Bibliography

The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI):
An Introductory Resource List

by Andrew Fraknoi
FoothillCollege& Astronomical Society of the Pacific
Member of the SETI Insitute Board of Trustees

Recent General Books about SETI

Bova, B. & Preiss, B., eds. First Contact: The Search for Ex­traterrestrial Intelligence. 1990, New American Library. Mixed collection of science and speculation; some good contributors.

Davies, P. Are We Alone? 1995, Basic Books. A noted physicist and physics explicator reflects on the philosophical and scientific implications of finding life out there in this slim volume.

Drake, F. & Sobel, D. Is Anyone Out There: The Scientific Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. 1992, Delcorte Press. Well-written autobiography of Frank Drake, the pioneer scientist in this field, with good background information on the development of SETI.

Harrison , A. After Contact: The Human Response to Extra-terrestrial Life. 1997, Plenum. A psychologist analyzes what finding life out there might mean for our thinking on Earth.

Jones, B. Life in the Solar System and Beyond. 2004, Springer. Introduction by a British astronomer to the search for both microbial and intelligent life out there.

Koerner, D. & LeVay, S. Here Be Dragons: The Scientific Quest for Extraterrestrial Life. 2000, Oxford U. Press. An astronomer and a neurobiologist survey the current thinking about many aspects of life out there.

Lemonick, M. Other Worlds: The Search for Life in the Universe. 1998, Simon & Schuster. Time Magazine senior science correspondent summarizes the ideas and discoveries behind SETI.

Scientific American: Life in the Universe. 1995, W.H. Freeman. A book developed from a special issue of the popular science magazine, with articles by many scientists, including Carl Sagan.

Shostak, S. Sharing the Universe: Perspectives on Extraterrestrial Life. 1998, Berkeley Hill. Thought-provoking essays on the implications of SETI by an outstanding scientist/lecturer/writer.

Shostak, S. & Barnett, A. Cosmic Company: The Search for Life in the Universe. 2003, Cambridge University Press. Nicely illustrated, basic introduction to SETI science. Good book for beginners.

Sullivan, W. We Are Not Alone, 2nd ed. 1993, Dutton/Penguin. Quick overview by a science writer for the New York Times.

Swift, D. SETI Pioneers. 1990, U. of Arizona Press. Interviews with many of the founding scientists in the SETI field.

Webb, Stephen If the Universe is Teeming with Aliens…Where is Everybody? (50 Solutions to the Fermi Paradox). 2002, Copernicus/Springer Verlag. The great physicist Enrico Fermi wondered one day why aliens were not visiting us, if they are out there. Here are some interesting answers, intelligently summarized from many sources.

White, F. The SETI Factor. 1990, Walker. An odd, but appealing evaluation of SETI by a policy analyst, with interesting perspectives.

Books about the History of SETI

Boss, A. Looking for Earths: The Race to Find New Solar Systems. Presents the history of searching for planets around other stars in chronological order. 1998, John Wiley.

Crowe, M. The Extraterrestrial Life Debate: 1750-1900. 1986, Cambridge U. Press.

Dick, S. The Plurality of Worlds: The Extraterrestrial Life Debate from Democritus to Kant. 1982, Cambridge U. Press.

Dick, S. The Biological Universe: The 20 th Century Extra-terrestrial Life Debate. 1996, Cambridge U. Press.

Dick, S. Life on Other Worlds: The 20 th Century Extra-terrestrial Life Debate. 2001, Cambridge U. Press. Updated, shorter version of the above book, more for the general public than historians.

Some College-level Introductory Textbooks on SETI

Bennett, J., Shostak, S., and Jakosky, B. Life in the Universe. 2003, Addison Wesley. An introduction to what life is and where we might find it.

Goldsmith, D. & Owen, T.  The Search for Life in the Universe, 3rd ed. 2001, University Science Books. Introduces astronomy, biology, and SETI.

A Few Responsible Books on SETI for Young People

Gutsch, W. The Search for Extraterrestrial Life. 1991, Crown.

Halpern, P. Faraway Worlds: Planets Beyond Our Solar System. 2004, Charlesbridge. An introduction to the search for planets around other stars, with beautiful illustrations.

Jackson, E. Looking for Life in the Universe: The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. 2005, Houghton Mifflin. Profile of Jill Tarter, the leader of the Institute’s SETI program. (Grades 4-8)

Schwartz, J. & Butts, E. Carl Sagan. 2000, Lerner. Profile of the pioneering SETI scientist from the A&E biography series, for students in grades 4 - 8.

Skurzynski, Gloria Are We Alone: Scientists Search for Life in Space. 2004, National Geographic Library. Looks at the work of scientists working on life on Earth and in space. (Grades 4-8)

Spangenburg, R. & Moser, K. Life on Other Worlds. 2002, Franklin Watts/Scholastic.

Selected Books on Astrobiology: The Search for Life that is Not Necessarily Intelligent Life

Darling, D. Life Everywhere: The Maverick Science of Astrobiology. 2001, Basic Books. An astronomer and science popularizer takes a brief look at the development of the science of searching for signs of life elsewhere.

Dick S. & Strick, J. The Living Universe: NASA and the Development of Astrobiology. 2004, Rutgers University Press. A history of NASA’s involvement with the search for life.

Jakosky, B. The Search for Life on Other Planets. 1998, Cambridge University Press.  One of the first book-length introductions to the modern thinking in this field, by a leader in planetary science.

Lunine, J. Astrobiology: A Multidisciplinary Approach. 2004, Addison Wesley. A college textbook introducing astrobiology, written by a well-known planetary scientist.

Walter, M. The Search for Life on Mars. 1999, Perseus Books. A scientist recounts the history of our quest for evidence of life on the red planet.

Fiction

For fictional works dealing with astronomy and physics, try Andrew Fraknoi's Science Fiction Stories with Good Astronomy & Physics: A Topical Index at the Astronomical Society of the Pacific website.

NOTE: See also the more specific reading list on Interstellar Messaging: “SETI Messages”

To find these resources, check out your favorite online bookseller or your local public library.

Updated: August, 2005