Science, Seti, and Mathematics

In this conversational reader, DeVito aims to illuminate the usefulness, universality, and particularity of mathematics for a popular audience by discussing the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) project. He reviews the history of mathematics, physics, and extraterrestrial imagination, including thinkers such as Galileo, Fermi, and Einstein, stopping along the way to address the largely unsubstantiated hypotheses of alien-manned UFOs. Natural numbers, prime numbers, positional notation, sets, geometry, differential and integral calculus, group theory, complex numbers, and special values such as the golden ratio are gradually covered, both in terms of their potential as a means of universal communication and in light of conditions on Earth that have likely influenced our mathematics in ways that may not be replicated in alien worlds. Chemistry is also presented as possible source of universal constants. Each chapter is ended by a remark elaborating mathematics relevant to the questions and history of the chapter. Annotation c2014 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)

Carl L. DeVito is a member of the emeritus faculty of the Department of Mathematics at the University of Arizona. He has developed one of the most widely cited proposals for a language based on plausibly universal scientific concepts and has contributed to several edited volumes on cosmic communication. His other scientific work includes many papers on pure and applied mathematics and three books: Harmonic Analysis—A Gentle Introduction (2006), Functional Analysis (1978), and Functional Analysis and Linear Operator Theory (1990).