This event involves a discussion of “Interstellar: The Search for Extraterrestrial Life and Our Future in the Stars.” followed by book signing in the Cabot Library across the hall.
Harvard Book Store, the Harvard University Division of Science, and the Harvard Library welcome AVI LOEB—Frank B. Baird, Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard University and the New York Times bestselling author of Extraterrestrial—for a discussion of his new book Interstellar: The Search for Extraterrestrial Life and Our Future in the Stars. Following the presentation will be a reception and book signing in the Cabot Library across the hall.
About Interstellar
In the New York Times bestseller Extraterrestrial, Avi Loeb, the longest serving Chair of Harvard’s Astronomy Department, presented a theory that shook the scientific community: our solar system, Loeb claimed, had likely been visited by a piece of advanced alien technology from a distant star. This provocative and persuasive argument opened millions of minds internationally to the vast possibilities of our universe and the existence of intelligent life beyond Earth. But a crucial question remained: now that we are aware of the existence of extraterrestrial life, what do we do next? How do we prepare ourselves for interaction with interstellar extraterrestrial civilization? How can our species become interstellar?
Now Loeb tackles these questions in a revelatory, powerful call to arms that reimagines the idea of contact with extraterrestrial civilizations. Dismantling our science-fiction fueled visions of a human and alien life encounter, Interstellar provides a realistic and practical blueprint for how such an interaction might actually occur, resetting our cultural understanding and expectation of what it means to identify an extraterrestrial object. From awe-inspiring searches for extraterrestrial technology, to the heated debate of the existence of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, Loeb provides a thrilling, front-row view of the monumental progress in science and technology currently preparing us for contact. He also lays out the profound implications of becoming—or not becoming—interstellar; in an urgent, eloquent appeal for more proactive engagement with the world beyond ours, he powerfully contends why we must seek out other life forms, and in the process, choose who and what we are within the universe.
Combining cutting edge science, physics, and philosophy, Interstellar revolutionizes the approach to our search for extraterrestrial life and our preparation for its discovery. In this eye-opening, necessary look at our future, Avi Loeb artfully and expertly raises some of the most important questions facing us as humans, and proves, once again, that scientific curiosity is the key to our survival.
Praise for Avi Loeb
“So interesting… I recommend Extraterrestrial to people who have any interest in this extraordinary subject of life existing in other places than on Earth.” —William Shatner
“It’s good to be skeptical of audacious ideas. But it’s also important to be open to audacious possibilities, and to think through their ramifications. Avi Loeb’s sumptuously written book will provoke you to think about the possibility of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe in new and stimulating ways.” —Sean Carroll, New York Times bestselling author of Something Deeply Hidden: Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime
Masking Policy
Masks are encouraged but not required for this event.