Mathematics is as much a part of our humanity as music and art. And it is our mathematics that might be understandable, even familiar, to a distant race and might provide the basis for mutual communication. This book discusses, in a conversational way, the role of mathematics in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. The author explores the science behind that search, its history, and the many questions associated with it, including those regarding the nature of language and the philosophical/psychological motivation behind this search.

Carl L. DeVitois a member of the emeritus faculty of the Department of Mathematics at the University of Arizona. He has developed one of the most widely cited proposals for a language based on plausibly universal scientific concepts and has contributed to several edited volumes on cosmic communication includingSpace, Life, Science and Stories (2020). His other scientific work includes many papers on pure and applied mathematics and three books:Harmonic AnalysisA Gentle Introduction (2006),Functional Analysis(1978), andFunctional Analysis and Linear Operator Theory (1990).

Preface

Chapter 1.  Where Are We?
Chapter 2.  Naïve Questions
Chapter 3.  Are We Special?
Chapter 4.  Stories - Part One
Chapter 5.  Mesasuring Our Solar Neighborhood
Chapter 6.  The Scotsman
Chapter 7.  The Birth of SETI
Chapter 8. The Conference at Greenbank
Chapter 9.  Stories - Part Two
Chapter 10. Talking to E.T.
Chapter 11.  Languages
Chapter 12. Paradoxes
Chapter 13.  The Universal Science
Chapter 14. The Special Theory of Relativity
Chapter 15.  The General Theory of Relativity
Chapter 16.  The University of Colorado Study
Chapter 17. Surprize!
Chapter 18. Epilogue

Appendix I:  Infinite sets
Appendix II:  Mars
Appendix III:  The DeVito-Oehrle Language

Bibliography
Index