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Reinventing SETI clears out the cobwebs of outdated or wrongheaded SETI paradigms such as Fermi's Paradox, the Drake Equation, and METI (i.e., proactively sending signals from Earth to putative aliens). It argues that scientists should approach the pursuit of extraterrestrials (ETs) in a more effective manner. Author John Gertz states that ETs, as biological lifeforms themselves, cannot accomplish interstellar travel, but have instead placed robotic probes throughout the universe, perhaps even in our own Solar System. Humorous and deeply informative, this book takes the reader through the universe, conventional SETI methods, and ideas on future ET exploration.
List of contents
- 07/04/2025
- Introduction
- 1: Fermi's Faux Paradox
- 2: Reconsidering a Sacred Cow: The Drake Equation
- 3: Standard Observational SETI: It's Time to Move On
- 4: What's There to Talk About Anyway?
- 5: METI: Beyond Folly to the Stupid, Arrogant, Delusional, and Downright Dangerous
- 6: Extraterrestrials Hit the Road-Or Not
- 7: There's No Place Like Home
- 8: Extraterrestrials Do Have a Solution: Robotic Probes
- 9: Humankind Is Utterly Unprepared: How Foolish Is That!
- 10: Getting Earth's Act Together by Act of Treaty
- Epilogue
- Index
About the author
John Gertz is a leader in the field of SETI, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, having served three terms as chairman of the board of the SETI institute and he currently serves as the only layman on the Breakthrough Listen Advisory Board. He has published a number of peer reviewed theoretic papers on the subject of SETI.
