Space, Time, and Aliens: Collected Works on Cosmos and Culture

By Steven Dick

Book Overview

Epigraph

Dedication

Preface: Cosmos and Culture

Part I. The Biological Universe

Introduction

1. Plurality of Worlds: A Persistent Theme in Western Civilization

2. The Twentieth Century History of the Extraterrestrial Life Debate: Major Themes

3. From the Physical World to the Biological Universe: Historical Developments Underlying the Search for

Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI)

4. The Biophysical Cosmology: The Place of Bioastronomy in the History of Science

5. The Biological Universe Revisited

6. Back to the Future: SETI Before the Space Age

7. The Drake Equation in Context

Part II. Cosmic Evolution and Implications of Alien Life

Introduction

8. Cosmic Evolution: History, Culture, and Human Destiny

9. Consequences of Success in SETI: Lessons from the History of Science

10. Cultural Aspects of Astrobiology: A Preliminary Reconnaissance at the Turn of the Millennium

11. The Role of Anthropology in SETI: An Historical View

12. Bringing Culture to Cosmos: Cultural Evolution, the Postbiological Universe, and SETI

13. Toward a Constructive Naturalistic Cosmotheology

14. Astroethics and Cosmocentrism

15. Should We Message ET and Is an Asilomar Consultation Process Possible

16. Astrobiology and Society: An Overview at the Beginning of the 21st Century

Part III. The Exploration of Space

Introduction

17. Exploring the Unknown: 50 Years of NASA History

18. Exploration, Discovery and Culture: NASA's Role in History

19. Space, Time and Aliens: The Role of Imagination in Outer Space

20. The Impact of the Hubble Space Telescope

21. The Decision to Cancel the Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission (SM4) and its Reversal

22. Reflections on French-American Relations in Space, 1957-1975

Part IV. Measuring the Universe: Goals, Institutions, Techniques

Introduction

23. Measuring the Universe: A Brief History of Astrometry

24. Pulkovo Observatory and the National Observatory Movement

25. John Quincy Adams, the Smithsonian Bequest, and the Origins of the U. S. Naval Observatory

26. The First Time Balls, the First North American Time Ball

27. The U. S. Naval Astronomical Expedition of James Melville Gilliss in the Southern Hemisphere, 1849-1852

28. Measuring the Astronomical Unit: The American Transit of Venus Expeditions of 1874 and 1882

29. Geodesy, Time, and the Markowitz Moon Camera: An Interwoven International Geophysical Year

Story

Part V. Discovering, Classifying, and Understanding the Cosmos

Introduction

30. Pluto, Discovery, and Classification in Astronomy

31. Astronomy's Three Kingdoms: A Comprehensive Classification System for Astronomy

32. The Discovery of Polar Motion and its Importance

33. Observation and Interpretation of the Leonid Meteors over the Last Millennium

34. The Discovery and Exploration of the Moons of Mars

35. The Universe and Alfred Russel Wallace

36. Discovering a New Realm of the Universe: Hubble, Galaxies, and Classification

Part VI The Philosophy of Astronomy, Cosmology, and Astrobiology

Introduction

37. The Philosophy of Astronomy, Cosmology, and Astrobiology: A Preliminary Reconnaissance

38. Critical Issues in the History, Philosophy, and Sociology of Astrobiology

39. Lessons Learned from the Twentieth-Century Extraterrestrial Life Debate

40. Cosmology and Biology, an Entangled Web?

Part VII E

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 303041616X
• ISBN13: 9783030416164
• Release Date: May 2021
• Publisher: Springer
• Length: 799 Pages
• Weight: 2.49 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 6.1" x 9.2"