- Paperback: 238 pages
- Publisher: Basic Books; New edition edition (5 Nov 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0465073158
- ISBN-13: 978-0465073153
- Product Dimensions: 20.4 x 13.6 x 1.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 762,580 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Description
Product Description
If extraterrestrials ever landed on Earth, they would find us extremely strange. Their first intimation of our existence might well be a Super Bowl broadcast or a stray transmission from the Playboy channel. But, of course, they might seem equally strange to us. How strange? Their senses could be entirely different from oursthey might see in the infrared or hear radio waves. What would aliens look like? An intelligent octopus-like creature is certainly plausible. What about odd numbers of limbsa three-legged alien with three arms and three eyes? What about an entire planet of immobile, silicon-based trees that communicate with each other via electrical signals?The Science of Aliens gets weirder still. Could a giant interstellar cloud be alive and intelligent? Could creatures live at extremely high pressures and temperatures? And which of these many possibilities would be similar enough to us that they could communicate with them, or they with us? Would they have any interest in abducting us? Would they want to have sex with us?In classic Pickover style, here is speculation at the far edge of knowledgeand beyond.
From the Author
Jacket Blurb
If extraterrestrials ever landed on Earth, they would find us extremely strange. Their first intimation of our existence might well be a presidential speech or the Olympic Games, a mud wrestling match or perhaps a T.V. show like Ally McBeal or 3rd Rock From the Sun. But, of course, they might seem equally strange to us. How strange? Their senses could be entirely different from ours-they might see in the infrared or "hear" radio waves-and they might look completely different from us.
What would aliens look like? An intelligent octopus-like creature is certainly plausible. What about odd numbers of limbs-a three-legged alien with three arms and three eyes? What about an entire planet of immobile, silicon-based "trees" that communicate with each other via electrical signals? The Science of Aliens gets weirder still. Could a giant interstellar cloud be "alive" and intelligent? Could creatures live at extremely high pressures and temperatures?
And which of these many possibilities would be similar enough to us that they could communicate with them, or they with us? Would they have any interest in abducting us? Would they want to have sex with us?
In classic Pickover style, here is scientifically-based speculation at the far edge of knowledge-and beyond.
Clifford A. Pickover, Ph.D., is on the research staff of the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center. He is a regular columnist for Discover Magazine and an Associate Editor for Computers and Graphics, Computers in Physics, Odyssey, and Theta. Previous books include Strange Brains and Genius, Keys to Infinity, Computers and the Imagination, Time: A Traveler's Guide, Black Holes: A Traveler's Guide, and The Alien IQ Test. Dr. Pickover lives in Yorktown Heights, New York. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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You are walking through the Nevada desert with Captain Steven Hiller, the hero of the science fiction movie Independence Day. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
You are walking through the Nevada desert with Captain Steven Hiller, the hero of the science fiction movie Independence Day. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Dr Clifford Pickover's book "Science of Aliens" evokes a sense of wonder often absent in much so called science *fiction* these days, especially the political wranglings of humans dressed in funny rubber make up kits in Star Trek, X Files or Babylon 5.
He discusses issues such as whether aliens will offer humanity immortality as means of subduing our warlike nature. Even more mind stretching is the possibility that when all matter is exhausted in the universe after 10^100 years, there will still exist a "diffuse sea of electrons". He evokes questions such as: Could these be arranged into structures to contain the intelligence of immortals left over from the age of matter? Could these structures simulate universes of matter that appear to their inhabitants to be like the universe we currently inhabit? On the basis that most of the lifespan of the universe will be spent in this state, it is in fact more probable that we inhabit such a simulation than the real thing!
Dr Pickover speculates further about way life could survive in this post-matter age of the universe in "Science of Aliens".
Science of Aliens is an easy fun to read type of book. It may not be the first book to touch on each topic within it, but it does collect them together in a format and with a title to attract new readers into thinking about.
Format:Paperback
It is a good introduction to the what-ifs and whys of extrasolar life. This was written when we didn't have the extra-solar planetary 'zoo' now known, but hardly suffers from that...
One gotcha: Discussing how a large Moon stirs coastal waters, he forgot the solar tide gives Neaps & Springs. Hence, my 4/5...
One gotcha: Discussing how a large Moon stirs coastal waters, he forgot the solar tide gives Neaps & Springs. Hence, my 4/5...
Format:Hardcover
Anyone interested in the possibility of intelligent extraterrestrial life will love this book. Rarely does one find a book with such insight, breadth, and beauty. My favorite chapter is "Alien Sex" which actually taught me a lot about the bizarre sexual behaviors and anatomies of Earth creatures. One of the figures shows magnifications of sperm from various Earth animals, which should fascinate readers because of the incredible diversity.
Another favorite chapter deals with how we would communicate with aliens. Cliff Pickover gives the reader a number of difficult tests -- hypothetical mathematical signals beamed to Earth by aliens. He asks us if we can decode them. My friends and I are still working on the following test: "Aliens are waiting for humanity to replace the question mark with the next value in the sequence before they will consider us worthy for further communication: 77, 49, 36, 18, ?"
The answers are in the back of the book, but we're trying to solve them without looking.
The book's concluding words will send a shiver up your spine.
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