E.T. Talk: How Will We Communicate with Intelligent Life on Other Worlds?

234 Pages·2010·11.45 MB·English

by  Fernando J. Ballesteros (auth.)

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Astronomers’ Universe
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e
Fernando J. Ballesteros
E.T. Talk
How Will We Communicate
with Intelligent Life
on Other Worlds?
Fernando J. Ballesteros
Astronomical Observatory
University of Valencia
Paterna, Valencia
Spain
e-mail: [email protected]
ISBN 978-1-4419-6088-7 e-ISBN 978-1-4419-6089-4
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4419-6089-4
Springer New York Dordrecht Heidelberg London
Library of Congress Control Number: 2010931752
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To Herminia, for being the star
that illuminates my life.
e
Acknowledgements
Even when a book is signed by a single author, it is never a single
person task. Every book is in fact the outcome of several collective
tasks in which a lot of people collaborate. Without their participa-
tion, the book would never come about. Therefore I want to express
here my gratitude to all those who made this work possible.
First of all, I express my gratitude to Alzira’s city hall, Bro-
mera publications, and the University of Valencia for making pos-
sible the existence of the European Prize of Popular Science Estudi
General. I consider this essential, since I deem popular science an
obligatory duty for scientists. In a society such as ours, modeled by
scientific products, it is indispensable to acquire some background
in science, in order to face with rigor and skepticism, fully aware,
the challenges (someone of them frightening) of the contemporary
world. For this, the task of popularizing science is crucial. There-
fore, the existence of such a premium, recompensing popular sci-
ence, is a great joy for me.
I also want to give my gratitude to the editorial team at
Springer, who have always been on the other side of the computer
to help me in everything during the writing of the book. I thank
Maury Solomon for her patience and understanding.
I wish to express my gratitude to my colleagues (and friends)
Alberto Fernández, Amelia Ortiz, Bartolo Luque, Javier Díez,
Vicent Martínez, Juli Peretó, Daniel Altschuler, and Eusebio Llácer.
Your corrections and suggestions, and our fruitful conversations,
were a unique help, and these are in part responsible for the book
in its final form. I especially thank Eusebio for all his work and
help doing the translation of this book into English, Daniel for the
prolog of the book, and Juli for his help in the biological chapters
of the book. I also want to thank Pablo de la Cruz, Sofia Fuentes,
and Guadalupe Almodovar for putting up with my questions and
giving me new ideas when I was lacking inspiration. I appreciate
the refreshing presence of Filomeno Sánchez, Mª José Rodríguez,
vii
vviiiiii Acknowledgements
Federico Medina, and Marina Gómez over so many weekends, an
indirect but very useful help.
I would like to especially thank my father and my mother,
who always trusted in me and always supported me, even when
I said that I wanted to study a subject as strange as physics.
Finally, I want to thank with my whole heart Herminia, my
half moon, for her love, comprehension, and patience during the
writing process, since she has been the one that has suffered me most.
She has been the main engine of my inspiration, and a large part of
whatever merit this book has belongs to her.