Review of
The
Eerie Silence: Renewing Our Search for Alien Intelligence, by Paul Davies, ISBN
9780547133249
Five out
of five stars
Plausible
answers to the basic questions regarding life outside Earth
Decades ago, I graduated with majors in biology,
chemistry and mathematics. Since that time, I have read and understood many
books and articles about life and intelligence outside Earth. It is a rare
occasion when I encounter anything that presents a previously unencountered
perspective on alien life.
Davies opens with the rather unintuitive
thread that the search for alien life should begin on Earth. He is correct in
stating that most microscopic species have not been identified and catalogued,
so there is a significant possibility that species could be discovered whose
metabolic pathways place them outside what is considered the standard zoological
tree of Earth based organisms. For example, carbohydrates and proteins with a
structure different from the fundamental handedness of terrestrial organisms.
This is an approach that has real
possibilities and that can be done without leaving Earth and is something that
I have not seen so logically put forward before. A concerted effort to identify
and categorize microorganisms found throughout the Earth will have strong
scientific and commercial value, even if no unusual results are discovered.
Another thread that Davies covers in detail is
the reality that carbon-based intelligence may only be a transient phenomenon.
There are strong reasons to believe that humans will soon create machines with
high intelligence and the ability to expand and reproduce, quickly rendering
humans obsolete and uncompetitive. A plausible case can be made for the premise
that such machines are the logical end result of natural selection. With the
ability to intellectually grow and adapt, have nearly unlimited memory, and the
ability to grow replacement parts for every component, such machines could be
considered the pinnacle of the evolutionary tree. Furthermore, such societies
may exist throughout the galaxy.
I enjoyed this book immensely. Without having
to postulate any technology such as warp speed or matter transporters, Davies
develops arguments regarding why societies with large sizes could be created
and continue to expand. If these machines could function for tens of thousands
of years, then sub-light speeds become less of an obstacle in the management of
a civilization. While it is clear that not all of what Davies postulates is
true, it is a good bet that some of it either exists or will someday.
