The Eerie Silence

Renewing Our Search for Alien Intelligence

By: Paul Davies

Narrated by: George K. Wilson

Fifty years ago, a young astronomer named Frank Drake pointed a radio telescope at nearby stars in the hope of picking up a signal from an alien civilization. Thus began one of the boldest scientific projects in history, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). But after a half century of scanning the skies, astronomers have little to report but an eerie silence---eerie because many scientists are convinced that the universe is teeming with life. The problem, argues leading physicist and astrobiologist Paul Davies, is that we've been looking in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and in the wrong way. Davies should know. For more than three decades, he has been closely involved with SETI and now chairs the SETI Post-Detection Taskgroup, charged with deciding what to do if we're confronted with evidence of alien intelligence. In this extraordinary book, he shows how SETI has lost its edge, then offers a new and exciting road map for the future.

Davies believes that our search so far has been overly anthropocentric: we tend to assume an alien species will look, think, and behave like us. He argues that we need to be far more expansive in our efforts, and in this book he completely redefines the search, challenging existing ideas of what form an alien intelligence might take, how it might try to communicate with us, and how we should respond if we ever do make contact. A provocative and mind-expanding journey, The Eerie Silence will thrill fans of science and science fiction alike.

©2010 Paul Davies (P)2010 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Paul Davies has written a most delightful book, perhaps the most thoughtful, thorough, and comprehensive book ever published on the key question: are we alone in the universe? Davies addresses one of the most pivotal questions facing humanity, and does it with wit, style, and rigor. The Eerie Silence will satisfy the curiosity of anyone interested in big cosmic questions about intelligence in the universe." (Michio Kaku, professor of theoretical physics and author of Physics of the Impossible, Hyperspace, and Parallel Worlds)

An in-depth exploration of a fascinating topic

The presentation was engaging from the first minute. Davies takes a grand tour of the concepts involved in the SETI project and uses the lack of findings as opportunities to expand our thinking.

Love it!

Given the billions of galaxies in the Universe, I imagine the Universe is teeming with life. So, why HAVEN'T we heard from any of them? This book examines the paradox in simple terms that even lay people can appreciate.

Excellent

I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this book and added it to my list of books I plan to read a second time.

Carl Sagan, phone home

There are probably many others like me, who are utterly skeptical about the possiblity of encountering intelligent alien life forms, but deep down wish we would live to see the day...

Author Davies resets the business of seeking alien life forms on a foundation of sound science. He proposes that the "alien" life form we are most likely to discover is at the bottom of the ocean, or deep inside the earth. The odds of contacting intelligent life through projects such as SETI are so remote, why not look for life forms on this planet that may be traveling along unique evolutionary paths.

As much as I was inspired by Carl Sagan's Cosmos, I am persuaded that science has not exhausted the search for the origins, nature and prevalence of life right here in our own backyard.

It seemed like a rather long 10 hours

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I would recommend the book only to someone who either is absolutely fascinated with the concept of alien intelligence or who simply devours outer-space-related science fiction. I am truly confident this book is the definitive "retail" description of the state-of-the-art search for such intelligence. I can't imagine any more informed author than Paul Davies. It is a virtually encylopedic enumeration of what we've discovered thus far (i.e., nothing much) and of the many possible ways we humans could discover alien beings going forward, whether they are intelligent or not. However, such an enumeration--in my opinion--got to be tedious after the first few chapters. On the positive side, the reader will encounter some interesting new scientific developments and increase his understanding of the gargantuan hurdles scientists face in the detection of alien intelligence.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Make it a little less speculative about all possible technologies that aliens might employ to find us or that we might use to find them. It got to be a catalog of scientific frontier knowledge that conceivably could be exploited like creating monopole magnets, or using nanotechnology to create tiny data-encoded vonNeumann computers which could be distributed around the universe in millions and powered by dark energy, etc. etc.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

The narrator was OK. I'm satisfied.

Did The Eerie Silence inspire you to do anything?

No.

Pretty Good

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Yes. It brought up some interesting points.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

Theories of what forms life could take after it evolves intelligence

What three words best describe George K. Wilson???s performance?

Adequate, not exceptional.

Could you see The Eerie Silence being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Not at all. Maybe a discovery channel program.

Any additional comments?

A decent read. Lots of interesting thinking in the book, however some of the conclusions seem to be limited - not possible to make with the amount of evidence we have.

Amazing story

This book was one of many on the subject of cosmology that I've bought but has risen to the top of my list of favorites. Excellent content and I really enjoyed the narrator. You won't be disappointed.

One of the best books I’ve ever read

Never had my mind blown away like I did with this book. Really an experience. Written and performed perfectly.

well said author, well said 👏

I enjoyed the audiobook and am going for a second round. I found it very interesting. I am also a very easy person to please. But, I do feel spot on when I say it is a good audiobook

The Eerie Silence

Any additional comments?

In a nutshell this book is about what really smart people imagine an intelligent extraterrestrial civilization could be like given what we know about life, intelligence, evolution, civilizations, physics and the universe at this time. It chases many rabbits down many different holes into wonderland. I absolutely loved it. It's remenicent of the science books of the late Carl Sagan. If you're interested in the SETI program and you like watching the science channel then you'll probably like this book.

I have a few issues that kept me from giving this book 5 stars. The first is that chapter three gets REALLY boring. I just wanted him to get on with it. The second is that Mr. Davies is too hard on religion and Christianity. I don't feel like he has a good understanding of what real Christianity is, but he's a scientist and this is a science book. The third is that I would have really liked to have heard his views on the ancient alien theories. He kind of danced around the subject without ever actually addressing it. I gather from some of his other views that he would be adamantly opposed to the idea, but it would have been nice to hear him discuss it.

Anyway, this is a solid 4 star audio book... If you are really interested in the subject matter.

I feel like I've overused the word "really" in this review.