The Biological Universe: The Twentieth Century Extraterrestrial Life Debate and the Limits of Science

by Steven J. Dick

• ISBN13: 9780521663618
• ISBN10: 052166361X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-12-28
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Throughout the twentieth century, from the furor over Percival Lowell's claim of canals on Mars to the sophisticated Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, otherworldly life has often intrigued and occasionally consumed science and the public. Does 'biological law' reign throughout the universe? Are there other histories, religions, and philosophies outside of those on Earth? Do extraterrestrial minds ponder the mysteries of the universe? The attempts to answer these often asked questions form one of the most interesting chapters in the history of science and culture, and The Biological Universe is the first book to provide a rich and colorful history of those attempts during the twentieth century. Covering a broad range of topics, including the search for life in the solar system, the origins of life, UFOs, and aliens in science fiction, Steven J. Dick shows how the concept of extraterrestrial intelligence is a world view of its own, a 'biophysical cosmology' that seeks confirmation no less than physical views of the universe.

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. From the physical world to the biological universe: Democritus to Lowell

2. Plurality of worlds and the decline of anthropocentrism

3. The solar system: the limits of observation

4. Solar systems beyond: the limits of theory

5. Extraterrestrials in literature and the arts: the role of imagination

6. The UFO controversy: on perception and deception

7. The origin and evolution of life in the extraterrestrial context

8. SETI: the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence

9. The convergence of disciplines: birth of a new science

10. The meaning of life

Summary and conclusion: the biological universe and the limits of science.