内容简介
"Firstcontact"betweenhumansandalienshasbeenaprominenttopicofsciencefictionsinceitsinception,butarguablynoonehaspresentedamorefascinatingexplorationofthatthemethanbelovedastronomerCarlSaganinthis,hisoneandonlynovel.Sagan,whospentmuchofhisprofessionalcareerarguingforthelikelihoodoftheexistenceofalienspecies,imaginesanentirelyrationalscenariowhereinaninterstellarracereachesouttohumanitythroughtheuniversallanguageofmathematics.Eleanor"Ellie"Arrowayusesradiotelescopestomonitortheskiesforsignsofatransmission,andwhenshedeductsastringofprimenumbershiddenwithinatranscriptionofsupposedlyrandomnoise,sherecognizesitasasignofintelligence.AsElliedigsfurtherintothemysterioussequence,shediscoversasetofinstructionsforbuildingaspacecraftwhichshebelievesmayenablehertovisitwithwhoeversentthemessage.ThoughEllie'sunlikelyplaneventuallyseemstocometofruition,sheisunabletoconvinceanyonethatherspectacularencounterwithanalienlifeformactuallyhappened,andsoonfindsherselfaccusedofengineeringanintergalacticdeception.
作者简介
CarlEdwardSagan(Englishpronunciation:/?se?ɡ?n/)(November9,1934–December20,1996)wasanAmericanastronomer,astrophysicist,cosmologist,author,sciencepopularizer,andsciencecommunicatorinthespaceandnaturalsciences.Duringhislifetime,hepublishedmorethan600scientificpapersandpopulararticlesandwasauthor,co-author,oreditorofmorethan20books.Inhisworks,headvocatedskepticalinquiryandthescientificmethod.HepioneeredexobiologyandpromotedtheSearchforExtra-TerrestrialIntelligence(SETI).