{"product_id":"extraterrestrial-languages-isbn-9780262548649","title":"Extraterrestrial Languages","description":"\u003cb\u003eIf we send a message into space, will extraterrestrial beings receive it? Will they understand?\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe endlessly fascinating question of whether we are alone in the universe has always been accompanied by another, more complicated one: if there is extraterrestrial life, how would we communicate with it? In this book, Daniel Oberhaus leads readers on a quest for extraterrestrial communication. Exploring Earthlings' various attempts to reach out to non-Earthlings over the centuries, he poses some not entirely answerable questions: If we send a message into space, will extraterrestrial beings receive it? Will they understand? What languages will they (and we) speak? Is there not only a universal grammar (as Noam Chomsky has posited), but also a grammar of the universe?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOberhaus describes, among other things, a late-nineteenth-century idea to communicate with Martians via Morse code and mirrors; the emergence in the twentieth century of SETI (the search for extraterrestrial intelligence), CETI (communication with extraterrestrial intelligence), and finally METI (messaging extraterrestrial intelligence); the one-way space voyage of Ella, an artificial intelligence agent that can play cards, tell fortunes, and recite poetry; and the launching of a theremin concert for aliens. He considers media used in attempts at extraterrestrial communication, from microwave systems to plaques on spacecrafts to formal logic, and discusses attempts to formulate a language for our message, including the Astraglossa and two generations of Lincos (\u003ci\u003elingua cosmica\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe chosen medium for interstellar communication reveals much about the technological sophistication of the civilization that sends it, Oberhaus observes, but even more interesting is the information embedded in the message itself. In \u003ci\u003eExtraterrestrial Languages\u003c\/i\u003e, he considers how philosophy, linguistics, mathematics, science, and art have informed the design or limited the effectiveness of our interstellar messaging.TOC: \u003cbr\u003e1 A Brief History of Talking to Aliens 1\u003cbr\u003e2 From CETI to METI 19\u003cbr\u003e3 Aliens on Earth 37\u003cbr\u003e4 Cosmic Computers and Interstellar Cats 55\u003cbr\u003e5 Is There a Language of the Universe? 71\u003cbr\u003e6 Toward a \u003ci\u003eLingua Cosmica \u003c\/i\u003e93\u003cbr\u003e7 How to Talk in Space 111\u003cbr\u003e8 Art as a Universal Language 135\u003cbr\u003e9 The Many Futures of METI 155\u003cbr\u003eAppendix A: The Arecibo Message 171\u003cbr\u003eAppendix B: The Cosmic Call Transmissions 179\u003cbr\u003eAppendix C: Lincos 193\u003cbr\u003eAppendix D: The Lambda Calculus and Its Application to Astrolinguistics 203\u003cbr\u003eReferences 225\u003cbr\u003eIndex 247\u003ci\u003e“Extraterrestrial Languages\u003c\/i\u003e is fascinating…a  sober study of real—scientific, mathematical, artistic, and philosophical—efforts to enact this linguistic rendezvous.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003e4Columns\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"...an engaging read...\" —\u003ci\u003eScience\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\"For any one curious about communicating with the unknown, then this is a fine book.\" —\u003ci\u003eASTRONOMY NOW\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eDaniel Oberhaus is a science and technology journalist whose work has appeared in \u003ci\u003eWired\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eAtlantic, Popular Mechanics\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSlate\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eBaffler\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eNautilus\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eVice,\u003c\/i\u003e the \u003ci\u003eAwl\u003c\/i\u003e, and other publications.","brand":"The MIT Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46302371840229,"sku":"NP9780262548649","price":22.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780262548649.jpg?v=1767726569","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/extraterrestrial-languages-isbn-9780262548649","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}