Messages from the stars

by Ian Ridpath

Takes a long hard look at the scientific basis for a belief in life beyond our own planet and the current attempts being made to find such life - by sending out spacecraft like *Viking* to look for lowly life-forms in our own solar system or by listening with radio telescopes for signals from advanced civilisations circling other stars. It looks in depth at the reality and the myth of space travel and communication, places hard science alongside the claims of the lunatic fringe and assesses, with an expert's impartiality, the possible answers to a question which has fascinated mankind for thousands of years.