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Human civilization has evolved to the point at which we have begun consciously sending messages into the far future. Thousands of time capsules have been developed to keep artifacts intact for an audience many generations hence. Space missions have already sent messages into nearby space; in the coming ages we will be able to launch probes accurately to other stars as well. Just as we struggle to interpret the philosophy and technology behind such ancient markers as Stonehenge and the pyramids, so inhabitants of distant eras will seek to decipher the remnants of our twenty-first century. Physicist Gregory Benford explores the issue of far-reaching communication in a provocative analysis of humanity's attempts to make its culture immortal, to cross the immense gulf that such'deep-time' messages must span in order to be understood. In accessible language, he confronts our growing influence on far future events and the necessity of transmitting certain information. Benford asks students such provocative questions as: - What information should we choose to leave for those who will live a million years from now, on Earth and beyond? - How can we successfully communicate knowledge about who we are and what we have accomplished to unknown cultures and languages elsewhere in time and space? - How can the danger of a nuclear waste site, whose toxicity will last into deep time and may last longer than the culture that created it, be clearly conveyed? - Should we and can we create a 'library of life' to warn future inhabitants of the dangers of the extinction of species and the depletion of natural resources? And, he provides a unique guide to our current attempts to reach across time as well as an enlightened map to some of the astounding futures which may await us in deep time.
