Science, Religion, and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence This page intentionally left blank Science, Religion, and the Search for Extraterrestrial • Intelligence David Wilkinson Durham University 1 3 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP, United Kingdom Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries © David Wilkinson 2013 The moral rights of the author have been asserted First Edition published in 2013 Impression: 1 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by licence or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Control Number: 2013938578 ISBN 978–0–19–968020–7 As printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY Links to third party websites are provided by Oxford in good faith and for information only. Oxford disclaims any responsibility for the materials contained in any third party website referenced in this work. • Dedication For Alison, Adam and Hannah With thanks for love and grace • Foreword Nearly twenty years ago, when I was in my ‘Christian period’, I wrote to The Times suggesting the formation of a ‘Canterbury Academy of Sciences’ which would grapple with some of the great problems of science and endeavour to advise the clergy, and others, on what Christian attitudes might be. The idea fell on stony ground, but the need remains. One of the problems listed was the possibility of extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI) and what the impact of its discovery on religion might be. Now, in my (tempo- rary?) ‘post-Christian period’, the need still exists, but an eminent ‘scientifi c theologian’, the Rev. Professor David Wilkinson, has seized the nettle and given us his considered views. David has considered virtually all aspects of the problem: historical views, the likelihood of success in the present search, attitudes to the reli- gious dimension, and so on. Part of this dimension is a case of ‘be pre- pared’; that is, what to say to the fl ock if a positive detection is announced. Forewarned is forearmed. The Church is lucky to have someone of David Wilkinson’s wide knowledge of both science and theology, and soundly based judgement to act as a guide. A personal experience of some years ago has relevance, and shows the multifaceted nature of the subject. After a lecture of mine on ‘The Search for Intelligent Life’, which included a description of our eventual need to leave the Earth when the Sun runs out of fuel, a member of the audience became emotional. He said: ‘I am incredibly heartened to know that when our successor Christians leave the Earth they will act as missionaries to spread The Word beyond the confi nes of our planet.’ The reason for men- tioning this is that it is one of many unexpected aspects of ETI, and one that is relevant to any religion, not just Christianity. In this book the author gives us a fi ne explanation of where we have reached in the ETI search, as well as his views on the religious aspects of ‘life in space’. This is both a scholarly work, with copious references, and a very readable one. For atheists and believers alike, there is much food for thought. Professor Sir Arnold Wolfendale, FRS, 14th Astronomer Royal • Acknowledgements Many people have helped in the preparation of this book. It is a joy to thank Sir Arnold Wolfendale, who fi rst raised the question for me and continued to raise it. Sir Robert Boyd, CBE, Professor Sam Berry, Dr Rob Gayton, Dr Liz Gayton, and Professor Russell Stannard also have provided illuminat- ing conversations on these issues and Tony Collins was an invaluable guide in the early stages of working with this material. I am also grateful to Jack Rowbotham, Jean Takeuchi, Nathan Parker, and Bob Marriott for careful and helpful reading of the manuscript. The staff at OUP have been a delight to work with and I am grateful to my colleagues and students at St John’s College for the gift of study leave during which this book was written. In all that I do I am constantly and generously supported by Alison, Adam and Hannah to whom this book is dedicated. Unless otherwise stated, quotations from the Bible are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version (©1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society), and are used by permission of Hodder and Stoughton Ltd. David Wilkinson St John’s College Durham University March 2013 This page intentionally left blank • Contents Introduction 1 1 Cinema, Cults, and Meteorites: Searching for Something More 6 1.1 Science and Fiction? Universes Full of Aliens 6 1.2 Science and the Media: Understanding the Universe from a Piece of Rock 9 1.3 Science and Religion: The New Mythology of a Place among Aliens 13 2 Speculating about a Plurality of Worlds: The Historical Context of Science, Religion, and SETI 16 2.1 Atomism and Plenitude 16 2.2 The Infi nite Power of God and the Centrality of Man 18 2.3 Deism and Evolution 25 3 Hubble and Drake: SETI and Cosmology 29 3.1 The Universe is Big, Really Big 30 3.2 The Goldilocks Enigma 34 3.3 Drake’s Equation: Agenda or Calculation? 39 3.4 ET’s Long-Distance Phone Call Home 41 4 The Daily Planet 45 4.1 Finding another Earth? 45 4.2 Wobbling Stars 48 4.3 Dimming Stars 51 4.4 Brightening Stars 53 4.5 Young Planets and Hot Planets 54 4.6 A Planet that is Just Right 54 4.7 Delays and Cuts: Future Prospects and Problems 60