A journey through the evolving cosmos, considering how human survival will depend on otherworldly perspectives.
In David Whitehouse's most ambitious book to date he explores how human evolution has been intertwined with the workings of the cosmos from the very beginning, and what the far-distant future may hold, both for the universe and for ourselves.
Given enough time, Whitehouse contends, we must communicate with intelligent aliens whose divergent perspective will transform our understanding of the universe. First contact may even come sooner than we think. We have already transmitted signals towards promising exoplanets. If, say, Gliese 581d harbours life, the return signal could reach us in 2051.
Drawing the thread of human consciousness from the cave to the cosmos, the acclaimed author of Apollo 11: The Inside Story charts our future journey to the end of space and time, and considers whether something of humanity could remain at the end of it all.
Dr. David Whitehouse is the world’s most cited science journalist. He has a doctorate in astrophysics from the world famous Jodrell Bank radio observatory with The Victoria University of Manchester. He then worked at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory of University College, London. He has been a consultant to many space agencies and involved in many space missions. He became the BBC Radio science correspondent in 1988, and between 1998 and 2006 was an internet pioneer as Science Editor of BBC News Online. His many awards include a Glaxo for newspaper science writing, a record five Netmedia awards (internet Oscars) and he is the only Briton to win the European Internet Journalist of the Year. He also won the first Arthur award for space journalism (named after Arthur C Clarke). He is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, and author of four books, The Moon: A Biography, The Sun: A Biography, Astronaut, and Arch of Heaven: The Science and Mystery of the Rainbow. He is a regular commentator on TV and radio, and the asteroid 4036 was renamed Asteroid Whitehouse after him.
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Category: | Popular Science |
ISBN: | 9781785789571 |
Publisher: | Icon Books |
On sale: | October 2022 |
Format: | Paperback |
eBook ISBN |