Contact - Softcover

Sagan, Carl

4.15

142,546 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1857235800 ISBN 13: 9781857235807

Publisher: Orbit, 1997

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At first it seemed impossible - a radio signal that came not from Earth but from far beyond the nearest stars. But then the signal was translated, and what had been impossible became terrifying.

For the signal contains the information to build a Machine that can travel to the stars. A Machine that can take a human to meet those that sent the message.

They are eager to meet us: they have been watching and waiting for a long time.

And now they will judge.

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Review:

It is December 1999, the dawn of the millennium, and a team of international scientists is poised for the most fantastic adventure in human history. After years of scanning the galaxy for signs of somebody or something else, this team believes they've found a message from an intelligent source--and they travel deep into space to meet it. Pulitzer Prize winner Carl Sagan injects Contact, his prophetic adventure story, with scientific details that make it utterly believable. It is a Cold War era novel that parlays the nuclear paranoia of the time into exquisitely wrought tension among the various countries involved. Sagan meditates on science, religion and government--the elements that define society--and looks to their impact on and role in the future. His ability to pack an exciting read with such rich content is an unusual talent that makes Contact a modern sci-fi classic.

Review:

Dazzling...Contact becomes the greatest adventure of all time. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Imaginative flair...The Sagan wit on full display...Contact jabs at commericalism, nationalism, sexism ... THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Contact [deals] with issues... worth pondering... The range and depth of ideas is quite uncommon (The New York Times Book Review)

A masterly piece of work blending adroit characterisation and flights of scientific fancy that spring from today's fact (Belfast Telegraph)

A feast of marvels (San Francisco Chronicle)

Who could be better qualified than the author of the highly successful Cosmos to turn the possibility of extra-terrestrial intelligence, and humankind's first contact with it, into imaginative reality? This is precisely what Sagan does in this eagerly awaited and, as it turns out, engrossing first novel... Sagan's informed and dramatically enacted speculations into the mysteries of the universe... make Contact an exciting adventure (Publishers Weekly)

Like a good mystery, Contact keeps us curious to the end... Ingenious and satisfying (Newsweek)

A splendid story whose appeal is universal (Yorkshire Post)

Sagan's continuing compelling plea that we do not destroy the ineffable loveliness of life on this planet is present in every scene and phrase of Contact... It is pleasurable and reassuring to read a popular author in whom the observable and scientifically imagined universe inspires excitement, humour, love, awe (Newsday)

If there is a God and He isn't hiding, He will have left an unambiguous message. What will the message look like? Sagan's answer is stunning and satisfying (Los Angeles Times)

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