Space, Time, and Aliens

Epigraph

Dedication

Preface: Cosmos and Culture

Part I. The Biological Universe

Introduction

1. Plurality of Worlds: A Persistent Theme in Western Civilization

2. The Twentieth Century History of the Extraterrestrial Life Debate:  Major Themes3. From the Physical World to the Biological Universe: Historical Developments Underlying the Search for



    Extraterrestrial  Intelligence (SETI)

4. The Biophysical Cosmology: The Place of Bioastronomy in the History of Science

5. The Biological Universe Revisited

6. Back to the Future: SETI Before the Space Age

7. The Drake Equation in Context

Part II.  Cosmic Evolution and Implications of Alien Life

Introduction

8. Cosmic Evolution: History, Culture, and Human Destiny9. Consequences of Success in SETI: Lessons from the History of Science



10. Cultural Aspects of Astrobiology: A Preliminary Reconnaissance at the Turn of the Millennium11. The Role of Anthropology in SETI:  An Historical View



12. Bringing Culture to Cosmos: Cultural Evolution, the Postbiological Universe, and SETI

13. Toward a Constructive Naturalistic Cosmotheology

14. Astroethics and Cosmocentrism

15. Should We Message ET and Is an Asilomar Consultation Process Possible16. Astrobiology and Society: An Overview at the Beginning of the 21st Century



Part III.  The Exploration of Space

Introduction

17. Exploring the Unknown: 50 Years of NASA History

18. Exploration, Discovery and Culture: NASA's Role in History

19. Space, Time and Aliens: The Role of Imagination in Outer Space20. The Impact of the Hubble Space Telescope



21. The Decision to Cancel the Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission (SM4) and its Reversal

Steven J. Dick served as the NASA Chief Historian and Director of the NASA History Office from 2003 to 2009. He was the 2014 Baruch S. Blumberg NASA/Library of Congress Chair in Astrobiology at the Library of Congress's John W. Kluge Center. In 2013 he testified before the United States Congress on the subject of astrobiology. From 2011 to 2012 he held the Charles A. Lindbergh Chair in Aerospace History at the National Air and Space Museum. For 25 years he worked as an astronomer and historian of science at the U. S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. He is the author or editor of 23 books, including Discovery and Classification in Astronomy: Controversy and Consensus (Cambridge, 2013), The Impact of Discovering Life Beyond Earth (Cambridge, 2015), Astrobiology, Discovery, and Societal Impact (Cambridge, 2018, winner of the PROSE Award from the Association of American Publishers), and Classifying the Cosmos: How We Can Make Sense of the Celestial Landscape (Springer, 2019). In 2006, Dick received the LeRoy E. Doggett Prize from the American Astronomical Society for a career that has significantly influenced the field of the history of astronomy. In 2009, minor planet 6544 Stevendick was named in his honor.

"Steven Dick's writing is always very interesting, thoughtful, and well-researched, and he is very good at covering broad themes. ... Much of this book is an interesting read, and it forms a very useful reference work ... ." (Richard McKim, The Observatory, Vol. 141 (1282), June, 2021)

"Steve Dick not only makes accessible a significant portion of his oeuvre, but provides perceptive contemporary commentary on how the many questions and issues he has addressed over the years in the areas of the history of astronomy, the taxonomy of astronomical practice, the continuing search for life elsewhere in the Universe, and the question of the ubiquity of life itself, have fared, through his efforts and those of many others." (David H. DeVorkin, Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, Vol. 23 (3), 2020)