Are we alone or are there other intelligent forms of life in the Universe? Sir Arnold Wolfendale explores the ways in which Scientists' thinking on this question has evolved, including an hypothesis to estimate how probable intelligent extraterrestrial life might be, and a discussion of the Martian meterorites that were the subject of recent speculation about life on Mars. Meteorites in general, where they come from and what we can learn from them, are discussed by Monica Grady, a researcher in interstellar components in meteorites and micrometeorites. Together with other essays by experts in their fields, this volume of selected Evening Discourses from the Royal Institution offers an authoritative and accessible summary of current thinking in many areas of science and technology. The subjects are wide-ranging, from studies of Venus and what they tell us about the Earth, the history and possible future of television, to the interface between art and science - using spectroscopy to analyse the pigments in Medieval manuscripts. Will we will be able to build machines with molecular-based memories? How do you deal with an historic tower 'founded on jelly and slowly inclining to the point at which it is about to fall over'? The answers to these and other questions are to be found within.
A catchy title but do not be misled, read the subtitle:
Essays on Science and Technology. This is a collection of the "Friday Evening Discourses", a suitably Victorian name for science and technology talks given during 1997 in the lecture rooms of that worthy 19th-century establishment, the Royal Institution in London. Despite the problems of the title, the search for extraterrestrial life is the subject of the first essay (by astrophysicist Sir Arnold Wolfendale) and others are on related topics such as the geology of Venus (Professor Dan McKenzie), meteorites (Dr Monica Grady). The rest range across a wonderfully eclectic mixture, taking in subjects as diverse as the pigments of medieval manuscripts (Professor Robin Clark), the challenges to television broadcasting beyond the millennium (Will Wyatt) and molecular information processing (Professor Peter Day), together with a lecture 'There or thereabouts' (Dr Andrew Wallard) about the continuing need for increasing accuracy in measurement and, finally, the engineering problems of coping with the leaning tower of Pisa (Professor John Burland).
Whilst the possibility of extraterrestrial life was a hot topic in 1997 and early 1998 with claims of the discovery of fossil remains in a meteorite from Mars, by the end of 1998 a lot of scientific "cold water" had been thrown on it. However, the topic will not go away; like most of the subject matter of these essays it is a "hardy perennial" which will come and go. Curiously, towards the end of 1998, Pisa and the problems of its famous leaning tower re-emerged as the flavour of the month. After prevaricating endlessly, a serious attempt will be made to protect the building. As John Burland remarks, "it represents the ultimate civil engineering challenge" for, apart from its inclination, "the masonry ... is so fragile that it could explode at any time." Whether the tower survives into the next millennium remains to be seen. Most of the authors are British academics but since their talks were aimed at fairly general audiences, the essays are accessible to a general readership and represent a wonderful lucky dip.
