Space, life, science and stories : our recurring interest in the possibility of cosmic visitors / by Carl L. De Vito.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

DeVito, Carl L., author.

Contributor:

Edward Potts Cheyney Memorial Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Life on other planets.

Physical Description:

x, 211 pages ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

Newcastle upon Tyne, UK : Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2020.

Contents:

Part 1 Surges of Public Interest p. 5

Chapter 1 The Enduring Mystery of Mars p. 7

The canal controversy, the controversy about the nature of its moons and its impact on science fiction.

Chapter 2 Who Goes There? p. 13

Public interest in the possibility of life in the solar system was sparked by a series of disturbing incidents that took place in 1947. The reality of what was observed is still the subject of heated controversy.

Chapter 3 The Social Consequences p. 21

Whatever the nature and source of the strange sightings one thing is certain: The reports themselves are real and they have had far reaching social consequences.

Part 2 What is it like out there? p. 35

Chapter 4 Our Celestial Neighborhood p. 37

The possible presence of strange objects in our skies led many to ask about the nature and structure of our solar neighborhood.

Chapter 5 Time, Light and Distance p. 43

In order to navigate the world we needed to devise a way to measure the mysterious entity? we call time. In doing that we learned something about light.

Part 3 The Matter of Life p. 55

Chapter 6 The Incredible Adaptability of Earth Life p. 57

Could Earth life, the only life we know, exist elsewhere in the cosmos? The answer depends on whether or not the "stuff" out there is the same as the "stuff" down here.

Chapter 7 Life As We Know It p. 63

All life on Earth distinguishes between certain left and right handed chemicals. This fact might enable us to tell if life found elsewhere had an independent genesis. The importance of water for Earth life leads us to examine temperature and the Goldilocks region around a star.

Part 4 Do We Have Neighbors? p. 73

Chapter 8 A New Window Might Show Us p. 75

Electro-magnetic waves and how they led us to the Big Bang.

Chapter 9 If We Have Them, Can We Find Them? p. 83

Astronomers learned to widen their window of observation giving rise to the science of radio astronomy. On the basis of these developments three men initiate SETI, the scientific search for intelligent life in space.

Chapter 10 If We Find Them, Should We Call Them? p. 87

What some of the experts say and what others have done?

Chapter 11 Cosmic Company: Have They Called Us? p. 95

Strange messages and weird astronomical objects: Neutron stars, black holes and quasars.

Part 5 Are There Strangers in Our Skies? p. 103

Chapter 12 No, Certainly Not! p. 105

A well-known scientist leads a study of the UFO problem and creates a firestorm of controversy.

Chapter 13 Yes, And They Are Stranger Than We Ever Imagined! p. 111

Puzzling sightings over Belgium, England and Phoenix, Arizona have many concerned.

Part 6 You Can See A Lot By Looking! p. 119

Chapter 14 Yes, We Can Understand the World! p. 121

Our deeper understanding the cosmos begins with Galileo and Newton formulating the laws of motion.

Chapter 15 The Secrets of the Solar System p. 127

The work of Kepler and the insights of Newton concerning gravity give us the laws governing the solar system. They also lead to one of the deepest mysteries in modern astronomy.

Part 7 Strange Stories p. 135

Chapter 16 The Most Famous Story of All! p. 139

The alleged crash of one, or perhaps two, flying saucers in the state of New Mexico; what has come to be called the "Roswell Incident."

Chapter 17 What the Witnesses Say. p. 147

The frustration of one scientist. Stories of close encounters of the third kind.

Part 8 This Is The Way That It Is! p. 155

Chapter 18 Clocks and Rulers and Energy and Mass. p. 157

The strange world of special relativity. The construction of space-time and where that led us.

Chapter 19 Gravity-Geometry in Four Dimensions. p. 165

The slippery concept of curved space-time.

Part 9 At the Limits of Our Understanding .173

Chapter 20 Another Surge of Public Interest! p. 177

The subject of UFOs takes a very strange and controversial turn.

Chapter 21 Are We Mentally "Linked" to the Cosmos? p. 185

Where are the numbers we count with? Why is mathematics so useful? Is there any reason to think that human mathematics is universal?

Chapter 22 Quantum Physics. p. 191

The strange world of the very small. Infinite dimensional spaces make their way into physics.

Chapter 23 The Infinite! p. 197

Is there anything in reality that is truly infinite? Does this concept have any role in science?.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Edward Potts Cheyney Memorial Fund.

ISBN:

9781527541443

1527541444

OCLC:

1126005144

Publisher Number:

99983452722