Customer Reviews

Decoding the Message of the Pulsars: Intelligent Communication from the Galaxy

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have been searching for much of my life for concrete proof of high extraterrestrial life. Before this book, I had only come across the same-ole 'testimonial' (and non-scientific) accounts, similar to those that are found on the Discovery Channel, for example, where people tell us they have seen UFOs or something, but can't prove it. This book on pulsars pretty much has proven to me that there is intelligent life throughout our galaxy. The very nature of pulsars, in addition to their layout around the galaxy, cannot be the product of random evolution of the galaxy. Neutron stars have never been observed by scientists, and thus are not scientific entities (they are only theoretical, and only the pulses have empirical). And there are so many well-known problems with the theory of neutron starts (how to neutrons line up together as they are supposed to according to the neutron star theory?). Thus, the problems with neutron stars in the scientific assumptions by experts, combined with the discoveries in this book, are so powerful that this book could involve some of the most earth-shattering information I have ever come across (and I have done a whole lot of reading in my life). I cannot recommend this book enough--it is scientific, professional, academic (in the truest sense), sober and rational, and empirical.

I enjoyed reading parts of this book that covered the astronomy and the astrophysics of the pulsar phenomenon. The author clearly knows his technical subject well and his presentation is non-technical and readable which may be viewed as a popular survey of the state of experimental knowledge of the pulsars. Additionally, the author also covers some very interesting scientific material on the effect of the active galactic core on Earth's climate. The author rightly points out the inadequacy of the standard light-house theoretical framework for pulsars and then uses the recent discoveries of periodic generation of cosmic ray fronts in the nucleus of our galaxy and builds upon its shortcomings to advance his hypothesis - namely that the pulsars are artificial.

And it is here that I part company with the author. From the inadequacy of the theoretical pulsar models he makes a leap of faith that pulsars are artificial constructs put out there by an extra-terrestial intelligence as warning beacons. And he assures us that the beacons are there to warn us against the next shockwave that comes of the active galactic nucleus.

He tries to make this plausible by pointing out to certain geometric relationships among various pulsars and their positions on the celestial sphere, by invoking probability theory, and by referencing ancient myths. All of that I found rather unhelpful in supporting his initial hypothesis.

I also did not like his specific usage of probability theory; I think that his treatment was too simple. He had to have developed different statistical hypothesis and then computed their likelihoods. Calculations in the same spirit as his could be used to claim that life was artificially created on Earth. I think the only reliable conclusion that he can draw is that the pulsars are not random phenomena (they do not conform to a Gaussian distribution) but neither does the distribution of galaxies in the cosmos and no one is yet suggesting that they (the galaxies) were put there by an extra-terrestrial intelligence!

Furthermore, to substantiate his initial hypothesis that pulsars are artificial warning beacons he takes detours into crop circles, phase-conjugate mirrors, UFOs, and a number of other subjects. Moreover, his hypothesis leads inexorably to the conclusion that the beacons are designed to warn Earthlings since none of the geometric relations that he has discussed will hold for any other location except the Earth vicinity. Then he is forced to entertain the idea that the aliens had visited Earth tens of thousands of years ago and decided to put the pulsars into their current locations to warn us of the next cosmic ray burst from the galactic core. So he has to assume more and more implausible things to sustain his initial hypothesis.

I cannot credit any of that for surely the beings who could build the pulsars could have encoded messages in the signals themselves rather than solely relying on the human observers' recognition of geometrical relationship in their position. And there is no message that anyone has yet discovered in these signals.

On the positive side, I learnt several new things reading this book; all having to do with solid scientific results. I learnt of Pulsars and their properties, I learnt how the ice core samplings have let us to discover the cosmic ray waves that come out of the galactic core every 13,000 years or so and their effect on the global climate, and I learnt of phase-conjugate mirrors in non-linear optics.

In fact, the precision of the pulsar periods and their glitches very much reminded me of the precisions and plateaus of the Quantum Hall Effect and the Fractional Quantum Hall Effect in Quantum Liquids with magnetic fields - and a neutron star is a quantum liquid with trapped magnetic fields within and around it. It might be possible to build better models that use the Quantum Hall Effect and the Fractional Quantum Hall Effect.

Many years ago, I read a science-fiction story in which the protagonist comes across a gigantic communication grid in space and follows the direction of the beam to a nearby globular cluster. Which makes me wonder if the globular clusters are also artificial; that clever extraterrestrials are pulling these stars together and keeping them in there as sort of a flotilla of civilized worlds? Well, if you like wondering about things like that (as I do from time to time) then the non-science part of this book is for you.

Contrary to the previous review of this book--the writer of which obviously never read the whole book or has ever opened his mind beyond what the mainstream tells him to think--this book is extremely well-researched and presents a very intriguing new hypothesis about intelligent life in our galaxy. Read this book (or any of Paul A. LaViolette's) if you're interested in science but want to know more than just what the intro textbooks tell you, i.e., what has been deemed "worthy" of being part of the mainstream science propaganda mill. Thinking outside the box is what all our great scientists of the past did--they fought the naysayers and are now considered great thinkers. It's a shame that mainstream science isn't allowing more outside-the-box thinkers into the fold. Think of all the great discoveries that are being laughed at as "toilet paper" (to quote the reviewer "GG"). In 100 years, hopefully the story will be different.

I have read many books of the author. The constant message he anxiously wants to send to humanity is that a possible danger, which will come from abroad (center of galaxy) and will cause an enormous destruction, might occur. The same message (among others) was sent by Helena Petrova Blavatsky in the "Secret Doctrine" in 1988. In our days, the author devoted his whole life to prove that this possible danger can be justified by experiments and scientific reasoning. It is worthy for each of us to pay some effort and spend some time to read his books, since the message of a possible destruction of humanity will finally change our lives and the way we think about everything.

I think LaViolette has a plausible claim when he mentions that Pulsars are the result of extraterrestrial intelligent. Being a fan of SETI and an amateur astronomer, I found the book very good. I also think we don't have the technology today to explain not even 1% of what is going on beyond the moon. I once read someone saying that we can't explain physical phenomenta of very small (quantum level) or very large objects, a galaxy for instance. That might be true. How do we validate that? Someday we'll have it. Thanks for your book Paul.

Decoding the Message of the Pulsars:
Intelligent Communication from the Galaxy
By Paul A. LaViolette, PhD
ISBN 10: 1-59143-062-3
ISBN 13: 978-1-59143-062-9 (Inner Traditions, 2006)

With every advancement in technology the comprehension of our reality expands and increases dramatically. It's well accepted that we are not alone in this universe and recent findings that pulsars are strategically placed throughout the galaxies are but one more example of the possibility of intelligent life out there that we need to take seriously. Paul A. LaViolette reveals a vast body of scientific evidence that will give you a firm foundation for looking further over the horizon of human understanding.

Rahasya Poe, Lotus Guide magazine
To Believe Or Not To Believe: The Social and Neurological Consequences of Belief Systems

Excellent book! Well written and breath taking in it's scope. This book takes the first big step toward proving the existence of Aliens mathematically by deducing the purpose of their technological feats out in space. Pulsar's prove Aliens, and also their profound interest in educating us and helping us evolve. Combine this with the sumerican tablets and you've really got something. Paul "La VIEW lay" continues to go where no man has gone before, BRAVO!

Although this book is very technical it is interesting. Don't be discouraged by that if you are considering purchasing the book. It is enlightening to know that we just recently realized there were such celestial bodies, which we used to call dwarf stars.

I took away from this book, that we are not alone. Whether you beleive in a higher power or not, it's time for our species to understand we are not alone. That the pulsars are understood by us now to possibly be a heavenly highway; the pulsars emitting light pulses much like our directional maps but of a higher sort. Some may be afraid when they realize this. But consider this: We have been alone for as long as our minds can remember and no harm has come to us thus far. It is neither a threat nor a bail out for our threatened planet. Perhaps, that is how we came to be on planet Earth?

"In Decoding the Message of the Pulsars, LaViolette shows that pulsars are distributed in the sky in a nonrandom fashion, often marking key galactic locations, and that their signals are of intelligent origin."

What? Pulsars are well understood and they have nothing to do with "intelligent origin". Folks, go out and buy an Astronomy 101 book instead. Better yet, sign up for an intro Astronomy course at your local community college. I bought this out of curiosity and well, I now have extra toilet paper handy if I run out. However, this book does give me an idea... I think I'm going to write about how ghosts cause earthquakes... yeah... that's the ticket!