Extraterrestrial Civilizations

by Isaac Asimov

Isaac Asimov concludes that we are not alone! Using the most up-to-date astronomical research as the backdrop for speculation, Asimov confronts the possibilities of other-worldly life head-on in Extraterrestrial Civilizations .

In what will surely become one of the most provocative books ever written on the possibilities of life elsewhere in the universe, the incomparable Isaac Asimov provides chilling, hopeful, and exciting new insights. Here is astounding speculation about where the next giant step for mankind will take us. . . . 

Praise for Extraterrestrial Civilizations
 
“[Isaac] Asimov holds our attention as he builds a meticulous case. We are not alone. It’s just a matter of time until we know for sure.” — Miami Herald

"Intriguing" — Publishers Weekly

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Astronomy, Aliens, Space, Ebooks, Physics

288 pages, Paperback

First published December 12, 1979

About the author

Works of prolific Russian-American writer Isaac Asimov include popular explanations of scientific principles, The Foundation Trilogy (1951-1953), and other volumes of fiction.

Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.

Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).

People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.

Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.

Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...

Reviews

[Paul Weiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Let us strive to inherit the Universe that is waiting for us ... "

" ... doing so alone if we must, or in company with others, if they are there." Isaac Asimov's EXTRATERRESTRIAL CIVILIZATIONS is a compendium of passionate, informative, exciting and eminently readable non-fiction. At once, a modern day re-formulation of Drake's famous equation estimating the probability for the existence of other intelligent civilizatins in the universe and an updating of the current state of SETI, EXTRATERRESTRIAL CIVILIZATIONS is also a heartfelt plea for recognition of the value of truly fundamental research, the outcome of which is as unknown as the location of the first extraterrestrial civilization with which mankind might establish communication.

While some of Asimov's non-fiction work has been dated merely by virtue of having been bypassed by current knowledge, not one word of his writing has ever been rendered useless or less enjoyable in the reading because of that. That said, EXTRATERRESTRIAL CIVILIZATIONS is definitely NOT on that list and remains a moving and exciting read, particularly for those self-proclaimed members of the Planetary Society like myself who so firmly believe that ET is out there somewhere. It's just a matter of time!


Paul Weiss

[Marco · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the PERFECT essay about how a scientific investigation should be conducted. I'm not talking about instruments and techniques. I'm talking about the way everybody should reason, should think and elaborate when they are interested in arriving to a logical conclusion by simply analyzing data that by the largest part they already know.
When I discuss with people the problem nowadays is not getting the information, is instead having the ability to work with them, elaborate them, filter out the bogus ones and the dead ends by simply using logic.
Logic is important.

Marco

[Mir · Rating 5 out of 5]

10/10. Buram buram bilim.

[Zac Wendroff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Isaac Asimov delivers a honest evaluation of the possibility, and inevitability of extraterrestrial intelligent life. Using what mankind has uncovered about our past as a species, Asimov is able to answer some puzzling questions regarding the existence of alien civilizations. Perhaps most exciting are his predictions for where our civilization is heading, in a cosmic sense, and sets up a timeline for when we will encounter extraterrestrial life and eventually intelligent civilizations in our own galaxy. Asimov's extensive background as a sci-fi writer equips him with the understanding needed to convey a mysterious and interesting concept to the reader. I believe that this novel holds the most reasonable conclusions about what extraterrestrial life may really be like, using scientific knowledge and an examination of our own history to support his theories.

Some interesting information in this book cannot be missed by any alien enthusiast. In one chapter, Asimov introduces the reader to Drake's number. This is a statistical evaluation of the possibilities of extraterrestrial life. By calculating the likelihood of certain criteria needed for life, a number is derived that approximates the number of planets in our galaxy that have life on them. 360,000,000. This number startled me because I felt that life elsewhere would be extremely rare, if it existed at all. On top of this number, another calculation is done based on our understanding of evolution, that allows us to predict how many planets in our galaxy are inhabited by intelligent life. This number was also in the millions, far greater than what I could have expected.

This book presents information that is circulated in the scientific community,, but often unknown by the public. It is the general consensus of people that Earth is unique in its occupation of life, but strong evidence like Drake's number proves otherwise. Issac Asimov understands the discontinuity between a scientific understanding of our universe, and the way that most individuals paint it to be. By using factual support of his claims, he can reverse the misinformation of the public, moving our society to work towards larger goals, such as exploring the cosmos, as he encourages us to do.

Another interesting point that Asimov conveys is the future of our own civilizations. He believes that the progression that our species has gone through is how intelligent life begins on any planet. These observations lead him to predict where our society is headed. By observing our interest in Space, and our triumphs in astronomy, he is sure that within the next millennium we will have encountered and interacted with another intelligent species. The strongest support he has for this is the role of time in our universe. Because other intelligent civilizations must exist, based on Drake's number, they must also be far more advanced than our own, since they may have originated thousands, even millions, of years before ours. This begs the question of what technological capabilities they might have. This is an extremely difficult thing to predict, based on the enormous ground our own civilization covers so quickly.

The implications of Asimov's future Earth are enormous. He believes the curiosity of our society will lead us into cosmic exploration and eventually, extraterrestrial contact. If this happened our entire way of life would change, and our priorities would shuffle to fit a new set of needs. I'm glad that Asimov has this assumption because it is a very intriguing possibility. I hope that in my lifetime we have made contact with extraterrestrial life and humanity joins the ranks of a cosmic alliance. Note that this is an extremely optimistic view on this subject, as there are countless variables that could ruin the chances of this happening. For instance, what if technology as some point caps out, and we cannot move forward as far as we expect. Also we have to look at a possibly grim outcome for our own society, based on the struggles of our past and a potentially cataclysmic future.

This book opened my eyes to a scientific understanding of a mysterious part of life. The research in this book is perhaps the greatest application of humankind's study of evolution and astronomy. The conclusions in this book are revolutionary and should be witnessed by everyone possible. I believe that if more people learn about the information Asimov presents that there will be changes in our society to match goals for space exploration, and hopefully the contact of another intelligent species. Until then, all we can do is educate ourselves and research more into the unknown world of extraterrestrials.

[Köksal KÖK · Rating 5 out of 5]

kitabın bence, en önemli bölümü "13. bölüm: Mesajlar" bölümü. uzay boşluğuna gönderilen mesajlar ve boşluktan radarlarımıza yansıyan "cızırtılar".

orijinal basım yılı 79 olan bu kitabında, bu değerli bilim ve bilimkurgu yazarı, sayfa 283'ten itibaren "ALINAN MESAJLAR" başlığında, radyoteleskop teknolojisini anlatmış. yapılan-planlanan projeleri ifade etmiş, günümüze değin doğru ve isabetli tahminlerde bulunmuş.

[Rubí Santander · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simplemente amo este libro. Fue mi primer acercamiento a los libros de divulgación científica y por supuesto a Isaac Asimov. Un libro de un gran narrador.

[Iris J. Arellanes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy bueno.
A pesar de que es viejo y tratándose de libros de ciencia, se vuelven obsoletos con facilidad, gracias a los nuevos avances y descubrimientos, encuentro que es un libro harto interesante que nos permite ver la bastedad del universo y responder a nuestra incógnita de que a pesar de que no hemos comprobado (y quizá nunca) la existencia de vida afuera de nuestro bello y azul planeta, las posibilidades de que no estamos solos en el mundo es bastante alta. Lleno de cifras y datos, lo encuentro un gran trabajo de investigación y divulgación científica, como sólo Assimov lo hacía, no aburre y siempre quieres saber más. Es una gran lectura, lo recomiendo muchísimo.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somewhat dated, and I'm skeptical of this supposed equation which tells us the number of civilizations out there. However the book is mainly just relatively basic information about astronomy conveyed with an eye towards their implications on extraterrestrial civilizations. Even I could tell that some of this book is wrong now, but meh whatever. What I really liked about this was the plodding, methodical, way in which Asimov examines these questions. Its a great example of how to use reason in unfamiliar territory.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an incredible read. Asimov takes us through a lengthy yet simplified explanation of extraterrestrial life, he doesn't get bogged down in too much data so the pacing keeps you interested and doesn't give you a case of the glassy eyes. I like the accessibility of the book, although personally I could use more hard data and fewer cases of informed guesswork. However I understand that NOT all the people that love space and astronomy are also great with numbers.
I do recommend this book to all those that have even a passing interest in space.

[Mira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book feels like reading 10 books - so much learning explained simply in the form of a good story.

[Dane Cobain · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is basically Asimov’s investigation of whether there’s life out there in the universe or whether we’re all alone. He uses a combination of science and mathematics to conclude that there probably is life out there, but don’t get too excited because he’s not talking about little green men coming to carry out anal probes.

As well as investigating what that extraterrestrial life might look like, Asimov also looks into whether we’ll ever be able to communicate with them. The short answer is probably not, due to the ridiculous size of space. It’s freakin’ huge, man. It’s so big that it freaks me out a bit when I think about it.

What I liked about this book is that it teaches you a lot about physics and science in general along the way, and so while I wasn’t necessarily too interested in whether Asimov thinks that there’s life out there or not, I did find it fascinating to learn about things like SETI and the different types of signal that they’re looking for.

There’s also a dry sense of humour throughout this, and that was enough to hold my interest without feeling as though he was poking fun at the subject matter itself. It’s actually quite a thoughtful piece with a lot of science behind it, even though a lot of the science is no longer up to date. For example, he went out of his way to explain why Pluto was different to other planets, and then it turns out that it’s no longer even a planet. He also talked about his book, The Oceans of Venus, and how two years after it was published, it was discovered that there definitely wasn’t any water on Venus.

All in all, definitely one that’s worth reading if you’re an Asimov fan. Aliens!

[Liedzeit Liedzeit · Rating 4 out of 5]

How many extra-terrestrial civilisations are there.
Asimovs starts at the beginning. What is a civilisation (use of fire). How likely is it. And he gives probablilities at the end of each chapter. Very good. I was pleasantly surprised. Thought is would be empty rubbish. It is not.

[Limey · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a way this book deserves a 5 ('amazing'). I also understand why some might give it a 3 ('liked it').

It's a little dry as a read, true to say, but that may well be exactly what it should be, but that was part of why I didn't give it a 5, but then, repeating myself already, attempts to offset that dryness with more style and entertainment may well have detracted from the whole point and clout of the book.

What it is is a very thorough and very logically constructed examination of the possibilities of there being extraterrestrial civilizations (right there already, in the title, you see that this is a book with a desire to be straightforward and logical, plainly stated and simple), and so it goes through pretty much every scenario of where, near to what, in what environment, on what timescale, at what stage, with what motivations to be looking out from their own planets, etc., etc., such civilizations might exist, and then examines scientific facts about all of these mainly to eliminate scenarios that appear to not be 'compelling', as Asimov says again and again.

It takes that further into ideas about such things as how we can try to find them, what we might need to be looking for and what we might learn from doing so; building this also on a background of the facts of the science of both the limitations of that activity and the developments that have aided and determined its progress.

It is basically a 'bottom up' examination of how we practically might approach this problem, and what needs to guide us in solving it, so that we look at it efficiently and in the right places and contexts.

So its a thorough education, or at least a kind of big-picture 'refresher' of the main pertinent aspects of physics, chemistry, cosmology, mathematical and statistical thinking, and careful theoretical, scientific process in analyzing cause, effects and their limitations, that can help us come to a decent answer about what we can reasonably conjecture about the reality of extraterrestrial civilizations and how to go about investigating that very problem.

So, as I say, its 'dryness' (just a little) and perhaps also some lack of lots of entertaining anecdote or speculative imaginings around the facts and conclusions (there are some all the same), perhaps actually strengthen its achieving its aims. In the end how good it is to you depends on how much you're interested in the facts and speculations it explores. And, if you are, its direct and clear, no frills, well-ordered and thorough hypothesizing and checking of those hypotheses in their relevant practical contexts, will give you a good grounding in those ideas and being able to critically process other ideas and facts on the same subject.

It is dated too, to some reasonable extent, due mainly to developments since it was written in technology and methods to scan and analyse far away star systems, but also can kind of amaze in showing how much was already done back then 40 years ago, and even 100 years ago. There is virtually nothing here that is irrelevant now,plus a good few ideas I hadn't heard, and some facts I hadn't known, or at least put together coherently in their full context, and most of the main, large-scale science in this field is nonetheless covered. It would have been so nice if Asimov could have lived to update this, though I guess there are plenty of other books by others that can serve the purpose of telling us what has been achieved and figured out since.

[Conrad · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a certain irony to this book. In the beginning Asimov states that he will not contemplate metaphysical theories regarding the origin of the universe and man but simply stick to the scientific facts available and base his suppositions on them. He then proceeds to throw his own guidelines out the window and indulge in frequent references to God and the creation account as he speculates on how the universe came into existence. He leans heavily on his theory of mediocrity to extrapolate the idea that extraterrestrial civilizations must exist throughout the universe and his speculations for the possibility of future space travel and colonization of the universe are wildly imaginative. It is an interesting book with a lot of scientific facts that fill in a lot of gaps in our knowledge about our planet and solar system and the universe in which we live, but I think it falls short of his stated goals and objective.

[Leftjab · Rating 4 out of 5]

My attraction to reading this book was twofold: Of course, I’m interested in the title subject, and I also wanted to read some of the titans of the golden age of science fiction whom I hadn’t. Along with Heinlein and Clarke, Asimov is one of the major legs that defined science fiction from World War 2 through the early 60s (before the New Wave of Dick, Ballard, Delany, Ellison, etc. started experimenting with what science fiction could be).

This would be a solid 3.5 stars from me. It was strongest in the early chapters when Asimov essentially went through the history of scientific knowledge of the universe – once he got into “current” views of the solar system and beyond (this was written in 1979) it fell victim to its own limitations – through no fault of Asimov’s! It’s not like in the 40 years since this has been written our space program (and when I say “our” I mean the planet’s) has been able to establish colonies on the Moon or Mars. In fact, the major leaps in space exploration from 1957 through 1969 (Sputnik to Apollo 11) have not been matched in the 50 years since then. Setbacks, tragedies, and of course the politicization of science in America (Asimov must be crying in his grave) have stifled any significant progress in terms of physical exploration – though as I write this SpaceX’s astronauts have reached the ISS.

While the actual exploration of space has diminished in the passing years, our knowledge of the solar system and the Earth has grown in leaps and bounds. I’m going to follow this up with some current books about life in the stars and by extension the origins of life on earth. The usual suspects show up in Asimov – Haldane, the Miller-Urey experiment, Einstein (of course), the Fermi Paradox, the Drake Equation. Will see what we have learned in diving into these other books on the same subject.

[Alex Drozd · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is beautiful. Very few popular science writers had the imagination of Asimov. Even Sagan, who was talented in other ways, wasn't this imaginative.

The book is almost entirely speculation, but it appeals to the sentiments that most of those who go into science have. Whether it's pointing out that certain species of ants practice agriculture, or hypothesizing that space settlements will occasionally cross one another's paths during their centuries long journeys, Asimov helps me not think about how bleak humankind's future might be, and he almost makes me look forward to watching it unfold.

[Max Gwynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

What starts as an undeniably dense and heavy scientific and mathematical analysis of the possibility of life on other planets truly blossoms in the second half of the book, as Asimov ponders the realities of intergalactic communication, transportation and the ethics behind SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence).

I am lucky enough to have a first edition of this fantastic book and am really surprised to see it no longer in print. A shame as it ranks highly in my opinion, close (but no cigar!) to Sagan’s ‘Cosmos’; which I hail as one of my all time favourite books.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wanted speculative text on what alien civilization would look like.

This is not that. This is a book on putting science to something that feels somewhat unscientific (determining how many, if any, civilizations may exist/have existed in our galaxy). It is a great essay, but the title is a but misleading. At the end Asimov finally teases out a bit on what galactic civilization might look like, and that too is well done.

Sort of got bamboozled by the title but can't complain book still good.

[Andrei Mocuţa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pentru mine, anul 1979 (deși nu eram născut atunci), a însemnat apariția a doi piloni pe care s-a clădit literatura SF de specialitate care a urmat de atunci și până în prezent. Primul e filmul Alien (originalul) și al doilea bijuteria asta de carte a lui Asimov, non-fiction, doar science. Deși mai puțin cunoscută în bibliografia autorului, e o piatră de hotar în domeniu. Lăudat fie anticariatul în care am găsit-o!

[Mehmet Kutup · Rating 4 out of 5]

Asimov un hayal gücüne çıkabilecek insan tanimiyorum. Adam özellikle evren bilimini yemiş yutmuş. Kitap bazen gereksiz yere uzadigi oluyor ama sıkıcı degil.
Okuduğum en uzun sureli kitap oldu.

[Werevrock · Rating 3 out of 5]

Astronomi, kimya, dalga boyu gibi konuları sevmeyenler uzak dursun.

Yöntem ve bilgi verme açısından bakarsak biraz eskimiş te olsa gayet başarılı.

[Maia L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

te amo asimov explicame todo!;! TODO!!!!

[Dale Alan Bryant · Rating 5 out of 5]

In his usual, thoroughgoing way - Asimov starts from the beginning, and moving methodically through cosmologic and geologic history, to get to a rational, well thought out conclusion regarding ours, and, potential others', place in the universe.
The book provides a particularly lucid overview of galactic structure and evolution, and its significance in that respect. He also provides rational explanations for the fossil gap that exists prior to the Cambrian Explosion of life, and, for the moon's role in the Earth-Moon, double-planet system.

[Geoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This a realistic look at our search for extraterrestrial life from Isaac Asimov, the master of science fiction. The first part of the book outlines the reasons that civilization exists on Earth. He then takes that to analyze the probability of civilizations existing elsewhere the universe. And, finally, he goes over the problems of travel and communication to these potential civilizations. Asimov does this in a way that is simple but provides the necessary facts. And when he makes predictions of what may come, he does so realistically (and optimistically, when possible).

The only problem with this book is that its 35 years old and science has advanced since then. Its not that Asimov gets everything wrong (he's very conservative in his predictions), its that there's so much more information now that he, undoubtedly, would have liked to have when he wrote this book. It would be very interesting if a 2nd edition of this book were released today, taking into account all of the new information we have now.

[danathebookwhisperer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Non ho le parole per spiegarvi quanto mi sento soddisfatta ad aver finito questo libro/saggio, e ad averlo capito.
Asimov in questo volume ci spiega le condizioni che servono per sviluppare la vita su un pianeta.
Ci spiega come ci siamo creati.
Si chiede “esiste una forma di intelligenza extraterrestre?”
E analizza tutto fino alla minima virgola se è possibile. Dove. Come. Perché.
Scrivere un libro basato esclusivamente su nozioni scientifiche e farlo risultare interessante è una cosa DIFFICILISSIMA. Mi ha fatto appassionare e mi ha fatto capire. Ci spiega le cose in modo semplice, in modo che tutti possano capirle.
Un libro che ti insegna veramente, ma veramente tanto.
Ho imparato più cose leggendo queste 300 pagine che andando a scuola per 13 anni.
Ed è tutto dire.
Asimov è un uomo straordinario. Dotato di un intelletto talmente elevato da creare timore.
Ci dimostra che la conoscenza è la cosa più importante per l’essere umano. Senza il sapere siamo persi. E dovremmo aspirare a sapere sempre di più invece di accontentarci di quello che sappiamo già.

[☠ Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Indudablemente se comprenderá a esas alturas de la historia, que es la naturaleza de la mente lo que asemeja a los individuos, y que las diferencias en aspecto, forma y costumbres son absolutamente triviales.

Quizá a medida que los mundos libres humanos empezaran a ir hacia afuera, descubrirían que formaban parte de una vasta hermandad de inteligencia, de un complejo de innumerables rutas por las cuales el Universo ha evolucionado hasta ser capaz de comprenderse a sí mismo.

Y tal vez la humanidad, y todas las civilizaciones extraterrestres, puedan avanzar, combinadas, más allá y más aprisa de lo que podría hacerlo por sí misma una sola de ellas. Si hay la posibilidad de superar lo que ahora consideramos como las leyes de la naturaleza, y doblegar todo el Universo a la voluntad de las inteligencias que de él ha emanado, será conjuntando esfuerzos como surgirán las mayores oportunidades de éxito."

[Bernardo Arcos Álvarez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Medio millón de civilizaciones, casi todas más avanzadas que nosotros, coexisten en esta galaxia, dados por ciertos algunos argumentos. Y ninguna ha establecido contacto, y eso es algo en extremo inquietante, si se asume que las consideraciones son acertadas. Habría sido fantástico conocer la reacción de Asimov a la reciente señal repetitiva recibida por radiotelescopios en la Tierra, y al descubrimiento del asteroide de trayectoria irregular Omuamua. Seguro que su actitud habría sido de prudencia, fiel a su pensamiento crítico de científico, pero sé que su fecunda imaginación habría desarrollado mil aventuras fantásticas a raíz de ello. Después de los libros de Asimov que he leído a lo largo de estos años, comienzo a comprender su enorme genialidad y trascendencia, la razón por la que su obra tuvo tal alcance, y lamento que los seres humanos tan fascinantes como él tengan que morir, mientras que Salinas de Gortari vivirá dos siglos, por lo menos.

[Mario · Rating 4 out of 5]

Desde un punto de vista enteramente científico, valiéndose de hechos disponibles al momento en que Asimov redactó la obra, este libro está lleno de esperanza. No en el sentido de que todas las historias de ciencia ficción son verdaderas, sino que nos reitera la importancia de buscar la paz y el bienestar común de la humanidad, el dejar atrás las querellas y conflictos para dar paso a una expansión del conocimiento y la ciencia que nos permita perdurar más tiempo en el parpadeo efímero que representa la humanidad en la eternidad.

¿Y si viviera Asimov hoy? ¿Qué tendría que decir de todos los avances que han existido durante su ausencia? ¿Qué diría, por ejemplo, del telescopio James Webb próximo a iniciar su misión en 2018?

Sería fascinante.

[Marco Conte · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Quindi, per il bene di tutti noi, abbandoniamo i nostri inutili, interminabili litigi suicidi e non indugiamo davanti al compito vero che ci aspetta: sopravvivere, apprendere, espanderci, entrare in un nuovo livello di conoscenza". Un grande autore, con la testa fra le stelle ma anche coi piedi ben piantati per terra.

[Anthony Faber · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is devoted to making a scientific guesstimate of the number of civilizations in our galaxy. Fun.