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Note on Sources

Note on Sources

Earth-like planets are common.

Seth Shostak. Sharing the Universe: Perspectives on Extraterrestrial Life, (Berkeley: Berkeley Hills Books, 1998), 7-11.


Earth is rare.

Donald Brownlee and Peter D. Ward. Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe, (New York: Copernicus Books, 2000), xi.

Mayr, Ernst. "The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence." Extraterrestrials: Where are They? 2nd ed., Eds. Ben Zuckerman and Michael H. Hart (Cambridge: Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge, 1995), 153.


Life thrives in hostile places.

David Darling. Life Everywhere: The Maverick Science of Astrobiology, (New York: Basic Books, 2001), xi.

Robert Ballard. Explorations: My Quest for Adventure and Discovery Under the Sea, (New York: Hyperion, 1995).


Life thrives in hostile places, but not complex life.

Ian Crawford, "Where Are They?" Scientific American (July 2000): 43.

Donald Brownlee and Peter D. Ward. Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe, (New York: Copernicus Books, 2000), xxvi.


Intelligence is likely.

David Darling. Life Everywhere: The Maverick Science of Astrobiology, (New York: Basic Books, 2001), 140-141

Seth Shostak, "Intelligent Aliens?" Space.com, 30 May 2002, (9 June 2004).


Intelligence is unlikely.

Stephen Jay Gould, Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History, (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989).

Jared Diamond. "Alone in a Crowded Universe," Extraterrestrials: Where are They? 2nd ed., Eds. Ben Zuckerman and Michael H. Hart (Cambridge: Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge, 1995), 163.

Mayr, Ernst. "The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence." Extraterrestrials: Where are They? 2nd ed., Eds. Ben Zuckerman and Michael H. Hart (Cambridge: Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge, 1995), 154.


Alien civilizations are likely to be advanced.

Paul Davies. Are We Alone? Philosophical Implications of the Discovery of Extraterrestrial Life. (New York: BasicBooks, 1995), 48.

Seth Shostak. Sharing the Universe: Perspectives on Extraterrestrial Life, (Berkeley: Berkeley Hills Books, 1998), 96.


Alien civilizations are likely gone.

Donald Brownlee and Peter D. Ward. Rare Earth: Why Complex Life Is Uncommon in the Universe, (New York: Copernicus Books, 2000), xxvii.

Jared Diamond. "Alone in a Crowded Universe," Extraterrestrials: Where are They? 2nd ed., Eds. Ben Zuckerman and Michael H. Hart (Cambridge: Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge, 1995), 163.


Aliens haven't visited because they can't or don't want to.

David E. Fisher and Marshall Jon Fisher. Strangers in the Night (Washington, D.C.: Counterpoint, 1998), 257.

Seth Shostak. Sharing the Universe: Perspectives on Extraterrestrial Life, (Berkeley: Berkeley Hills Books, 1998), 5.


If aliens existed, they would have visited.

Sebastian von Hoerner, "The Likelihood of Interstellar Colonization" Extraterrestrials: Where are They? 2nd ed., Eds. Ben Zuckerman and Michael H. Hart (Cambridge: Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge, 1995), 30.


SETI hasn't succeeded because the search has just begun.

David E. Fisher and Marshall Jon Fisher. Strangers in the Night (Washington, D.C.: Counterpoint, 1998), 260-261

Seth Shostak. Sharing the Universe: Perspectives on Extraterrestrial Life, (Berkeley: Berkeley Hills Books, 1998), 12.


SETI's quest is futile

George W. Swenson, Jr., "Intergalactically Speaking," Scientific American: (July 2000), 47.


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