If the Universe Is Teeming with Aliens ... Where Is Everybody?

Fifty Solutions to the Fermi Paradox and the Problem of Extraterrestrial Life

Stephen Webb examines the Fermi paradox, the tension between the apparent opportunities for extraterrestrial civilizations to arise and the absence of convincing evidence that they exist. This first edition considers fifty proposed explanations, ranging from limits on interstellar travel and communication to the possibility that intelligent life is exceptionally rare. Webb draws on astronomy, biology and physics to assess these ideas. The book distinguishes scientific constraints from more speculative attempts to explain the silence.

by Stephen Webb

Copernicus Books in association with Praxis Pub. · First published 2002 · 288 pages