Will the 21st Century be the Time We Discover Life Beyond Earth?

Dr. Tarter is one of the great scientific pioneers of our time, leading the effort to search for signals from civilizations among the stars.  To celebrate the publication of Sarah Scoles’ recent popular biography of her life and work, Making Contact (Pegasus Books), Jill Tarter will talk about her vision of the future of understanding life on Earth and beyond our planet.  Then she will answer audience questions and sign copies of the book.

In 2004, Craig Venter and Daniel Cohen suggested that if the 20^th century was the century of physics, the 21^st century will be the century of biology on our planet.  Jill Tarter believes that their idea will be extended beyond the surface of our world and that we may soon have the first opportunity to study biology that developed on other worlds. The techniques we will need are different, depending on whether we are searching for microbes or mathematicians, but both are within reach.  The technology required may develop more rapidly than any of us can now imagine.

Speaker: Jill Tarter, SETI