THE SEARCH FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL INTELLIGENCE

INDEX

 

 

 

 

 

abductions 2, 125, 128, 130–2

Adamski, G. 131, 136

Adler, A. 64, 188

All Sky Survey 23–4

analogy 2, 3, 5, 8, 52, 63, 85

Anaximander 6

ancient astronauts 134–5

Andrews, G.C. 134, 136

Angel, R. 64

Annis, J. 57

anthropocentrism 13, 16, 113

antimatter 138–9

Argus, Project 25

Aristotle 5–8, 191

Armstrong, L. 13

Arnold, K. 125–6

Arrhenius, S.A. 82, 86

asteroids 92, 104, 112, 114, 116, 165, 169–71

astrology 6, 45

 

bacteria 76, 84, 103–5, 115, 156

Bade, J. 83

Ball, J.A. 171

Barclay, D. 142–3

Becker, L. 83

Bell, J. 15

Benford, G. 35

Berry, C. 13

Billingham, J. 39, 48, 52, 60

biological determinism 52, 95

biospheres 113–14, 180, 183, 196

Biraud, F. 25

Birch, P. 166, 167–8, 196

black holes 15, 26, 57, 137–8, 168, 173–4

Blackmore, S. 131–2

Blair, D.G. 55

Blue Book, Project 127, 145–7, 150

Blum, H. 12, 150–1

Bond, C. 129, 141–2

Bond, J. 129, 141–2

Borman, F. 196

Bova, B. 61

Bracewell, R.N. 35, 195–6

Brahic, A. 67

Breuer, R. 101, 112

Brin, D. 160, 167–8

brown dwarfs 73

Bruno, G. 8

Burroughs, E.R. 11

Burrows, C. 71

Butler, P. 71

 

Campbell, B. 30, 70–1

Carter, J. 13

Cassini spacecraft 14, 110

catastrophe theory 65–6

catastrophes 91–3, 153

channelling 133

Charon 67

Chown, M. 138

Clarke, A.C. 24, 29, 152

Clementine probe 101–2

Clinton, W. 104

close encounters 128–36

Cocconi, G. 16, 17, 31

Coghlan, A. 115, 140

colonization 31, 58, 81, 84, 101–2, 112–24,

140–1, 158–77, 183, 192, 195, 197

Columbus, C. 46, 59–60

comets 78, 104, 112

Comte, A. 72

Condon, E.U. 147–9

Condon Report 147–9

context of discovery 2, 3, 42, 85–6

 

 

 

context of justification 2, 3, 85

Copernican principle 56, 60

Copernicus, N. 5, 7, 8, 44

Cook, T. 107

cover-ups 126, 129, 130, 136, 146, 151, 195

Crawford, I.A. 172–3

Crick, F. 82–4

Crosswell, K. 75, 92

Crowe, M.J. 3, 8, 9, 62

Cyclops Project 21–3, 28–9, 37, 48, 52, 60,

184

 

Däniken, E. von 134–5 Darwin, C. 46–7, 93, 120

Davies, J. 73–4

Davies, P. 85, 98–9, 191

Dawkins, R. 62

Dayton, L. 105

Descartes, R. 50, 60

Dick, S.J. 3, 11, 76, 191

dinosaurs 54, 88, 91–2, 153

Dixon, R. 17–18

dogs 32, 58, 96

dolphins 97, 168, 185

doppler effect 71–2

Drake, F. 4, 10, 16–19, 32–4, 37, 39, 48–66,

139, 166–7, 182, 192; Drake equation

48–60, 157, 164–7

Dutil, Y. 33

Dyson, F.J. 112, 167, 182–5, 195

 

Einstein, A. 47, 60, 136–7, 188

Eisenhower, D.D. 149

Europa 109–10, 197

 

falsification 18, 23, 43, 46, 59, 126, 136,

144, 172, 184

faster-than-light travel 137–8,172–3, 188–9

Fermi, E. 4, 152, 157; Fermi’s Paradox 4,

58, 152, 157–81

Ferris, T. 36–7, 59, 195

Feyerabend, P.K. 18, 39, 43–6

Flamm, L. 137

flying saucers 24, 125–6, 144

fossils 103

Frail, D. 74–5

freedom 123

Freudenthal, H. 32–3

Fuller, P. 126, 143–4

 

Gaia hypothesis 59

galactic community 1, 5, 20, 22, 27, 36–8,

168, 177–8, 191–2, 194

Galileo, G. 7, 8, 44, 46–7, 133–4; Galileo

spacecraft 108–9

garbage hypothesis 81, 165

Gauss, C.F. 10

Global Surveyor 106

Gold, T. 165

Good, T. 130, 150–1

Gorbachev, M. 125

Gott, J.R. 55, 119

Gould, S.J. 96, 99

Grady, M. 105

greenhouse effect 52, 107, 114

Greer, S.M. 128

Gribbin, J. 80, 86–7, 174

Grudge, Project 145–7, 150

 

Haldane, J. 80

Hart, M.H. 158–60, 166, 170, 172, 176, 196

Hecht, J. 72, 86, 111

Heidmann, J. 33, 62–3, 71, 75, 79, 184

Heine, M. 179

Henbest, N. 26–8

Hewlett, W. 24

Horgan, J. 67

Horrowitz, P. 18, 21, 29, 45–6

Hoyle, F. 82–3, 86, 88, 166

Hubble space telescope 47, 51, 67–8, 71–2,

103

Hughes, D. 66–8

Hynek, A.J. 127, 146–9

 

Impey, C.D. 97

information technology 41, 120–3, 195, 197

Inquisition 8

IRAS 68, 184

 

Jakosky, B. 51, 59, 81, 93–4, 105–6, 108

Jansky, K. 14

Jeans, J. 10, 65

Johansson, B. 114

Jones, E. 160–1

Jugaki, J. 184

Jupiter 13, 24, 52, 69–72, 92, 108–11

 

Kamp, P. van 70 Kant, I. 4, 8, 9, 50, 66

Kardaschev, N.S. 167, 182–5, 195

Kennedy, J.F.K. 1, 119, 134

Kepler, J. 8, 47

 

 

 

Kiernan, V. 103–6, 129

Kindler, G. 141

King, I. 75

Knight, J. 103

Kuhn, T. 6, 39, 44–5, 47, 127, 186

Kuiper, G.P. 67, 168

 

Laplace, P.S. 50

lasers 2, 27–30

Latham, D. 71

Lavoisier, A.L. 142

Lawson, A. 36

Learned, J.G. 30–1, 184

Lincos 32–3

Littrov, J. 10

logical empiricism 43–5

Lorenz, R. 111

Lovelock, J. 59

Lowell, P. 11, 16, 78–9

Lunar Prospector 102

Lunarians 9–10

Lynn, A. 75

 

McDonald, G. 89

McDonough, T.R. 126, 185

MacGowan, R.A. 76

McInnis, D. 118

McKinley, J. 104

McMullin, E. 41–2

McNally, D. 56, 89

Marconi, G. 15, 97

Marcy, G. 29, 71

Mariner spacecraft 11, 102, 107

Marochnik, L.S. 57

Mars 3, 7, 11–12, 14–16, 37, 40, 43, 45–6,

52, 54, 73, 76–9, 84–5, 92–4, 102–7,

110, 113–24, 197; Mars Climate Orbiter 122; Mars Global Surveyor 103, 107; Mars Observer Satellite 122;

Mars Polar Lander 106, 122; Martian

fossils 104–5; Martians 5, 9, 10, 15, 107

mathematics 22, 32–3, 35, 48, 186

Matthews, R. 137

Mayor, M. 71

Meaden, T.M. 143–4

Meier, E. 141 men in black 136

Mercury 73, 78, 92, 108, 110

meteors 78, 142, 146

Michaud, M. 192

Miller, S. 80, 110

Mir space station 139–40 Momote, H. 101

Moon 1, 6–8, 10, 27, 46, 56, 78, 87, 101–2,

119, 122–4, 140

Moore, G. 24

Morris, M. 168

Morrison, P. 16–17, 31

Muir, H. 51

Munévar, G. 124, 153–7, 164

 

Nadis, S. 114

nanobes 105

NASA 3, 13, 15, 21, 23–7, 40, 64, 73–4,

88, 104, 106–7, 110, 120, 122, 138,

184, 195, 197

navigation 6

Neanderthals 56

Neptune 13, 111, 114

Neumann, J. von 141, 160–1

neutrino searches 30–1

neutron stars 57, 65

Newton, I. 47, 154, 190

 

Oberg, J. 116

Occam’s razor 45–6, 107, 135, 143

Oliver, B.M. 21, 39, 48, 52, 60

O’Neill, G.K. 148

optical signals 27–30

Oparin, A. 80

Ozma, Project 17

 

Pain, S. 93

Pakvasa, S. 30

panspermia 81–7

Papagiannis, M.D. 112,170–1

paradigms 44–6, 127, 139, 190, 196

Pearce, F. 129

peer hypothesis 173–4, 196

Persinger, M. 132

Pioneer spacecraft 13

planetesimals 50, 67

Plato 6, 179

plausibility 2, 5, 42, 47, 52, 59, 61, 68,

85–6, 93, 112, 142, 169, 177, 184

Popper, K. 39, 43, 60

Poreda, R. 83

Pluto 9, 67, 111, 139, 180

Polyakov, V. 139

Pool, R. 83

probability 41–2, 50, 53

Proxmire, W. 40, 50

 

 

 

Ptolemy, C. 6, 7

Puccetti, R. 90–1, 97–8, 192

pulsars 15, 74–5

Purcell, E. 121

 

Queloz, D. 71

 

Randles, J. 126, 132–3, 143–4

Rardin, T.P. 127

Rather, J.D.G. 28

Raup, D. 92

Ravetz, J.R. 178

Reagan, R. 61

red giant 77, 83, 110–11, 119, 169, 190

Reichhardt, T. 51

Rescher, N. 186–7

RFI 27

Rhodes, C. 100

Roswell incident 129–30, 150

Ruzmaikina, T.V. 67 Ryle, M., Sir. 10

 

Sagan, C. 9, 16, 47–8, 55, 108, 162–3,

166–7, 183, 190

Sardar, Z. 178

Saturn 13, 92, 110–11

Scargle, J.D. 64, 69

Scheffer, L.K. 175–7, 195

Schiaparelli, G. 11

Schneider, J. 89

Schwartz, R.W. 28

science fiction 1, 2, 4, 89–90, 120, 137,

141, 168, 174–5, 194–5

Seife, C. 70

serendipity 124–5

Shapere, D. 81

Sign, Project 145–6, 150

Simmons, W.A. 30

Simpson, G.G. 95–6, 99, 152–3

SLIME 104

Smith, A.E. 115

Snyder, L. 86

solar flares 78

Spielberg, S. 18

Sputnik 16

Stark, A.A. 57

Stephenson, D.G. 179–80, 196

Stephenson, G. 133–4

Stern, S.W.P. 32

Stevens, T. 104

Sudbury crater 83

Sullivan, W.T. 20

Sweeney, J. 126

 

Targeted Search 23–4

Tarter, J. 21, 53, 61–2, 138

Tata, X. 30

Taylor, J. 155

teleportation 175–7, 195

terraforming 113–15

Tesla, N. 15

Tipler, F.J. 58, 141, 160–7, 170, 172, 195–6

Titan 13, 79, 110–11

Townes, C.H. 28

UFOs 2, 12, 125–51, 194–5, 197; Ufology

45–6

Uhuru satellite 15

Unwin, P. 105

Uranus 9, 111

Urey, H. 80, 110

 

Venus 52, 73, 77, 107–8, 115–16, 149;

Venusians 9, 15

Veggeberg, S. 113

Verne, J. 1

Verschuur, C.L. 17

Vidal-Madjar, A. 68, 87

Viking spacecraft 12, 45–6, 102–4, 106,

107, 113, 118

virtual reality 121–2, 142–3

Voyager spacecraft 13, 79, 109

 

Waldheim, K. 13

Walker, G. 70–1

Ward, M. 120

warp drive 137, 172

Weber, T. 12

Welles, O. 16, 151

Wells, H.G. 1

Werthimer, D. 29

Weston, A. 48, 155–6, 169

Wetherill, G. 92

Wickramasinghe, C. 82–3, 86, 166

Wilson, D. 101

Wolszczan, A. 74–5

wormholes 137–8, 141, 172

 

Yang, S. 70

 

Zey, M.G. 101, 114, 123

Zoo hypothesis 171–3, 177, 196

Zuckerman, B. 169–70, 175, 196

 

 

207

 

 

 

 

 

THE SEARCH FOR

EXTRATERRESTRIAL INTELLIGENCE

 

 

 

Are we alone in the universe? Is the search for extraterrestrial intelligence a waste of resources or a genuine contribution to scientific research? And how should we communicate with other life-forms if we make contact?

The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) has been given fresh impetus in recent years following developments in space science which go beyond speculation. The evidence that many stars are accompanied by planets; the detection of organic material in the circumstellar disks of which planets are created; and claims regarding microfossils on Martian meteorites have all led to many new empirical searches.

Against the background of these dramatic new developments in science, The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence: a philosophical inquiry critically evaluates claims concerning the status of SETI as a genuine scientific research programme and examines the attempts to establish contact with other intelligent life-forms of the  past thirty years. David Lamb also assesses competing theories on the origin of life on Earth, discoveries of ex-solar planets and proposals for space colonies as well as the technical and ethical issues bound up with them. Most importantly, he considers the benefits and drawbacks of communication with new life-forms: how we should communicate and whether we could.

The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence is an important contribution to a field which until now has not been critically examined by philosophers. David Lamb argues that current searches should continue and that space exploration and SETI are essential aspects of the transformative nature of science.

 

David Lamb is honorary Reader in Philosophy and Bioethics at the University of Birmingham.

 

 

 

 

 

THE SEARCH FOR

EXTRATERRESTRIAL INTELLIGENCE

A philosophical inquiry

 

 

 

David Lamb

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

London and New York

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First published 2001 by Routledge

11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE

 

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge

29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group

 

This edition published in the Taylor and Francis e-Library, 2005.

“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”

© 2001 David Lamb

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Lamb, David, 1942–

The search for extraterrestrial intelligence : a philosophical inquiry / David Lamb.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

  1. Life on other planets. Title. QB54 .L35 2001

999–dc21

00-062787

ISBN 0-203-99174-5 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN   0–415–24341–6 (hbk)

ISBN   0–415–24342–4 (pbk)

 

 

 

 

CONTENTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

Acknowledgements                                                              viii

List of abbreviations                                                                 ix

Introduction                                                                                         1

1.  Communication with extraterrestrial intelligence                         5

2. The scientific status of SETI                                                          39

3. Habitation, life and intelligence                                                     61

4. Life in the solar system: terraforming and colonization              100

5. UFOs and space travel                                                                  125

6. Is anyone there?                                                                             152

7. Contact with advanced supercivilizations                                     182

Conclusion                                                                                         195

Bibliography                                                                                   199

Index                                                                                              207

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

I would like to thank a number of people for their valuable assistance during the preparation of this book. Dr Doris Schroeder for finding those elusive sources which often turned out to be of immense value, and Dr Susan Easton who patiently read through at least two versions of the manuscript. My interest in SETI as a scientific inquiry emerged in the course of teaching  the  philoso-phy of science to university students during the 1990s. An earlier account of some of my thoughts on this subject can be found in a paper entitled ‘Communication with extraterrestrial intelligence: SETI and scientific methodology’, first published in D. Ginev and R.S. Cohen (eds) Issues and Images in the Philosophy of Science (1997: 223–51), a revised version of which is republished here with kind permission from Kluwer Academic Publishers. Special thanks to Richard Scothern, who shares my interest in the intelligence of non-human terrestrial beings, and who not only supplied me with valuable computer hardware but managed to bring me to a reasonable level of computer literacy. Thanks to my very good friend, Gonzalo Munévar, for his conversations, wisdom and wit, which I have been fortunate to enjoy over many years. Thank you also to the copy editor, Susan Dunsmore. Needless to say, I claim responsi-bility for any remaining errors.

 

 

 

 

ABBREVIATIONS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ASEPS                 astronomical studies of extrasolar planetary systems BUFORA      British Unidentified Flying Object Research Association CAT                           consciousness-assisted technology

CE                        close encounter

CETI                    communication with extraterrestrial intelligence DUMAND                             Deep Underwater Muon and Neutrino Detector EBEs                             extraterrestrial biological entities

EEG                     electroencephalogram

ESA                     European Space Agency

ETA                           extraterrestrial activity

ETI                     extraterrestrial intelligence FRESIP                            frequency of Earth-sized planets FTL                             faster-than-light

GAO                    Government Accounting Office

GHz                      gigahertz

GRBs                   Gamma-ray bursts

HRMS                  High Resolution Microwave Survey IFO                       identified flying object

IRAS                    infrared astronomical satellite

LGM1                  little green man 1

MCSA                  Multi-Channel Spectrum Analysers

META                  Megachannel Extraterrestrial Assay

MOP                    Microwave Observing Project

NASA                  National Aeronautical and Space Administration NRAO                             National Radio Astronomy Observatory

OBEs                   out of body experiences

RFI                             radio frequency interference

SCs                      supercivilizations

SEP                      solar electric propulsion

SETHI                  search for extraterrestrial human intelligence SETI                     search for extraterrestrial intelligence

SF                        science fiction

 

ABBREVIATIONS

 

SLIME                 subsurface lithoautotrophic microbial ecosystem TAC                             technology-assisted consciousness

TOPS                   Towards Other Planetary Systems

UFO                     unidentified flying object

USAAF                United States of America Air Force UV                       ultraviolet

VR                       virtual reality

 

 

208

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