
The Great Silence explores the multifaceted problem named after the great Italian physicist Enrico Fermi and his legendary 1950 lunchtime question "Where is everybody?" In many respects, Fermi's paradox is the richest and the most challenging problem for the entire field of astrobiology and the Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence (SETI) studies. This book shows how Fermi's paradox is intricately connected with many fields of learning, technology, arts, and even everyday life. It aims to establish the strongest possible version of the problem, to dispel many related confusions, obfuscations, and prejudices, as well as to offer a novel point of entry to the many solutions proposed in existing literature. Milan Cirkovic argues that any evolutionary worldview cannot avoid resolving the Great Silence problem in one guise or another.
This book investigates the core question of why, given the high probability of extraterrestrial life in the universe, humanity has yet to observe any evidence of it. Milan M. Cirkovic, a research professor at the Astronomical Observatory of Belgrade, utilizes a multidisciplinary framework to analyze the Fermi paradox. He synthesizes data from astrobiology, evolutionary biology, and philosophy to argue that the silence of the cosmos is not merely a technical hurdle but a fundamental challenge to our current evolutionary worldview.
What You Will Find
Scope Limits
Experts recognize this work as a significant contribution to the literature on SETI and the philosophical implications of astrobiology. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose, which requires a foundational understanding of scientific and philosophical concepts.
Page Count:
432
Publication Date:
2018-01-01
Publisher:
OUP Oxford
ISBN-10:
0192552872
ISBN-13:
9780192552877
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