Contact with Alien Civilizations

Our Hopes and Fears about Encountering Extraterrestrials
2007. Auflage 2006
ISBN: 978-0-387-28598-6
Verlag: Springer

Buch, Englisch, 466 Seiten, Format (B × H): 169 mm x 243 mm, Gewicht: 1850 g

This book describes a wide variety of speculations by many authors about the consequences for humanity of coming into contact with extraterrestrial intelligence. The assumptions underlying those speculations are examined, and some conclusions are drawn. The book emphasizes the consequences of contact rather than the search, and takes account of popular views, not just those of scientists. As necessary background, the book also includes brief summaries of the history of thinking about extraterrestrial intelligence, searches for life and for signals, contrasting paradigms of how contact might take place, and the paradox that those paradigms allegedly create. Michael Michaud has been actively engaged in discussions of these issues within the International Academy of Astronautics. He served as Director of the U.S. State Department's Office of Advanced Technology and as Counselor for Science, Technology, and Environment at the American embassies in Paris and Tokyo.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Michaud, Michael

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Wissenssoziologie, Wissenschaftssoziologie, Techniksoziologie
• Naturwissenschaften Biowissenschaften Biowissenschaften Exobiologie, Astrobiologie
• Naturwissenschaften Astronomie Exobiologie, Astrobiologie, Xenobiologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

A Belief in Other Minds.- A New Era.- Searching for Intelligence.- Sending Our Own Signals.- Probabilities.- Probabilities: The Astronomical Factors.- Probabilities: Life.- Probabilities: Intelligence.- Probabilities: Civilization, Technology, and Science.- Probabilities: Longevity.- The Drake Equation, Take Two.- Should We Continue the Search?.- Direct Contact.- The UFO Controversy.- The Drake Equation, Take Three.- Why Don’t We See Them?.- Reformulating the Problem.- Thinking Outside the Box.- SETI and Religion.- The Consequences of Contact.- Hopes.- Fears.- Dangers.- Mixed Emotions.- Some Assumptions Examined.- Before Contact.- Assumptions: After Contact.- The Drake Equation, Take Four.- What Is Missing.- Some Conclusions Drawn.- Paradigm Shifts.- The Human Role.- Annex: Preparing.

Über Autor(innen)

Michael Michaud served as Director of the U.S. State Department's Office of Advanced Technology and as Counselor for Science, Technology, and Environment at the American embassies in Paris and Tokyo. He led the negotiation of international agreements, played an active role in reviving U.S.-Soviet space cooperation, represented foreign policy interests in interagency discussions of U.S. space policy, and testified before Congress on space-related issues. He has published thirty articles and papers on the implications of contact, as well as sixty articles on other subjects and the book, Reaching for the High Frontier: The American Pro-Space Movement, 1972-1984.