A journey through the evolving cosmos, considering how human survival
will depend on otherworldly perspectives.
In David Whitehouse's most ambitious book to date he explores how human
evolution has been intertwined with the workings of the cosmos from the
very beginning, and what the far-distant future may hold, both for the
universe and for ourselves.
Given enough time, Whitehouse contends, we must communicate with
intelligent aliens whose divergent perspective will transform our
understanding of the universe. First contact may even come sooner than
we think. We have already transmitted signals towards promising
exoplanets. If, say, Gliese 581d harbors life, the return signal could
reach us in 2051.
Drawing the thread of human consciousness from the cave to the cosmos,
the acclaimed author of Apollo 11: The Inside Story charts our future
journey to the end of space and time, and considers whether something of
humanity could remain at the end of it all.