THE SEARCH: Our Quest for Intelligent Life in Outer Space

Very probably there is intelligent life elsewhere in the universe,"" begins Stilley, who goes on to suggest that ""Despite what may appear to be near impossible odds against receiving any contact, there is always the possibility that it could come about. . . by accident."" The rest of the book essentially elaborates on these two statements--first reviewing the conditions necessary for life and citing different ""organic-type"" molecules found in space (and in meteorites), and then reporting, with due acknowledgment of the difficulties, our past and projected efforts to scan the ""celestial haystack"" and possibly eavesdrop on communications between more advanced civilizations. But it's a superficial survey, slack in structure and forced in manner. The subject is commonly--and more sharply--summarized in the concluding chapters of the more general juveniles on space (Gallant, Branley, Asimov. . .) and, for a full-length treatment, Knight's Eavesdropping on Space (1975) is both more readable and more enlightening.