Science, religion, aliens...new book review

"Science, religion and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence"

by

David Wilkinson

February 6th, 2014

Chemistry World

Imagine we woke up tomorrow to news that there is intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. What would be the implications? And just how likely is it that such life might exist outside of our Earth? As I read this brilliant book, which presents the arguments for and against very readably, I found myself oscillating between believing that humans are unique in the universe and feeling that there must be many other planets containing intelligent life.

On the one hand, there is Enrico Fermi’s paradox: at lunch one day in 1950, the famous physicist asked aloud, ‘Where is everybody?’, referring to alien visitors. Fermi argued that if the Earth is not special in having intelligent life, then civilisations should already have evolved many times in our galaxy, since there are billions of stars older than the Sun. If any one of these civilisations had wanted to colonise the galaxy, they could have done so by now. Since there is no compelling evidence that any aliens have visited the Earth, we must conclude that we are alone.

On the other hand, one of the pioneers of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, Frank Drake, estimated that there were probably between 1000 and 100 million advanced civilisations in our galaxy. But the problem with such estimates is that one is multiplying the very large number of planets in our galaxy with the very small probability of the conditions on a particular planet being ‘just right’ for intelligent life to emerge. 

The author of this excellent book has PhDs in both astrophysics and systematic theology and he provides a detailed discussion of the issues involved: physical, biological and theological. As Arnold Wolfendale, a previous Astronomer Royal, says in the book’s foreword: ‘For atheists and believers alike, there is much food for thought.’ This book would be ideal for anyone interested in the possibility of intelligent life elsewhere else in the universe. I will be buying it for someone myself.

Science, Religion and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence

ISBN-10: 0199680205
ISBN-13: 978-0199680207

Still looking...for extraterrestrial life

Time for definitions...

Abstract:

When we try to search for extraterrestrial life and intelligence, we have to follow some guidelines. The first step is to clarify what is to be meant by “Life” and “intelligence”, i.e. an attempt to define these words. The word "definition''refers to two different situations. First, it means an arbitrary convention. On the other hand it also often designates an attempt to clarify the content of a preexisting word for which we have some spontaneous preconceptions, whatever their grounds, and to catch an (illusory) "essence" of what is defined. It is then made use of pre-existing plain language words which carry an a priori prescientific content likely to introduce some confusion in the reader's mind. The complexity of the problem will be analyzed and we will show that some philosophical prejudice is unavoidable. There are two types of philosophy: “Natural Philosophy”, seeking for some essence of things, and “Critical (or analytical) Philosophy”, devoted to the analysis of the procedures by which we claim to construct a reality. An extension of Critical Philosophy, Epistemo-Analysis (i.e. the Psycho-Analysis of concepts) is presented and applied to the definition of Life and to Astrobiology.

"Philosophy and problems of the definition of Extraterrestrial Life" by Jean Schneider

NASA, Sagan, extraterrestrial life

What is the underlying reason for this?

"NASA seeks next Carl Sagan - and extraterrestrial life"

by

Daniel Trotta

September 3rd, 2008

Reuters

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, famous for its manned missions to the moon, announced the creation of the Carl Sagan Postdoctoral Fellowships in Exoplanet Exploration on Wednesday.

The fellowship is named after the late astronomer who popularized science through his books and television appearances.

The fellows will search for life on planets outside our solar system, the so-called exoplanets, more than 300 of which have been discovered since 1994.

Many of the planets discovered orbiting distant stars are gaseous and icy giants believed unsuitable to support life. The challenge is to find Earth-like planets orbiting Sun-like stars.

That search will be aided by NASA's Kepler mission, due for launch next year, that will survey 100,000 stars looking for smaller planets.

In addition, the agency wants to attract young scientists who share Sagan's wonderment about the cosmos who will dedicate themselves to answering the question, "Are we alone?" through improved telescope technology or other means.

"Many feel it's only a matter of time before we find Earth-like planets in Earth-like orbit around solar-like stars and that such planets might be capable of sustaining life," Jon Morse, director of NASA's astrophysics division, told a news conference.

The Sagan fellowships -- $60,000 annual stipends awarded to four or five fellows per year -- are the third named after famed scientists. Others are named after Albert Einstein and Edwin Hubble.

When Sagan died in 1996 at age 62, only 11 exoplanets had been discovered.

"We're learning an enormous amount," said Charles Beichman, director of NASA's Exoplanet Science Institute. "We know the rate of star formation. Ten years ago, we didn't know about the fraction of stars with planets. Now we know ... 10 percent have Jupiters and in a few years we'll know about Earths."

"How many of those worlds have life? That's a slightly longer-term question, but is absolutely something that 21st century science can accomplish," he said.