Ozma and beyond

[threemonkeys]

I picked up "Is Anybody Out There?" by Frank Drake and Dava Sobel from a clearance bin a while back. It purports to be about "The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence" , but it is as much an autobiography for Drake. Those things are inextricably linked because Drake may well be the single most important figure in the historical development of the SETI project. It is still worth keeping in mind as there are moments in the book which get a bit "oh I'm so clever" - of course he was and is clever but it could have been handled better. Overall, apart from the self congratulation, it is a well constructed and readable tale of Drake's personal contribution to SETI and other aspects of his life in radio astronomy. The readability I suspect being Sobel's contribution to the collaboration.

The reason the book was in the clearance bin is that it is rather out of date. Much has happened in SETI in the last decade or so which is not in this book. But if you want to find out some of the pre-'90s history, it is well worth a read.

Comments

[cricketk.livejournal.com]

I'm stuck a couple of chapters into the book. I wanted to like it (and Drake) much more than I actually do.

Will have another crack at it when I get home. I'm 'guilty pleasure' re-reading Anita Blake books at the moment.

[threemonkeys.livejournal.com]

For the above mentioned self congratulation reasons, I found myself not liking Drake all that much either. I did wonder if he had spent too much time in Carl Sagan's company. But despite that, once into it, I did read the book in two pretty focussed sessions.

I plan to read a Janet Evanovich book next - very much in the guilty pleasure department.

[cricketk.livejournal.com]

My downstairs neighbour just brought Stephanie Plum 12 to me this morning.

Decisions, decisions!

[threemonkeys.livejournal.com]

Well, you could say that a Stephanie Plum book is just a little snack of a book (I'm going to read #12 too). Think of it as an appetiser before the main course of something more weighty.

[cat-i-th-adage.livejournal.com]

No, no, I read Stephanie Plum books because I like reading Stephanie Plum books.

[threemonkeys.livejournal.com]

Don't get me wrong, I like reading Stephanie Plum books too. This was just a thought as to how K might decide what order to read all her book options, because good as they are, I don't think anybody could describe Janet Evanovich's work as a heavy read.