Civilized Life in the Universe (ePub)
Scientists on Intelligent Extraterrestrials
(Sprache: Englisch)
This book is a selective and fascinating history of scientific speculation about intelligent extraterrestrial life. From Plutarch to Stephen Hawking, some of the most prominent western scientists have had quite detailed perceptions and misperceptions about...
Leider schon ausverkauft
eBook
34.18 €
17 DeutschlandCard Punkte sammeln
- Lastschrift, Kreditkarte, Paypal, Rechnung
- Kostenloser tolino webreader
Produktdetails
Produktinformationen zu „Civilized Life in the Universe (ePub)“
This book is a selective and fascinating history of scientific speculation about intelligent extraterrestrial life. From Plutarch to Stephen Hawking, some of the most prominent western scientists have had quite detailed perceptions and misperceptions about alien civilizations: Johannes Kepler, fresh from transforming astronomy with his work on the shape of planetary orbits, was quite sure alien engineers on the moon were excavating circular pits to provide shelter; Christiaan Huygens, the most prominent physical scientist between Galileo and Newton, dismissed Kepler's speculations, but used the laws of probability to prove that "e;planetarians"e; on other worlds are much like humans, and had developed a sense of the visual arts; Carl Sagan sees clearly that Huygens is a biological chauvinist, but doesn't see as clearly that he, Sagan, may be a cultural/technological chauvinist when he assumes aliens have highly developed technology like ours, but better. Basalla traces the influence of one speculation on the next, showing an unbroken but twisting chain of ideas passed from one scientist to the next, and from science to popular culture. He even traces the influence of popular culture on science--Sagan always admitted how much E. R. Burroughs' Martian novels influenced his speculations about Mars. Throughout, Basalla weaves his theme that scientific belief in and search for extraterrestrial civilizations is a complex impulse, part secularized-religious, and part anthropomorphic. He questions the common modern scientific reasoning that life converges on intelligence, and intelligence converges on one science valid everywhere. He ends the book by agreeing with Stephen Hawking (usually a safe bet) that intelligence is overrated for survival in the universe, and that we are most likely alone.
Bibliographische Angaben
- Autor: George Basalla
- 2006, Englisch
- ISBN-10: 0190291400
- ISBN-13: 9780190291402
- Erscheinungsdatum: 19.01.2006
Abhängig von Bildschirmgröße und eingestellter Schriftgröße kann die Seitenzahl auf Ihrem Lesegerät variieren.
eBook Informationen
- Dateiformat: ePub
- Mit Kopierschutz
Sprache:
Englisch
Kopierschutz
Dieses eBook können Sie uneingeschränkt auf allen Geräten der tolino Familie lesen. Zum Lesen auf sonstigen eReadern und am PC benötigen Sie eine Adobe ID.
Kommentar zu "Civilized Life in the Universe"
0 Gebrauchte Artikel zu „Civilized Life in the Universe“
Zustand | Preis | Porto | Zahlung | Verkäufer | Rating |
---|
Schreiben Sie einen Kommentar zu "Civilized Life in the Universe".
Kommentar verfassen