SETI Pioneers: Scientists Talk About Their Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence - Softcover

Swift, David W.

3.71

7 ratings by Goodreads

9780816514083: SETI Pioneers: Scientists Talk About Their Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0816514089 ISBN 13: 9780816514083

Publisher: University of Arizona Press, 1993

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"Are there beings in some sense like you, elsewhere in the universe, or are we the only ones around? It's one of the most basic questions there is." —Carl SaganCarl Sagan, when asked his assessment of the importance of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), replied, "You find out who you are. It's a basic question. Are there beings in some sense like you, elsewhere in the universe, or are we the only ones around? It touches deeply into myth, folklore, religion, mythology; and every human culture in some way or another has wondered about that kind of question. It's one of the most basic questions there is." Why did some scientists decide to conduct a search for extraterrestrial intelligence? What factors in their personal development predisposed them to such a quest? What obstacles did they encounter along the way? To learn about their search, to preserve historical information not otherwise available, and to discover more about how scientific fields originate and develop, sociologist David Swift interviewed the first scientists to be involved in this fascinating quest. These SETI Pioneers reveal not only their involvement in the search, but also the facets of their personal backgrounds that led them to participate--family, education, intellectual growth--and their speculations about the nature of extraterrestrial life. Each interviewee is asked the same set of questions to facilitate comparison of how their careers developed. Introductory text by Swift reviews the emergence of SETI and early attempts to detect extraterrestrial life; a concluding interview with Paul Horowitz, a leader in the new generation of SETI scientists, reflects on the contributions of the pioneers. While a host of books have considered the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, none has considered the motivations of the individuals who initiated it; nor have any books documented from the participant's perspective the emergence of a new field of science while it was actually evolving. This collection of interviews thus sheds important light not only on the search for other life forms in our universe, but also on the nature of scientific discovery.

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Review:

"Sixteen international pioneers in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence relate their involvement by answering the same 71 questions about their lives and SETI ideas. The result is a unique perspective on individual ideas, interpretations, and background." —Booklist"He allows some of the most imaginative scientific thinkers of our time to hold forth on their views regarding SETI and extraterrestrial life and on how the field has developed. . . . Readers will react with a range of opinions as broad as those concerning the likelihood of success in SETI itself." —Science"Anybody with the slightest curiosity about SETI will probably enjoy it, and even active SETI researchers may find some fruitful ideas for the future." —Icarus"A collection of 16 interviews with the scientists constituting the first generation of post-radio astronomy searchers for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). . . . Recommended." —Choice"An invaluable record of just what makes the original SETI pioneers tick. . . . a goldmine of original information." —New Scientist"A treasure of insights that humanize the field as never before." —Air & Space

From Publishers Weekly:

This instructive book by a University of Hawaii sociologist compiles Q & A interviews with 17 researchers, mostly American, who are involved in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). While the field, which did not attract attention from scientists until 1959, remains a fledgling discipline, it now draws physicists, astronomers, electrical engineers, chemists, an aerospace physician into its orbit. Scientists featured here discuss current methods used to investigate ETI, and others they hope to develop, but general readers will most likely value the impact of their personalities--modest, open, thoughtful, occasionally waggish--above talk of technicalities. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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