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In the shadow of the Cold War, whispers from the cosmos fueled an unlikely alliance between the US and USSR. The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (or SETI) emerged as a foundational field of radio astronomy characterized by an unusual level of international collaboration-but SETI's use of signals intelligence technology also served military and governmental purposes.
In this captivating new history of the collaboration between American and Soviet radio astronomers as they sought to detect evidence of extraterrestrial civilizations, historian Rebecca Charbonneau reveals the triumphs and challenges they faced amidst a hostile political atmosphere. Shedding light on the untold stories from the Soviet side for the first time, she expertly unravels the complex web of military and political interests entangling radio astronomy and the search for alien intelligence, offering a thought-provoking perspective on the evolving relationship between science and power.
This is not just a story of radio waves and telescopes; it's a revelation of how scientists on both sides of the Iron Curtain navigated the complexities of the Cold War, blurring the lines between espionage and the quest for cosmic community. Filled with tension, contradiction, and the enduring human desire for connection, this is a history that transcends national boundaries and reaches out to the cosmic unknown, ultimately asking: how can we communicate with extraterrestrials when we struggle to communicate amongst ourselves?
List of contents
Introduction
Chapter One: What is CETI? Reframing the History of Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence
Chapter Two: Alien Intelligence: Radio Astronomy and the Dawn of the Cold War
Chapter Three: Telegram Killed the Radio Star: The First "False Alarm" in CETI
Chapter Four: First Contact: The Relationship Between Carl Sagan and I.S. Shklovsky
Chapter Five: Why Can't We Be Friends? Messaging Extra-and-Terrestrial Intelligence
Chapter Six: The Cosmic Prism: CETI and Existential Threat
Conclusion
About the author
Rebecca Charbonneau is a historian at the American Institute of Physics, as well as an affiliate of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and the St. Andrews SETI Post-Detection Hub. She holds an MSc in the history of science, medicine, and technology from the University of Oxford and a PhD in the history and philosophy of science from the University of Cambridge. Rebecca lives in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area with her husband, Jim, and their cat, Sputnik.
