This edition had all images removed.
Title: The new science of space speech
Original Publication: New York, NY: Galaxy Publishing Corporation, 1963.
Note: Produced from the August 1963 issue of Worlds of Tomorrow.
Credits: Roger Frank and Sue Clark
Summary: "The new science of space speech by Vincent H. Gaddis" is a popular science essay written in the mid-20th century. It examines how humans might detect, interpret, and reply to messages from extraterrestrial intelligences, drawing on radio astronomy, mathematics, and studies of animal communication to outline practical pathways toward interspecies and interstellar understanding. The essay frames the challenge as twofold: establishing contact with intelligent nonhuman beings in person and building a universal method for radio exchange across space. It surveys efforts from giant radio telescopes and the early SETI attempt Project Ozma to Dr. John C. Lilly’s “Project Dolphin,” where dolphins mimic human speech at high speed, suggesting a path to cross-species language. Gaddis then proposes mathematics and timing as common ground, highlighting systems like Lincos and the use of geometric concepts and pictorial symbols to build meaning step by step. He reviews puzzling historical signals and echo anomalies, including a 1924 Mars-listening effort and the idea of an automated probe that might respond to triggers, while warning of the huge time delays and risks of misinterpretation. The piece closes with the cultural stakes—drawing on psychological studies that foresee shock and change if superior civilizations are found—and argues for preparation, patience, and careful methods so that, when contact comes, humanity can answer wisely. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
Reading Level: Reading ease score: 55.0 (10th to 12th grade). Somewhat difficult to read.
Author: Gaddis, Vincent H. (Vincent Hayes), 1913-1997
EBook No.: 76654
Published: Aug 8, 2025
Downloads: 2781
Language: English
Subject: Essays
Subject: Radio astronomy
Subject: Interstellar communication
LoCC: Science: Astronomy
Category: Text
Rights: Public domain in the USA.
This edition has images.
Title: The new science of space speech
Original Publication: New York, NY: Galaxy Publishing Corporation, 1963.
Note: Produced from the August 1963 issue of Worlds of Tomorrow.
Credits: Roger Frank and Sue Clark
Summary: "The new science of space speech by Vincent H. Gaddis" is a popular science essay written in the mid-20th century. It examines how humans might detect, interpret, and reply to messages from extraterrestrial intelligences, drawing on radio astronomy, mathematics, and studies of animal communication to outline practical pathways toward interspecies and interstellar understanding. The essay frames the challenge as twofold: establishing contact with intelligent nonhuman beings in person and building a universal method for radio exchange across space. It surveys efforts from giant radio telescopes and the early SETI attempt Project Ozma to Dr. John C. Lilly’s “Project Dolphin,” where dolphins mimic human speech at high speed, suggesting a path to cross-species language. Gaddis then proposes mathematics and timing as common ground, highlighting systems like Lincos and the use of geometric concepts and pictorial symbols to build meaning step by step. He reviews puzzling historical signals and echo anomalies, including a 1924 Mars-listening effort and the idea of an automated probe that might respond to triggers, while warning of the huge time delays and risks of misinterpretation. The piece closes with the cultural stakes—drawing on psychological studies that foresee shock and change if superior civilizations are found—and argues for preparation, patience, and careful methods so that, when contact comes, humanity can answer wisely. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
Reading Level: Reading ease score: 55.0 (10th to 12th grade). Somewhat difficult to read.
Author: Gaddis, Vincent H. (Vincent Hayes), 1913-1997
EBook No.: 76654
Published: Aug 8, 2025
Downloads: 2781
Language: English
Subject: Essays
Subject: Radio astronomy
Subject: Interstellar communication
LoCC: Science: Astronomy
Category: Text
Rights: Public domain in the USA.