Seth Shostak

(posted on my blog: davenichols.net)

Astronomer Seth Shostak, a SETI veteran, offers an up-to-date look at the SETI program with an eye toward things to come. He gives a history as well as discussions of the future of SETI and various issues the program confronts today. While I really wanted to like this book, it was a great let down from the beginning.

I suppose it is asking too much for a book about SETI to have any interesting tidbits, groundbreaking news, or tantilizing details of ongoing research. Sadly, books and articles I read fifteen years ago could have given the same overview and discussion found here in Confessions. SETI has yet to make any major discovery, has no terribly interesting side projects (even the new telescope arrays are often built for more traditional astronomy-related research, SETI usage is typically secondary), and has yet to find one iota of reason the program can use to justify its existence.

I like the idea of SETI, even knowing before reading Confessions that the program has had no major information to add to the public discourse. I've yielded CPU time to SETI@home, kept up with the various discussions of its work, and maintained a positive outlook on the prospects even in the face of what appears to be overwhelming odds against 'hearing' any alien signal. So, I was really hoping that Shostak would offer a strong argument for maintaining and growing the SETI program. Unfortunately, his argument for the program as argued in Confessions could be summed up in two simple points: 1) Moore's law dictates that the search will get more effiecient (through geometrically improving technologies, meaning that we can start listening to more and more worlds) and 2) It is terrifying to think that we really are alone out here.

As a skeptic (albeit one who likes the idea of SETI and hopes to see it continue), I have to seriously question SETI's work if the best that can be argued on its behalf, made by the Senior Astronomer at the SETI Institute, can be boiled down to those two points. NASA was forced into that mindset when Congress withdrew funding of the program in the early 1990s, and I honestly have to believe that the public money was better spent on almost any other program. Private funding keeps SETI online, but just barely.

Shostak gives a brief overview of the history of searching for alien life, as well as an introduction to some of the technology used by radio astronomers and SETI researchers. He includes some points about alternative technologies that can be (and sometimes have been) used in the search.

One of the weakest parts of a mediocre summation of SETI and the broader subject of astrobiology is Shostak's discussion of alien life we might encounter. Repeatedly, the author asks the reader to question anthropic arguments in considering the subject, but then uses mainly anthropic reasoning to winnow down just how we would recognize an alien signal, and worse, how we might understand the alien biology.

He ultimately posits that any alien life we encounter is vastly superior in technology (a very reasonable assumption) and is almost certainly bionic in large part (not quite so reasonable for a variety of reasons). His assertion that a civilization sufficiently able to signal other worlds would also have undertaken enormous technological enhancements of its own biology seems not only anthropic, but strangely myopic from a man who argues that his job directly addresses a large-scale ponderence. Shostak could have included this discussion section without drawing the conclusion that we would be more likely to encounter the Borg than we are to be hailed by ET. While Shostak may well be right, this is complete supposition, worthy only of a passing note in discussion, not in a book which uses the author's career and knowledge to advocate for SETI. The author himself notes that movies rarely get the science right simply because it is boring. I have to wonder if this entire section was included because one of Shostak's editors suggested that the book needed to be less boring.

Shostak's writing style is fine, and he generally presents his thoughts clearly, without much technical or scientific detail. However, his tendency to use gee-whiz analogies is annoying (such as "These now-and-then radio waves burped by a few floating hydrogen atoms are weaker than a flea's knees", or "The moon was drier than a Mark Twain quip").

The brightest parts of the book are contained in Shostak's mythbusting discussions where he mentions hoaxes, alien abductions, and various other pseudoscientific events. Pondering this book a bit after finishing it, I realize the most important contribution SETI likely makes to science and the world is its ability to offer a very specific-gauge litmus test against things like UFOs, abductions, and other sorts of claims. We don't hear anyone talking to us 'out there', so chances are, they aren't doing so here either. This is fairly flimsy evidence, unfortunately, and certainly not one you want to feature on the SETI donation request email.

Again, I hate to dislike this book. I like the subject, I generally approve of SETI and want to see it improve and expand, and I believe Seth Shostak is a highly intelligent and interesting researcher who really takes his subject seriously. Unfortunately, this book offered me almost nothing I didn't know about SETI, and really only has a few brief pieces of information you wouldn't have gotten out of decade-old books and magazines. The advocacy is weak, and worse, much of the book could be taken by SETI opponents as proof that the program is not worthwhile even under the best of circumstances (Shostak himself notes that serendipity might mean a backyard astronomer or a non-SETI researcher who wasn't even looking for alien life might find it). Confessions is a decent introduction to the subject, but only to the most novice of space science readers. Two and one-half stars and only recommended to those new to the subjects of SETI and radio astronomy. This book will likely be a disappointment to many science readers, especially those with experience with astronomy, physics, and/or SETI.… (mehr)