Jun 27, 2005 04:01 PM
4912 Views
(Updated Jun 27, 2005 04:02 PM)
''Mathematics is the language with which God has written the universe.'' -- Galileo Galilei''
A question to all the atheists. What if Galileo was really right ? If scientists can give MATHEMATICAL proof of existence of a higher power throughout the Universe, will all the atheist change their allegiance ?
Carl Sagan was a distinguished astronomer who worked for making science popular with the masses. He is the author of multiple books like Cosmos, Contact, Comet etc.
Contact is not a novel about extraterrestrial intelligence in the strictest sense. What I mean by this is that it does not discuss UFOs, aliens coming to earth and abducting humans etc. It deals with the world wide response (religious, political) in case an alien civilization contacts humans. It ends with an example of the kind of proof that might make skeptics believe in existence of a higher power.
The largest radio observatory on earth in Mexico dedicated to SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) starts receiving signal from a star system 26 light years away. The signals are not random atmospheric noise and do not correspond to any known signals (pulsars etc). After trying all possible explanations, scientists conclude that this can only be an alien civilization trying to contact us. After much analysis, scientists conclude that the signal contains blue print to build a machine to travel to the alien civilization. Debate rages across the world from from the point of view religious beliefs, political situations and defence. Finally, the machine is built and 5 ppl make the journey. They became the first humans to make contact becoming messengers of mankind. Rest of the novel is abt the journey, the contact and ends raising the question of existence of God.
Contact does not belong to Michael Crichton school of sci-fi. It beautifully integrates social, religious questions with a scientific outlook. A very good read.
