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This book discusses the big questions about how the discovery of extraterrestrial life, whether intelligent or microbial, would impact society and humankind.
This work explores traditional questions in the humanities and social sciences with respect to life and its discovery elsewhere in the Universe.
The Routledge Handbook of Social Studies of Outer Space offers state-of-the-art overview of contemporary social and cultural research on outer space. International in scope, the thirty-eight contributions by over fifty leading researchers and artists across a variety of disciplines and fields of knowledge, present a range of debates and pose key questions about the crafting of futures in relation to outer space. The Handbook is a call to attend more carefully to engagements with outer space, empirically, affectively, and theoretically, while characterizing current research practices and outlining future research agendas. This recalibration opens profound questions of intersectional politics,...
Astrophilosopy, Exotheology, and Cosmic Religion: Extraterrestrial Life in a Process Universe applies Alfred North Whitehead’s process philosophy and the associated process philosophies of Henri Bergson, Teilhard de Chardin, and others to the interdisciplinary layers of astrobiology, extraterrestrial life, and the impact of discovery. This collection, edited by Andrew M. Davis and Roland Faber, asks questions such as “How have process thinkers imagined universal creative evolution and its implications for philosophies, theologies, and religions beyond earth?” and “How might their claims as to the primacy of organism, temporality, novelty, value, and mind enrich current discussions an...
This volume, the result of an ongoing bridge building effort among engineers and humanists, addresses a variety of philosophical, ethical, and policy issues emanating from engineering and technology. Interwoven through its chapters are two themes, often held in tension with one another: “Exploring Boundaries” and “Expanding Connections.” “Expanding Connections” highlights contributions that look to philosophy for insight into some of the challenges engineers face in working with policy makers, lay designers, and other members of the public. It also speaks to reflections included in this volume on the connections between fact and value, reason and emotion, engineering practice and...
Astrotheology: Science and Theology Meet Extraterrestrial Life looks at both ends of the telescope: the unfathomable reaches of cosmic space and the excited stirrings within the human psyche. It takes a scientist to explain what we are looking at. It takes a theologian to understand who is doing the looking. This book's scientific authors update readers on astrobiology's search for extraterrestrial life. Theologians add to the science a theological analysis of the place of space in understanding God's creative work, the prospects of sharing God's creation with extraterrestrial neighbors, and the question of whether one or many incarnations are required for cosmic redemption. Finally, these scholars lay the foundations for an ethic of space exploration. This book introduces a comprehensive astrotheology with an accompanying astroethic.
This seminal monograph provides the essential guidance that we need to act as responsible ecological citizens while we expand our reach beyond Earth. The emergence of numerous national space programs along with several potent commercial presences prompts our attention to urgent environmental issues like what to do with the large mass of debris that orbits Earth, potential best practices for mining our moon, how to appropriately search for microscopic life, or whether to alter the ecology of Mars to suit humans better. This book not only examines the science and morals behind these potential ecological pitfall scenarios beyond Earth, it also provides groundbreaking policy responses founded up...
Where did we come from? Are we alone? Where are we going? These are the questions that define the field of astrobiology. New discoveries about life on Earth, the increasing numbers of extrasolar planets being identified, and the technologies being developed to locate and characterize Earth-like planets around other stars are continually challenging our views of nature and our connection to the rest of the universe. In this book, philosophers, historians, ethicists, and theologians provide the perspectives of their fields on the research and discoveries of astrobiology. A valuable resource for graduate students and researchers, the book provides an introduction to astrobiology, and explores subjects such as the implications of current origin of life research, the possible discovery of extraterrestrial microbial life, and the possibility of altering the environment of Mars.
A Guardian “Favourite Reads—as Chosen by Scientists” Selection “Tackles some of science’s most enduring misconceptions.” —Discover A falling apple inspired Isaac Newton’s insight into the law of gravity—or did it really? Among the many myths debunked in this refreshingly irreverent book are the idea that alchemy was a superstitious pursuit, that Darwin put off publishing his theory of evolution for fear of public reprisal, and that Gregor Mendel was ahead of his time as a pioneer of genetics. More recent myths about particle physics and Einstein’s theory of relativity are discredited too, and a number of dubious generalizations, like the notion that science and religion a...
Constructing a global currency based on the generation of knowledge can better tap abundant energy sources and the productive power of the human spirit. By exploring new worlds, nations can finally achieve an active peace on Earth. Homeplanet Defense calls for preempting multiple threats to the human family through space-based strategies, aided by the vast resources and expertise in all military industrial complexes - transformed into explorative information networks. This work adds to an ongoing paradigm shift toward a new realism in the practice and study of international relations, to protect the global chessboard multilaterally rather than to dominate it unilaterally or through alliances. This small book is packed dense with new ideas and concepts. It is best read slowly, one section at a time whether one is already a leader of positive change, a student or a global citizen who is discontent with the way the world works now.