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Extraterrestrial Intelligence: The First Encounter
Edited by James L. Christian
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Scientists Find Statistical Clues for the Possibility
of Extraterrestrial Intelligence |
| From the Publisher, Melvin Powers... |
I'm excited by a book that I think will excite you too. For centuries, from the earliest legends of the man on the Moon, mankind has fantasized and speculated about other life in the universe. With the discovery of biochemical evolution which showed how life could evolve out of simple compounds, those speculations took on a new dimension. Most scientist now believe that it is possible there is other intelligent life in the universe.
What are the possibilities of our making contact with ETI's in the profound vastness of space? What will be the consequences to our images of ourselves and our world of the first proven contact with beings from another planet, since they are likely to be of superior intelligence? Could we still believe in the value of life as we live it? How would it affect mankind's religions, both Western and Eastern? Would it in fact mean, as Arthur C. Clarke has said, an end to mankind's childhood?
These and other questions are explored in Extraterrestrial Intelligence: The First Encounter—from the most practical issues, such as how the news of contact should be handled, to the most exciting and troubling questions of philosophy, religion, and science. Extraterrestrial Intelligence begins the search for a cosmic context for mankind. It leads the way in reflecting on the next stage in our gradual self-discovery.
Summer 1976 coincided with summertime on Mars. That's when Viking space probes 1 and 2 ventured out and became man's first attempts to locate extraterrestrial life. As we continue to explore the universe, the idea of life in space moves increasingly from the realm of science fiction into the domain of scientific possibility.
Scientific breakthroughs are often based on interdisciplinary research unfamiliar to the layman. Scientists, writers, and publishers need to supply the public with this important background information, so that new frontiers in science are made understandable. Extraterrestrial Intelligence is a book that does just that. It presents the views of fourteen men qualified to speculate on the vast implications of the subject. Contributors include well-known writers Bradbury, Frazier, Asimov, and Tennessen; distinguished scientists and academics Abell, R. Smith, and Desan; philosophers Royce, Christian, Tooley, and Angeles; and theologians Huntington, Hamilton, and Doss; and Leonard Nemoy, who was America's most popular extraterrestrial on the highly successful television series Star Trek. James Christian, editor, has selected his articles to cover a broad and provocative range of possible ETI phenomena, which (according to astronomer Carl Sagan) could confront mankind within the next fifty years.
That intelligent life is natural and inherent on a cosmic scale can be understood through a combined study of astronomical and biological discoveries of the last five decades. Authors Christian and Abell clearly summarize these findings: that advanced radio-telescope research estimates our galaxy to contain some 400 thousand million suns; that our universe contains some 200 billion galaxies; that it is common and natural for non-binary suns to produce planets; and that these planets are built of the same basic elements as our own. The experiments of Stanley Miller in 1953 gave the first indications that living organisms evolved form inorganic constituents. His theory (chemical biogenesis) would indicate that life can evolve anywhere that the basic chemicals and radiation exist. Since we have encountered no evidence of chemicals other than those found on earth in our telescopic exploration of deep space, we may assume that "the elemental constituents of living organisms are cosmic."
Extraterrestrial life exists: but does extra terrestrial intelligence? Can such intelligence cross the light years between even the closest neighboring stars? What are the implications of such an advanced technology? What is the lifespan of technological civilizations? And, should we encounter ETIs, would we be able to recognize them as intelligences? Smith and Tooley focus their articles on these scientific and philosophical questions.
Presuming that technology can advance far enough without destroying itself in the process, allowing ETIs to contact us, theologian Hamilton questions whether mankind could withstand the psychological impact. The implications may be devastating: mankind will have to re-philosophize and re-theologize. Contact with alien intelligence may totally alter our own concept of cognition, as psychologist Joseph Royce suggests in his article on the new dimensions of cosmic man.
Questions and possibilities raised by mere statistical inevitability of ETIs are endless and fascinating.
As Issac Asimov says:
| "If we ever establish contact with extraterrestrial life, it will reveal to us our true place in the universe, and with that comes the beginnings of wisdom." |
Send today for your copy of the exciting Extraterrestrial Intelligence.
| Extraterrestrial Intelligence: The First Encounter....$6.00 |
Available wherever books are sold or from the publisher. Send $6.00 (CA res. $6.56) plus $4.00 per book S/H ($20.00 per book for airmail outside USA) to:
Wilshire Book Company, 9731 Variel Avenue, Chatsworth, CA 91311-4315.
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