find out, as part of SETI, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. So far, SETI has found no evidence of extraterrestrial life, but with more than a hundred billion stars in our Galaxy alone to search, the odds of quick success are stacked against us.

The silence from the stars is prompting some researchers, inspired by the Arecibo transmission, to transmit more messages into space, in an effort to provoke a response from any civilisations out there that might otherwise be staying quiet. However, the act of transmitting raises troubling questions about the process of contact. We look for qualities such as altruism and intelligence in extraterrestrial life, but what do these mean to humankind? Can civilisations survive in the Universe long enough for us to detect them, and what can their existence, or lack thereof, reveal to us about our future prospects? Can we learn something about our own history when we explore what happens when two civilisations come into contact? Finally, do the answers tell us that it is safe to transmit, even though we know nothing about extraterrestrial life, or as Stephen Hawking argued, are we placing humanity in jeopardy by doing so?

In The Contact Paradox, author Keith Cooper looks at how far SETI has come since its modest beginnings, and where it is going, by speaking to the leading names in the field and beyond. SETI forces us to confront our nature in a way that we seldom have before – where did we come from, where are we going, and who are we in the cosmic context of things? This book considers the assumptions that we make in our search for extraterrestrial life, and explores how those assumptions can teach us about ourselves.

By: Keith Cooper
Imprint: SIGMA
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 216mm, Width: 135mm,
Weight: 458g
ISBN: 9781472960429
ISBN 10: 1472960424
Pages: 336
Publication Date: 07 January 2020
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Out of Print

Keith Cooper is a freelance science journalist and editor. Since 2006 Keith has been the Editor of Astronomy Now, and he is also the Editor of Astrobiology Magazine. In addition he has written on numerous space- and physics-related topics, from exploding stars to quantum computers, for Centauri Dreams, New Scientist, Physics World, physicsworld.com and Sky and Telescope. He holds a BSc in Physics with Astrophysics from the University of Manchester. @21stcenturySETI

Reviews for The Contact Paradox: Challenging our Assumptions in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence

The great virtue of Cooper's discussion is that it gives readers a picture of living science. A Sagan of books. * Washington Post * There is growing interest in the possibility of 'alien intelligence', and in how best to search for it. Keith Cooper's broad and balanced perspective on current debates and programmes deserves wide readership. -- Martin Rees A thorough and timely overview of the latest thinking in SETI and its controversial offspring, METI. This is a stimulating, provocative and ultimately optimistic enquiry into the biggest question we're ever likely to answer: are we alone? -- Alastair Reynolds, Science Fiction Author The mystery of humanity's place in the universe enthrals millions. Whatever strangeness prevails out there, shouldn't we explore, at least with curious minds? The Contact Paradox surveys what science has revealed about this odd cosmos, the vastness of our ignorance and curiosity about any 'others' out there, and some of the steps we can take - even now - to prepare. -- David Brin, Hugo and Nebula award-winning author In an engrossing narrative, Keith Cooper dissembles our expectations for intelligent alien life down to a set of assumptions we can gorge on with scientific precision. It is a meal guaranteed to expand what you thought was possible, and brings the search for life beyond the Earth from the realm of fiction to that of a scientific endeavour. -- Elizabeth Tasker, Associate Professor at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and author of The Planet Factory. With concise and approachable writing, Cooper crafts a worthwhile popular science work about questions that, as scientists continually improve the human capacity for gathering information about the rest of the universe, are becoming increasingly important. -- Starred review from Publishers Weekly