The Search for Extraterrestrials: Intercepting Alien Signals

The likelihood of extraterrestrial intelligence.- Vast distances and long travel times.- Stars, their evolution and types.- Planets and our Sun.- The many constraints on life.- Why would anyone transmit to us?.- The Drake Equation and habitable planets.- The basics of space communication.- Where to look in the electromagnetic spectrum?.- Receiver basics and how big is big?.- Noise and limitations on sensitivity.- Programs in SETI.- A brief history of SETI.- Radio-frequency and microwave SETI, including the Allen Telescope Array.- Early optical SETI and the all-sky Harvard system.- Possibilities in SETI.- The PhotonStar project.- Key issues for SETI.- Other parts of the spectrum, decoding the data and forming pictures.- Future systems for intercepting alien lasers.