Is it not, indeed, an absurd and almost a sacrilegious belief that
the more a man studies nature the less he reveres it? Think you that a
drop of water, which to the vulgar eye is but a drop of water, loses any-
thing in the eye of the physicist who knows that its elements are held
together by a force which, if suddenly liberated, would produce a flash
of lightning? ... think you that the rounded rock, marked with parallel
scratches, calls up as much poetry in an ignorant mind as in the mind
of a geologist, who knows that over this rock a glacier slid a million
years ago?
The truth is, that those who have never entered upon scientific
pursuits know not a tithe of the poetry by which they are surrounded.
Whoever has not in youth collected plants and insects, knows not
half the halo of interest which lanes and hedgerows can assume.
Whoever has not sought for fossils, has little idea of the poetical
associations that surround the places where imbedded tresures
were found.... Sad, indeed, it is to see how men occupy themselves
with trivialities, and are indifferent to the grandest phenomena - care
not to understand the architecture of the heavens, but are deeply
interested in some contemptible controversy about the intrigues of
Mary Queen of Scots!
Herbert Spencer
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This is not intended by any means to be an exhaustive collection
of resources on the subjects of interstellar intelligence or astronomy.
Rather, it is a small collection of works which anyone with an interest
in the ideas discussed on this site would find enjoyable reading.
Suggestions for additional inclusions are welcomed...please pass on your
ideas to the author using the e-mail link at the bottom of this page.
Many of the books listed below are available in local libraries, despite the
fact they may be out of print. An alternative source that is highly
recommended is the wonderful internet bookstore 'Amazon.com',
which seems to have every book ever printed...and will let you order
on-line!
Science Fact
- 'We Are Not Alone'....Walter Sullivan New American Library 1966
- 'Intelligent Life in the Universe'....I.S. Shklovskii & Carl Sagan Dell Books 1966
(This is the ultimate resource on the subject. A 'must read'...you won't be disappointed!)
- 'National Geographic Picture Atlas of Our Universe'....National Geographic Society 1986
Science Fiction
Larry Niven:
- 'Crashlander'...Ballantine Books 1994
- 'World of Ptavvs'...Ballantine Books 1971
- 'A Gift From Earth'...Ballantine Books 1971
- 'Ringworld'...Ballantine Books 1971
- 'A Hole in Space'...Ballantine Books 1974
- 'All the Myriad Ways'...Ballantine Books 1971
- 'Neutron Star'...Ballantine Books 1971
Arthur C. Clarke:
- 'The Nine Billion Names of God'...Harcourt Brace 1967
- 'Rendezvous with Rama'...Bantam
Carl Sagan: 'Contact'...Pocket 1986
Alexei Panshin: 'Rite of Passage'...Sphere 1970
Ursula K. LeGuin: 'The Left Hand of Darkness'...Ace 1976
Theodore Sturgeon: 'More Than Human'...Ballantine Books 1972
Robert L. Forward: 'Rocheworld'...Simon & Schuster 1990
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