The Eerie Silence: Renewing Our Search for Alien Intelligence by Paul Davies

Sep 16, 2012 Paul marked it as assorted-rants-about-stuff · review of another edition

The question in the title of this book was actually answered in a lovely ballad recorded in 1963 by a one hit wonder group called The Ran-Dells. The song was The Martian Hop. Clearly Paul Davies has never heard this song :

We have just discovered an important note from space
The Martians plan to throw a dance for all the human race

Papa ooh mir mir papa ooh mir mir papa ooh mir mir papa ooh mir mir
Ee-ee-ee ee-ee

I got into my rocket ship to see the Martian Hop
I saw the planet shining red so there I...more

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Apr 23, 2013 Bjorn rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In 2010, the SETI - Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence - initiative celebrated its 50th anniversary. And so physicist/cosmologist/astrobiologist Paul Davies was asked to write something. Rather than just write a simple back-patting congratulation, he decided to try and write about the whole concept: Why are we looking for signs of alien intelligence, how are we looking for it, how likely is it to exist, how likely are we to find it (or they to find us), what would we be likely to find, ho...more In 2010, the SETI - Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence - initiative celebrated its 50th anniversary. And so physicist/cosmologist/astrobiologist Paul Davies was asked to write something. Rather than just write a simple back-patting congratulation, he decided to try and write about the whole concept: Why are we looking for signs of alien intelligence, how are we looking for it, how likely is it to exist, how likely are we to find it (or they to find us), what would we be likely to find, how would we react...? Is it possible that the big fat Zero that's been the result of our search so far means that we really are all alone in the universe, or are we just looking for a very tiny needle in a very large haystack? To do this, obviously, he can't just write about radio telescopes, he needs to go back and revisit the fundamentals: how does life arise and evolve, how would you travel or communicate across large distances, how would we even recognise technology that's thousands or millions of years beyond our own?

The Eerie Silence is a great little primer on most of these subjects, though at 210 pages you'll probably find yourself wanting to dig deeper in some areas. Some of the stuff that fascinated me:

Our telescopes keep finding more and more planets outside the solar system - 846 identified ones as of today - and with all the stars out there, it stands to reason that there could be millions of habitable planets in our galaxy alone; ie planets made of rock, in the "goldilocks zone" (not too hot, not too cold), with liquid water and an atmosphere. Theoretically, there could be a lot of aliens out there. But habitable doesn't mean inhabited; the problem when trying to figure out how likely that is, is that we simply don't have any indication of how easy the step is from "theoretically habitable" to "practical rocket scientists". As far as we know for sure (though Davies presents some interesting speculations), life has arisen in the universe exactly once (around 3.5 billion years ago on Earth) and evolved intelligence exactly once (Homo, about 2 million years ago), and one single data point doesn't give us any indication of how likely the same thing is to happen on other planets; it could happen every time, or never. For all we know, the universe could be empty, or it could be teeming with life that never evolved "past" bacteria or dinosaurs (going with the common fallacy that some animals are "more evolved" than others), or the 6-7 billion years that the average planet has before its sun supernovas simply isn't enough time to perfect interstellar travel. If there are aliens out there to communicate with, why wouldn't they have already done so? It's a bit like Stephen Hawking's question: if time travel is possible, why have we never seen any tourists from the future?

What would we be looking for, and how would we recognise it when we see it? We take for granted that communication from other civilisations would come as, say, a radio signal carrying prime numbers, because that's what we can hope to read. If there are others out there, they may well be trying to communicate in ways we haven't even conceived of yet.

For that matter, what would other, more advanced civilisations even want with us? Science fiction is full of aliens looking to humans as cheap sources of food, labour or concubines, which is just silly - if you're able to communicate across light years, you can't have much need for manual labour. How do we know they haven't noticed us and decided not to bother with us until we show some sign of intelligence? After all, we've only been broadcasting weak radio signals for about 100 years (and have pretty much stopped by now, since we're mostly using fiberoptics and satellites these days), and anyone looking at us from more than 110 lightyears away wouldn't even know that we've mastered flight.

What would members of an ancient civilisation even be? Even assuming they started out roughly like us, we're already edging into cyborg territory ourselves; would a species that's had another 40,000 years of "civilisation" even be biological anymore? (Yes, Davies is an Olaf Stapledon fan.) Would we even recognise them as life? Would we recognise their technology as artifice?

For all the high-flying speculations, The Eerie Silence is a sober and realitic look at the possibility of finding and communicating with hypothetical extraterrestrial civilisations. In the end, Davies is very sceptical that they even exist, but that's not his worst nightmare, nor a reason to stop looking. The worst-case scenario, he claims, is this: we keep looking, and we discover that there's plenty of life in the universe, and that it's occasionally evolved into intelligent beings... and that none of them have survived long enough to communicate with others before they wiped themselves out. If that's the case, then that's definitely something we need to know.

Or, as xkcd put it:

The universe is probably littered with the one-planet graves of cultures which made the sensible economic decision that there's no good reason to go into space--each discovered, studied, and remembered by the ones who made the irrational decision.(less)

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Mar 15, 2013 John Wenning rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a fantastic book for anybody interested in the SETI project and Fermi's Paradox. The biggest take home point I got out of reading this book is the question of what side of the "Great Filter" we are on (read the wiki article on the Great Filter for further info) and what profound implications it has whether the filter is already behind us or if the filter is in our future. If the filter is behind us and the rare earth hypothesis is correct, the future looks bright for our descendants and...more

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Dec 25, 2012 Si Barron rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

All Paul Davies books are readable and worth reading.

There isn’t a page in this book without a thought provoking idea. Paul Davies riffs on the SETI program to explore all sorts of tangential ideas in Physics, Mathematics, Biology and Culture. Much of it comes back again and again to fallacies of anthrocentricism, which although a mistake in relation to searching for and communicating with alien intelligence is instructive in what it reveals about ourselves; as in the Francis Drake quote that co...more All Paul Davies books are readable and worth reading.

There isn’t a page in this book without a thought provoking idea. Paul Davies riffs on the SETI program to explore all sorts of tangential ideas in Physics, Mathematics, Biology and Culture. Much of it comes back again and again to fallacies of anthrocentricism, which although a mistake in relation to searching for and communicating with alien intelligence is instructive in what it reveals about ourselves; as in the Francis Drake quote that comes later in the book ‘The search for extraterrestrial intelligence is really the search for ourselves.’

And it maybe that that is all it is. In SETI’s 50th year the eerie silence which comes back to us from across the cosmos begins to be telling, reflecting the impromptu words of Enrico Fermi which have come to be seen as the defining paradox of the search: ‘Where is everyone?’

There are some unfortunate conclusions to be drawn. Given that the odds of random biogenesis are longer than the size of the observable universe; life will either be unique (us) or biogenesis isn’t random, i.e. self-organisation is a universal law, in which case life will be abundant- everywhere that can support life will support life.

This second case seems more and more unlikely the longer we search; as Davies points out our search sensitivity increases exponentially over time so another 50 years of nothing will probably be as near to decisive as we can get.

There are other fascinating and disturbing conclusions herein. For example if we discover abundant life but no more intelligent life then it would appear intelligence generally self-deselects (nuclear war probably) which would have grim consequences for us.

I loved the bit about quantum computers (the apogee of intelligence and the ultimate evolution of all intelligence) roaming the intergalactic voids pondering inexpressible mathematical profundities; all other sources of pleasure having become irrelevant. This couples with the notion that ET, given that they will be in this stage (this is a consequence of the temporal non-overlapping of civilisations premise), will have absolutely no interest in discovering or being discovered.

All in all this is a kick in the teeth to naive alien hunters from someone who has spent a considerable time actively interested in the hunt.

Thoroughly recommended.
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Nov 23, 2012 Socraticgadfly rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science

Why we haven't made "contact" yet ...

The "Contact" is capitalized to riff on the Carl Sagan-based movie of Jodie Foster's.

And, Sagan, along with SETI founder Frank Drake, was the most unabashed ... and most fluffing ... booster of SETI around.

I've long held that the numerical values Drake and Sagan plugged into most of the variables in Drake's Equation weren't just "optimistic," they were ridiculous.

And, now, a serious SETItian (gotta have a whale of a pun in this review, too, eh?) agrees.

Davie...more

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Sep 06, 2012 Jon-Erik rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: scientia

Informative, but almost as if he's trying to hard to be skeptical. It seems like maybe he's putting his thumb on the scale of "we are alone." That's fine, but it's more in the manner of philosophy than science, and the man is a scientist. As with many books about SETI, there is no clear delineation for the lay reader for when we transcend established science and facts and go into bleeding edge hypotheses, or just into speculation. Fermi's Paradox, for example, is not a scientific theory. It is a...more Informative, but almost as if he's trying to hard to be skeptical. It seems like maybe he's putting his thumb on the scale of "we are alone." That's fine, but it's more in the manner of philosophy than science, and the man is a scientist. As with many books about SETI, there is no clear delineation for the lay reader for when we transcend established science and facts and go into bleeding edge hypotheses, or just into speculation. Fermi's Paradox, for example, is not a scientific theory. It is an argument—a philosophical one. The idea that life on Earth may have originated on Mars at least is a scientific hypothesis that can have evidence adduced in its favor or against it. That there is no known contact with or other evidence of other intelligent life is a fact.

But it seems that in this field so much rides questions that may not be dispositive of anything. We haven't heard them broadcasting on the few frequencies we've been listing on, from the few places in space we've pointed our antennas, for the 50 short years we've been engaged in the process.The question of whether there is (or was) life on Mars would only increase our data incrementally, and may even simply confirm that terrestrial and martian life are one. Indeed, any other life in the solar system can be dismissed by the ETI skeptic as simply expanding the argument from "Earth is special" to "this solar system is special."

It's been an even shorter amount of time since the first exoplanets were detected and an even shorter amount of time since we've been able to see ones with the basic properties of Earth, even in nearby star systems. The jury is still out. Putting the pieces together, out to the wildest speculations about computerized AI probing the universe, is fun and educational, but it is not dispositive about the existence or non-extstence of ETI.

Another ridiculous and irrelevant point that some people like to raise about SETI is that it's "not science." Even if that's the case, so what? Whatever it is, it's the search for an answer to an important question. And, anyway, what makes it not science? Is the statement "intelligence exists on other worlds" liable to proof or not? Of course it is. Can we use experiments, observations, and measurements to find that out? Of course we can. But even if SETI is merely an application of what we know from physics, astronomy, biology, geology, and other fields without being a "field" of its own—even if it takes grant money that competitors are jealous of, or telescope time that might arguably be better used, it is an important endeavor.

Davies wants to take the mere 50 years of SETI's failure as an excuse to correct its course due to what he calls some kind of bureaucratic inertia. Well, is that a long time? Sure. But in the grand scheme of things, it's hardly enough time to draw firm conclusions about anything at all. Radiotelescopy remains one of, if not the, most logical way to detect ETI. There are others, such as neutrino detection, that Davies points out. Davies also wants us to learn more about what is right here on Earth and in our own Solar System in order to refine our calculations. That's great, but the "Rare Earth" hypothesis, as I mentioned above, will just expand into the "Rare Solar System" hypothesis at that juncture.

People who want to dismiss SETI as just the latest search for angels are drawing overly facile comparisons. If everything scientists did was discountable because it had some parallel in the past, I'd hate to think of what such a censor would have made of the germ theory of disease (sounds just like demons!) or numerous other advances. That there is an almost theological yearning in SETI is no knock. To me, it inures to the credit of the project that it strikes at such deep feelings within us.

There is a fine line between skepticism and nihilism. Healthy skepticism brings out the best in big ideas; nihilism shoots them down for selfish reasons. Davies avoids the latter, but just barely (except his pointless attack on Carl Sagan's choice of baggage on the Voyager probes which sounds personal, as do some of the other "Inside Baseball" items). There is exciting and futuristic thought in this book. But it is a bit of a puzzle why a man leading the taskforce deciding how to handle a first contact seems so intent on poopooing that event. Who is he trying to convince? Is he maybe trying to quell his own passions on the subject? I don't know. But the fact that I'm asking means that there's more to science than this book, and that muddles its message.

In any event, a true skeptic says "I don't know" much faster than he says, "no." And "I don't know" is the answer to the existence of ETI, not "no." Not at this point.
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Aug 06, 2012 John Carter McKnight rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: space

A popular science book that manages to be simultaneously fun, informative, and profound. Davies' subtitle is "reviewing our search for alien intelligence," writing on the 50th anniversary of the SETI project. He covers its history and origins without resorting to the boilerplate all too common to history-of-science books, by setting up a thematic focus on the Fermi Paradox (if the universe is teeming with life, why don't we see any evidence of it?).

Davies walks us through the state of science o...more

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Jun 12, 2012 Scott Smith rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

So I picked this up a while back and thought I'd give it a read. It's about aliens. You know, from space.
Paul is a professor at ASU that I met. He's a really cool guy, very nice, very interesting. He's sort of a big name in the physics community apparently, being friends with Stephen Hawking and whatnot. He's also a big guy over at SETI, the guys looking for aliens.
A book about making contact with aliens may sound silly, but this is actually pretty heavy duty. And ironically, especially for a g...more

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Dec 14, 2010 Henry rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Solid overview of how SETI is changing as we become more aware of 1. what is out there in the universe and 2. how weird life can be here on earth. I bumped this up on my reading list after the recent announcement of microbes with maybe-arsenic-based DNA (which actually get a subchapter in this book). I'm a big astronomy/science/sci-fi nerd, and I would say this book was almost too basic at times, but that means it will actually be readable to people with different interests, so that's probably a...more Solid overview of how SETI is changing as we become more aware of 1. what is out there in the universe and 2. how weird life can be here on earth. I bumped this up on my reading list after the recent announcement of microbes with maybe-arsenic-based DNA (which actually get a subchapter in this book). I'm a big astronomy/science/sci-fi nerd, and I would say this book was almost too basic at times, but that means it will actually be readable to people with different interests, so that's probably a good thing.

A few ideas that really stood out and require further pondering on my part:

1. The probability of an intelligent species developing the scientific method, and pursuing it to the degree required to detect/be detectable by us could actually be a significant filtering factor on its own. Davies posits that in our own history, science came about due to the confluence of ancient Grecian formal logic ("Reasoned analysis is good!") with European monotheism ("Let's discover God's Plan for the universe via math!"). This smacks of Euro-centrism, but does make me curious about why Arabian/Chinese civilizations dropped the ball...?

2. If relatively complex life is common in the universe, but intelligent life is rare, this probably bodes extremely ill for us as species. The implication would be that intelligent life has probably evolved many times, but never lasted long enough to make itself noticeable across space and time. Sad, since our discovery of weird lifeforms contrasted with the continuing silence make this state of affairs decently plausible IMHO.

3. SETI so far has been extremely anthropocentric, falling prey to the same tendencies that make most religions so logically questionable.

4. "We are the children of chaos, and the deep structure of change is decay. At root, there is only corruption and the unstemmable tide of chaos. Gone is purpose; all that is left is direction. This is the bleakness we have to accept as we peer deeply and dispassionately into the heart of the universe." -- P. Atkins. Thermodynamicists are uplifting and not at all nihilistic! :D

It made me think some good thoughts, and what more can you really ask of a non-fiction book?

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Sep 14, 2010 John rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was a fascinating, thought-provoking, and entertaining book. I've thoroughly enjoyed every Paul Davies book I've read. I like the way he pursues highly speculative topics but still maintains a reassuringly rational, critical, and intelligent point of view. I had previously considered the search for extraterrestrial intelligence to be an exhausted and cliched subject, but I learned so many new things from this book. For example, the possibility of a "shadow biosphere" (life that originated s...more

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May 07, 2010 David rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In this book, the talented scientist/author Paul Davies addresses Fermi's Paradox: if the universe is teeming with intelligent life, "where is everybody?"

This book is the latest, and most up-to-date, on this very important scientific question. Davies quickly dispenses with the "easy" answers: (a) they aren't interested in communication or space travel (there is not a single one who is?); (b) there is a "pact" not to disturb us (not even one has decided to break the pact?); (c) interstellar dista...more In this book, the talented scientist/author Paul Davies addresses Fermi's Paradox: if the universe is teeming with intelligent life, "where is everybody?"

This book is the latest, and most up-to-date, on this very important scientific question. Davies quickly dispenses with the "easy" answers: (a) they aren't interested in communication or space travel (there is not a single one who is?); (b) there is a "pact" not to disturb us (not even one has decided to break the pact?); (c) interstellar distances are too great (even for a civilization that is doubtless thousands or millions of years more advanced than us, and which has mastered nanotechnology and von Neumann machines?); and others.

As Davies points out, Fermi's paradox goes to the heart of a raging debate between two schools: one, epitomized by Jacques Monod, who asserted that "the universe is not pregnant with life nor the biosphere with man"; and the other, epitomized by Christian de Duve, who termed life a "cosmic imperative." If Monod is right, we may be alone; if de Duve is right, the universe should be teeming with aliens. Davies mentions some of the recent research in this area, including tantalizing clues that the Viking lander may have discovered life on Mars, together with research into whether there may have been a "second Genesis" right here on earth.

Davies goes on to discuss some possible "solutions" that haven't yet been discussed much, notably the possibility that other civilizations have long since escaped the prison of the material, and have instead formed ultra-advanced technology based on pure information and computation.

Recently physicist Stephen Hawking entered the arena by stating, in a program broadcast on the Discovery channel, that it would be too "risky" to communicate with extraterrestrial civilizations. Davies, in contrast, argues that the danger from such communication is "minuscule," and we potentially have much to gain from such interactions.

In the final two pages, Davies discloses his "solution" to Fermi's paradox: "we are probably the only intelligent beings in the observable universe." Nonetheless, "I can think of no more thrilling a discovery than coming across clear evidence for extraterrestrial intelligence."

This is a very well written book, with lots of interesting, up-to-date material. You'll want to read it more than once.(less)

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Jul 13, 2012 Louis rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Fans of SETI.

I really enjoyed this book. The author brought up some new areas to think of in our quest to find "alien" life. For example searching for a shadow biosphere on our own world. If it's found to be completely separate from the biosphere we know it shows that life started at least twice here.

I liked his constant questioning of humanity falling into the same thinking in our search for extra intelligence.
- Aliens visiting us in flying saucers says more about us then them. If they were that advanced...more

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Aug 03, 2010 Gendou rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, seti, physics

Sometimes, I feel like I'm listening to the ravings of a rambling lunatic.
There is some real astrophysics in this book, but it's nothing special.
The majority of the book is dedicated to a lunatic sort of radical skepticism.
A whole chapter on UFOs, another on how first contact will effect religions.
I almost filed this book under the "science fiction" shelf.
Most of what passes for logical argument in this book is wild speculation.
I think the greater problem with a book about SETI is lack of eviden...more

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Dec 05, 2012 Andrew rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is excellent for those interested in researching the history and objectives of SETI and METI, and for those seeking a general introduction to the subject of searching for intelligent extraterrestrial life. As the title suggests, the book also largely revolves around the inherent problems with these methods, some possible reasons why SETI has ultimately been fruitless over the past half century, and some ways of improving our future searches.

With regards to the social or philosophical a...more

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Sep 09, 2010 Michelle rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Are we or aren't we alone in the universe? Mr. Davies presents valid points for both sides of the argument. Because of the hypothetical nature of any of his points, a reader may find some of his more esoteric of his conclusions difficult to follow. As befits Mr. Davies' background, there is a heavy reliance on theoretical physics. While he does an admirable job of trying to explain the science behind the ideas, the science itself is at too advanced a level for the masses. Nutrinos, cosmic rays,...more Are we or aren't we alone in the universe? Mr. Davies presents valid points for both sides of the argument. Because of the hypothetical nature of any of his points, a reader may find some of his more esoteric of his conclusions difficult to follow. As befits Mr. Davies' background, there is a heavy reliance on theoretical physics. While he does an admirable job of trying to explain the science behind the ideas, the science itself is at too advanced a level for the masses. Nutrinos, cosmic rays, quantum physics - while interesting, it can be mind-numbing and difficult to follow.

Mr. Davies shines when presenting more theological and social implications for the eerie silence. Granted, no matter what the outcome, the implications for mankind are scary and rather depressing, an effect Mr. Davies himself acknowledges.

The Eerie Silence is a fascinating study of reasons why being alone in the universe, or that we will most likely never make contact, is more probable than the idea that the universe is teeming with life. Mankind has, to date, taken for granted the idea that ET exists, but after fifty years, it may be time to make some adjustments in our assumptions. Mr. Davies makes a great case for the fact that should extraterrestrial life exist, it most likely will be either microbial or machine in nature rather than humanoid.

In spite of some of the difficulties with the more hypothetical nature of the arguments, Mr. Davies presents his ideas clearly and concisely. His use of mathematics and well-known scientific laws helps make his theories more plausible and the book more enjoyable, even if they are at such a level that automatically precludes enjoyment by a large portion of the population. His image of possible alien life is extraordinarily rich and detailed, making it easy for a reader to be able to envision these possible life forms. The result is a rich and varied presentation on the possibilities behind
The Eerie Silence and suggestions for how to work around our current constraints. (less)

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May 05, 2013 Trey Nowell rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was very inmpressed with this book, Paul Davies is the head of SETI, which I feel is a worthwhile organization. When other life finally does contact us, it will be the greatest discovery ever made. Many say it will never happen, but we have many years ahead of us to prove otherwise. I like the ideas he postulates regarding life and have always felt the Universe is teeming with life, above and below us. The only disagreement I have with him is in regards to finding other lifeforms, making relig...more

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Mar 13, 2013 Maria rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was everything I wanted it to be in that it encourages one to think outside the box when it comes to the idea of alien life. The belief in alien life is a personal choice. I, for one, believe the universe is full of life (it's a great waste of space if it isn't), however, given the vastness of space, we may never discover it at least not until we ourselves have advanced to the point where humans can partake in intersteller travel, probably hundreds, if not thousands of years in the fut...more

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Nov 21, 2011 Mouldy Squid rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reference-and-non-fiction

A wonderful book that belies its title. Davies does more than speculate on why we have not had any success with SETI, he carefully details all of the factors surrounding what we know about life in the universe and why it is unlikely we have any cosmic neighbours capable of contacting us. Delightfully non-technical, anyone with an interest in SETI, layman and scientist alike, will find this to be a eye-opening book that challenges their perception of man-kind's place in the universe. Of particula...more

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May 25, 2012 Travis Todd rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Davies knows his shit when it comes to SETI, since he's one of, like, the current head honchos. He puts forth numerous arguments for and against the likelihood of intelligent extraterrestrials. I get the feeling that his heart's saying yes, while his head's saying no. Yes, that is a Christina Aguilera reference. No, I haven't been able to get the chorus of Genie in a Bottle out of my head for ten years. But that's the topic of another essay. So yeah, read this book if you have even a passing int...more

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Sep 05, 2012 Juan-Pablo rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Lots of science and speculation of why of the Eerie Silence

Lots of readers will know already about signal-based-search for intelligent alien life. The vignette of the scientist waiting for a radio signal coming in from space is already in the collective imagination. The Eerie Silence covers of course this but much, much more, and it is in these extras that the book excels. It generate more questions than give answers, but these are the interrogations that will drive SETI’s strategy in its search...more Lots of science and speculation of why of the Eerie Silence

Lots of readers will know already about signal-based-search for intelligent alien life. The vignette of the scientist waiting for a radio signal coming in from space is already in the collective imagination. The Eerie Silence covers of course this but much, much more, and it is in these extras that the book excels. It generate more questions than give answers, but these are the interrogations that will drive SETI’s strategy in its search of intelligent alien life.

Paul Davies starts his quest not with alien signals, but with the Cosmic Imperative: is life inevitable in every planet where the conditions are met? There are many Earthlike planets in the universe but we only know a few. The insight of the book is that the most Earthlike planet of all is Earth itself. To prove the Cosmic Imperative, we only have to demonstrate that life originated twice, independently, on Earth. Although we still don’t know the answer, the biochemistry quest for life’s origin is a fascinating topic in itself.

The next big theme is to identify the Great Filter: even if life is imperative (it originates anywhere the conditions are met), is there a “hard” step in life’s evolution? It is not at all evident that once life originates, it will evolve into intelligence after several millions of years. The Great Filter may be life itself, it may also be intelligent life, it may be the discovery of science, or it may be a post-technological society. This has big implications for the survival of our species. If the Great Filter is in our past, we have great chances of long-term survival. But what if the Great Filter is in our future? This paints a bleaker picture for humankind.

We next move on to the very sci-fi topic of speculating what an advanced civilization might be interested in. One of the most striking analyses is that an advanced civilization may not be interested in the “real” world, after having explored all there is to it. It may instead be living in an internal, exploratory world, solving more and more complex mathematical theorems for instance, and with no interest to communicate whatsoever.

If we obtain undeniable prove of alien intelligence, the impact on religion, and specifically on the Judeo-Christian tradition would be enormous. It will be an even bigger blow than Heliocentrism and Darwinism combined. Who and how to disseminate the news of this discovery is the last part of this fascinating book. Who should talk to the press? Should governments or international organizations be informed first? What kind of immediate reactions are we likely to expect? There is of course a big difference in obtaining evidence of a remote intelligent society that to be contacted by one. The second scenario is extremely unlikely compared to the first one, and it may be the main reason of the eerie silence, among the rest to be discovered in this volume.
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Dec 02, 2011 Steve Van Slyke rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle, science, space

Is SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) science or is it religion? Some, even famously skeptical scientists like Carl Sagan, have let the statistics of the Drake Equation convince them that intelligent life must exist throughout the universe simply because the number of sun-like stars is vast beyond comprehension. But as the author Davies points out in this work, it ain't necessarily so. There is no compelling proof (yet) or universal law that life will almost always arise on Earth-li...more Is SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) science or is it religion? Some, even famously skeptical scientists like Carl Sagan, have let the statistics of the Drake Equation convince them that intelligent life must exist throughout the universe simply because the number of sun-like stars is vast beyond comprehension. But as the author Davies points out in this work, it ain't necessarily so. There is no compelling proof (yet) or universal law that life will almost always arise on Earth-like planets or that if it does, that intelligent life inevitably follows. In Sagan's own words, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. To believe that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is faith, not science.

Nevertheless, Davies makes a good case that what the current SETI efforts are doing is in fact science, and that those who are involved are agnostic on the subject of life and intelligence elsewhere in the Universe.

I am less pessimistic than Davies on the probability of microbial life arising on other Earth-like planets. Robert Hazen's book, Gen-e-sis: The Scientific Quest for Life's Origins, presents a more detailed account of the factors involved in the jump-starting of self-replicating organisms and gives better odds that a least basic forms of life may have arisen elsewhere.

As for intelligent life the odds seem much, much longer given all the contingencies that have occurred in order for it to arise on Earth. It may be indeed that, sadly, we are alone. Perhaps the first ancestor of humans on the primate branch of the tree of life might never have developed intelligence had the conditions of its time not required increased intelligence in order for it to survive. And of course, mammals as whole might still be small, nocturnal, shrew-like creatures living underground had it not been for an asteroid exterminating the dinosaurs.

If life or indisputable signs of it are found on Mars, or if our space telescopes improve to the point where we can detect atmosphere's of oxygen around extra-solar planets, we may at least conclude that some basic forms of life have begun elsewhere, although in the case of Mars, it could well be that it shares the same genesis of life with Earth, that life first arose on Mars and then was transported by meteorite to Earth, or vice-versa.

But until we receive or detect some equally indisputable sign of intelligence from other worlds, we must accept the fact that there is no factual basis for believing that there are other civilizations of intellingent beings in the universe. Davies discusses the various and probable reasons why SETI efforts to date have failed over the last 50 years and what they need to do if they want to improve their chances. Nevertheless, he is pessimistic that they will succeed.

I would have given the book another star had he not gone off on a couple of tangents that I felt distracted from his arguments and the general thrust of the book.(less)

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Jul 07, 2010 John Seyfarth rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The SETI program (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) recently celebrated its 50th birthday. But it has yet to detect evidence of intelligent beings other than on earth. Davies explores the implications and possible consequences if such a discovery is ever made. He says that scientists tend to hold one of two positions--that we are alone in the universe or that life is widespread and intelligent life probably exists or has existed elsewhere in the past. He believes that scientists have swu...more

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Sep 19, 2011 Andrew rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

If you are searching for a serious scientific exploration of the search for extra terrestrial life, then this book will be right up your alley. Davies touches on the history and purpose behind SETI, and then dives into an explanation of why we haven't yet succeeded in our search.
While the usual discussions about radio astronomy and the vastness of space are all here, the book delves into several interesting subjects that I had not even thought of with regard to extra terrestrial intelligence. Fo...more

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Aug 28, 2011 Tom rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science, nonfiction

A short book (210 pages) but packed full of interesting biology, astrophysics, mathematics and philosophy. It's a book about the search for extraterrestrial intelligence and what it means for humanity. The organisation SETI crops up a lot, obviously, but the book itself isn't that much to do with them. A two-page appendix is devoted to a very brief history of the people and projects.

Throughout the book, Davies walks the reader through the biological possibility of life on other planets (or other...more

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Dec 11, 2011 Schrodinger's Dog rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: popular-science

By in large, I see this as a work of philosophy rather than a critical analysis of current SETI programs. The author constantly mentions the need for new search paradigms but constantly dismisses his own ideas as either impractical or highly improbable. Additionally, there are no concrete recommendations for the future of radio SETI.
All in all, I was expecting a book more focused on actual strategies, not the authors personal philosophy.

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Sep 04, 2012 Correen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Interesting book. I learned much about a the science of space study, thinking creatively about the universe, and the SETI Institute. Davies carefully explains his approach to sorting information that is often controversial, his careful management of scientific standards, and his opinions about life in the universe. I thoroughly enjoyed his discourse on religion and the possibility of other intelligent life in the universe.

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Jan 15, 2011 Ann-Marie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Paul Davies presents some expansion ideas for the SETI program to go beyond what the project's scientists are currently searching for as signs of extra-terrestrial intelligence. Occasionally the book does have an air of pessimism about it, but this could actually be realism. The task to locate an alien intelligence that either may not exist, that probably doesn't communicate in the same manner we do or is unable to advance to the level of interstellar communication before being wiped out, is a m...more

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May 27, 2012 Bruce rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

One of the most interesting and page-turning non-fiction books I've read. Presents a host of competing theories on the origins of life, extraterrestrial contact, futurism, and some insight into the answer of "Are we alone in the universe?". Would definitely recommend to anyone with the slightest interest in any of these topics.

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Jan 30, 2013 Jimagn rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Paul Davies is one of my favorite science authors, and always provides a balanced view on topics that are often contentious. In spite of the theories about Area 51 and the probabilities of life on other worlds, where are they? So many possibilities, explained quite well by Davies.

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Jun 01, 2010 BAKU rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Both Davies and Shostak agree that anything past us has hit ' post-biological ' a long time ago ( so what we're looking for are machines )

He also agrees that sending signals ( METI ) is a very bad idea. ( But you can't stop anyone with the capabiliy to do so from doing it )

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