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Aliens: Can We Make Contact With Extraterrestrial Intelligence?

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The early part of this book covers ground that will be familiar to those who have read about the scientific search for extraterrestrial intelligence: the Drake equation for determining the number of alien civilizations, the search for radio signals(SETI), the absence of evidence (the Fermi Paradox), the evolution of life on planets. The Clarks, a father and son team of scientists, then turn to their own thesis: searching for alien spacecraft is as legitimate a research endeavor as searching for alien radio signals. They make the case for a scientific "ufology." This leads them into a discussion of the motivations for, and the feasibility of, interstellar flight. They invent the term IMETI, which stands for ETI capable of interstellar mobility. The Clarks discuss how to search for IMETI, including a winnowing out of UFO reports that would separate a genuine "signal" from the "noise." They favor the establishment of groups of researchers to pursue this quest. Pointing out that SETI scientists overcame the giggle factor to persevere in their research, the Clarks argue that scientific ufologists can achieve the same level of credibility. While many readers may instinctively reject the Clarks' thesis, it deserves as much of a hearing as most theories about extraterrestrials.

This clearly written book, aimed at a non-scientific audience, is easy to read. Unlike most books on this subject, it is not illustrated with photos or diagrams.

Perhaps the wittiest, cleverest, and most thought-provoking work of popular science to appear in the last decade. With admirable verve and rigour, the Clarks transport us to the limits of our universe, and to the limits of our understanding. A tour de force!

This powerful book urges a wider range of scientific strategies toward contact with alien intelligence. Use radio and optical telescopes to detect artificial signals, of course, and even to detect huge astroengineering projects far away. But then this father-son team of scientists point out that extraterrestrial intelligence may well have reached Earth, so we should come up with scientific ways to find small smart probes (or even gigantic spacecraft, though these are less likely). My recent paper at http://www.ieti.org/tough/articles/strategy.htm urges science to widen its array of search strategies in remarkably similar directions, even though it was written before I read this superb book. ALIENS: CAN WE MAKE CONTACT WITH ETI is definitely worthwhile reading for anyone curious about how the biggest breakthrough in the history of science might actually occur. It lists useful websites and books at the end.

Probably not any time soon but, as this very readable volume insists, we sure ought to try. Messrs. Clark explore the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence as completely as any book I've read, from rocketry to genetics, and they do it with a calm rationality that inspires confidence and credence.

The book is organized around what they consider the three big questions of ETI: The "SETI Question," the "McCrea Question," and the "Fermi Question." The SETI question from the Drake equation asks, if ETI is common in the galaxy, why haven't we detected signals from them? The McCrea query from astronomer Sir William McCrea, who asked it of the authors, posits, if elementary life forms are common, what is the chance that creatures like humans will evolve? The famous Fermi quip is, if they are there, why aren't they here? The authors explore these questions in light of the latest knowledge and speculation. The answers they come to are similar to those found in the classic Extraterrestrials: Where Are They? edited by Ben Zuckerman and Michael H. Hart, namely that there are many reasons we haven't heard from them, from they don't care to communicate, to their civilizations are short-lived, to creatures like humans are very rare, etc.

The authors make a couple of important points I don't recall in other SETI books. The first is obvious once mentioned, namely that a communicating ETI must have more than just intelligence. It must have dexterity. "[H]ighly evolved dolphins with the intellect of Frank Drake are not going to build radio telescopes to search out ETI," is the way the authors put it on page 92.

The second point is that science should not abandon "ufology" because it is now mostly in the hands of pseudoscience and the tabloid mind; instead the methods of science should be applied to UFOs as elsewhere; this despite the fact that it is pretty well realized that alien visits are highly unlikely. I might add that keeping a scientific eye on UFOs is valuable because if aliens ever do visit we may need the most acute and discerning instruments, experience, and intelligence to even notice them. My suspicion is that ETI may be so much different from us that we wouldn't recognize it if it sat down next to us! This is an up to date report that manages to be accessible to a wide audience without any dumbing-down. It includes a glossary, a short bibliography and some web sites. But books on SETI are like computers. Because of the rapid pace of technological and scientific advancements, we must have a new one every three years or so. I'm already looking forward to the next.

I found this book very interesting. The Clarks have written what was for me a good introduction to the scientific basis behind SETI which manages to be both clear and unpatronising. I particularly enjoyed the section on so-called alien abductions, having had what might be described as a close encounter myself.

A thorough and academic treatment of the subject. Gave me a new appreciation for THIS planet though it got a little dense by the end.

It is no simple task to write a plausible and thought provoking account of the search for extra-terrestrial life. The Clarks steer clear of giving credence to abduction stories or u.f.o sightings, turning a stern philosophical and scientific gaze on such wilder flights of fancy. This academic rigour never conceals the authors' enthusiasm for their subject or their basic belief in the essential merit of the S.E.T.I. programme. Whilst it's always a disappointment to know that we are unlikely to be bumping into little green men shopping at Wal-Mart this book should be a source of comfort to those of us that hope there is intelligent life somewhere in the universe. A great read.

Gilles Fontaine

Not only a first class work of science, but a literary tour-de-force too. The Clarks do for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence what Anthony Beevor has done for Stalingrad - this book really is that good. Its virtue is in clarity and rigour, tempered with a lighter touch and deft humour. The philosophical basis is sound, common-sensical and well-explained - the authors make it clear that SETI is not quite as simple as looking for sheep in New Zealand, but lots more fun! Bravo Clark and Clark! Popular science needs more crusaders like you!

Clark and Clark's locus classicus is more a rampant celebration of the precarious nature of the human condition than an inter-stellar odyssey in search of the little green men of SETI mythology. This intriguing account leads us ultimately to gape wide-eyed with wonder as we realise that we - the inhabitants of our lonely corner of space - are more wonderous than the limits of our unguided imagination could ever have conceived. With a gnostic zeal, Clark and Clark force us to acknowledge that, with a wry nod to Leonard Nimoy's 1960s cosmic musings, 'you are a child of the stars with as much right to exist as every other creature in the cosmos', and implicitly urge each of us to embrace our fragile but precious existences with a renewed and hedonistic zeal. Clark and Clark are worthy prophets of a latter-day Epicureanism. Touche!