Archaeology, Anthropology, and Interstellar Communication

Front Cover
Douglas A. Vakoch
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Office of Communications, History Program Office, 2014 - History - 302 pages

Addressing a field that has been dominated by astronomers, physicists, engineers, and computer scientists, the contributors to this collection raise questions that may have been overlooked by physical scientists about the ease of establishing meaningful communication with an extraterrestrial intelligence. These scholars are grappling with some of the enormous challenges that will face humanity if an information-rich signal emanating from another world is detected. By drawing on issues at the core of contemporary archaeology and anthropology, we can be much better prepared for contact with an extraterrestrial civilization, should that day ever come.

Individuals, especially scientists, anthropologists, physicists, engineers, astronomers, and others that may have an interest in the philosophy of extraterrestrial civilizations and life beyond Earth may have an interest in this scholarly book.

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About the author (2014)

Author biography (pull from About the Author if it exists; if not, ask.) If there are multiple authors, you'll want a biography for each. Douglas A. Vakoch, Ph.D., is Director of Interstellar Message Composition at the SETI Institute, as well as Professor in the Department of Clinical Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies. He serves as chair of both the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) Study Group on Interstellar Message Construction and the IAA Study Group on Active SETI: Scientific, Technical, Societal, and Legal Dimensions. Vakoch's books include Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence (2011), Psychology of Space Exploration: Contemporary Research in Historical Perspective (2011), Ecofeminism and Rhetoric: Critical Perspectives on Sex, Technology, and Discourse (2011), Feminist Ecocriticism: Environment, Women, and Literature (2012), Astrobiology, History, and Society: Life Beyond Earth and the Impact of Discovery (2013), Altruism in Cross-Cultural Perspective (2013), and Extraterrestrial Altruism: Evolution and Ethics in the Cosmos (2014)

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