Events

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Robert Poole - Where Were They? The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence in the First Space Age

March 18, 2025
10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
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Online

Event Description

The advent of space travel and radio astronomy saw the rise of a new scientific consensus: technologically advanced life was common in the universe. ‘So where is everybody?’ was Enrico Fermi’s penetrating response. The first conference on the subject, held in 1961, published the famous ‘Drake equation’, long regarded as statistical proof that contact with intelligent extraterrestrials was likely, even imminent. The 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey and James Gunn’s 1972 novel The Listeners helped convince the wider public. The original sources however show that the figures were manipulated to obtain funding, and reveal the private doubts of Carl Sagan and others. Behind the statistics lay some decidedly earthbound historical and sociological assumptions, which would later precipitate a crisis of faith among the searchers. 

Event Speaker

Robert Poole, Emeritus Professor at the University of Central Lancashire

Event Information

Free and open to the public; registration required. For more information, please visit the series webpage. Hosted by the Center for European and Mediterranean Studies at New York University.