1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910819398603321

Titolo

Civilizations beyond earth : extraterrestrial life and society / / edited by Douglas A. Vakoch and Albert A. Harrison

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New York, : Berghahn Books, 2011

ISBN

1-78238-316-6

1-283-32640-X

9786613326409

0-85745-211-8

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (262 p.)

Altri autori (Persone)

VakochDouglas A

HarrisonAlbert A

Disciplina

999

Soggetti

Extraterrestrial beings

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Introduction: The search for extraterrestrial intelligence as an interdisciplinary effort / Albert A. Harrison and Douglas A. Vakoch -- Does extraterrestrial life exist? Are we alone? Estimating the prevalence of extraterrestrial intelligence / Seth Shostak ; Encountering alternative intelligences : cognitive archaeology and SETI / Paul K. Wason ; The lifetimes of scientific civilizations and the genetic evolution of the brain / Alan Penny ; "L" on Earth / Kathryn Denning -- Reactions to discovering life beyond Earth. Can SETI fulfill the value agenda of cultural anthropology? / Donald E. Tarter ; American attitudes about life beyond Earth : beliefs, concerns, and the role of education and religion in shaping public perceptions / George Pettinico ; Cultural beliefs about extraterrestrials : a questionnaire study / William Sims Bainbridge ; The science and politics of SETI : how to succeed in an era of make-believe history and pseudoscience / Albert A. Harrison -- Communication with extraterrestrial intelligence. Cultural aspects of interstellar communication / Carl L. DeVito ; Cosmic storytelling : primitive observables as Rosetta analogies / Harry Letaw, Jr. ; Direct contact with exterrestrials via computer emulation / William Sims Bainbridge ; The inscrutable names of God : the Jesuit missions of New France as a



model for SETI-related spiritual questions / Jason T. Kuznicki ; ET phone Darwin : what can an evolutionary understanding of animal communication and art contribute to our understanding of methods for interstellar communication? / Kathryn Coe, Craig T. Palmer, and Christina Pomianek ; A journalistic perspective on SETI-related message composition / Morris Jones.

Sommario/riassunto

Astronomers around the world are pointing their telescopes toward the heavens, searching for signs of intelligent life. If they make contact with an advanced alien civilization, how will humankind respond? In thinking about first contact, the contributors to this volume present new empirical and theoretical research on the societal dimensions of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). Archaeologists and astronomers explore the likelihood that extraterrestrial intelligence exists, using scientific insights to estimate such elusive factors as the longevi