This book has been on my to-read pile for some time, and as with many books about science it has suffered a little from the pace of progress. All of the Kepler mission's discoveries are in the book's future, for example. Not the book's fault, clearly, and in fact it's interesting to read knowing some things the author didn't.

I was surprised that Davies didn't touch on one possible reason for The Eerie Silence of his title: that we live in a simulation. It's a theory worth examination in a book such as this.

Otherwise, a good overview of SETI and the competing theories for the lay reader.

This was a good book on how and why we need to think out-of-the-box while keeping the search ongoing for ETs (Extra Terrestrials). Paul Davies does a good job of mentioning the various ways in which we can do this, or what to look out for, where do we as intelligent beings need to think anew, and stay away from anthropomorphism and our mindsets based upon the past and present dogmas.

A pretty delightful read for people who always have questions and thoughts regarding the possibilities of intelligent life-forms away from our planet.

Having to read this alongside Jim Marss' [b:Alien Agenda: Investigating the Extraterrestrial Presence Among Us|159016|Alien Agenda Investigating the Extraterrestrial Presence Among Us|Jim Marrs|http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348337641s/159016.jpg|1883632] was kind of interesting . :)

A fascinating book. Although the author's ego shows at times, he offers many intriguing insights gained from his work with SETI. As an aspiring science fiction writer, I've found this book to be essential. As a science & science fiction reader, I also highly recommend it for the perspective it provides on the scifi I enjoy.

Are we alone? The question haunts us, and over the centuries the interest in the topic waxes and wanes like the phases of the moon. Currently there is a great deal of interest in the topic due to the recent discoveries made by NASA's Kepler Space Telescope. The quest is described as the search for "Earth's twin". However, we still do not possess the technology or, indeed, the cultural and political will to invent it to explore possible candidates. And there is the ultimate question, phrased
in the Fermi Paradox, if there are so many potential planets, where is everybody? The Eerie Silence is one of the better and more thoughtful books on the topic of whether we are alone in the universe.

Even having read this whole thing, I am on some level surprised that the topic fills an entire book. But of course it does! This goes into the history of SETI a bit, what their goals have been in the past, and "new" SETI, as well as generally talking about alien intelligence -- what that might look like, how our conception of life and intelligence might be limited, how to communicate, etc, etc, etc! The topic is really interesting. The entire book is "well, it's highly unlikely, but why not? and we haven't found anything yet, but you never know!!" and despite the caveats and reminders that a lot of people are pessimistic about the whole thing, it reaffirmed my belief that the universe is too dang big to be completely empty but for us.

The only thing I didn't love was some of the opinionating that happened a few times. Stand-outs in the "what are you talking about, this is silly, stop it, go back to the science and stop giving me your Opinions About Non-Science Things" were: Why might a civilization travel in space?; Ramifications to religion if alien intelligence were discovered (religion in this case meaning Christianity); and What message should humans send out as a beacon (referencing the Pioneer plaque)? But those were momentary lapses in an otherwise good book.