The Great Silence

Milan M. Ćirković is a research professor at the Astronomical Observatory of Belgrade, and a research associate of the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford University. His primary research interests are in the fields of astrobiology (Galactic habitable zone, SETI studies, catastrophic episodes in the history of life), risk analysis (global catastrophes, observation selection effects, epistemology of risk), and philosophy of science (anthropic principles, philosophy of physics, future studies).

First and foremost, it offers the most extensive, meticulously researched, and scientifically current analysis of Fermi's paradox to date. It is also likely to become the go-to text on the theoretical foundations of SETI research. Ćirković expounds complicated scientific concepts in instructive and clear language without over-simplification, an achievement that makes the book accessible to a wide non-specialist audience.

• 1: Fermi's Paradox / Great Silence problem 2: What's past is prologue: Cosmological and astrophysical background 3: Underlying philosophy: Realism, naturalism, Copernicanism, and all that 4: L'Année dernière à Marienbad - Solipsist solutions 5: Terra Nostra - "Rare Earth" and related solutions 6: In the Mountains of Madness - Neocatastrophic solutions 7: The Cities of the Red Night - Logistic solutions 8: The tournament: How to rate solutions and avoid exclusivity 9: The last challenge for Copernicanism?