We compliment PHYSICS TODAY for its stimulating guest comment in the April ‘81 issue by Frank J. Tipler (“Extraterrestrial beings do not exist,” April, page 9). As research physicists in specialties far removed from astrophysics and extraterrestrial biology, but intrigued by Carl Sagan's (and others') unquestioned assertion that numberless intelligent civilizations exist elsewhere in the universe, we have been struck by the paucity of critical response to this hypothesis. This lack being quite an uncharacteristic reaction by the scientific community to what is a controversial proposition. However, with Tipler's counterpoint, it now appears that an opposite view is alive and well, PHYSICS TODAY and Tipler have provided the required first step for the scientific community's consideration, and the usual and absolutely necessary polemics may now proceed.
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March 1982
March 01 1982
Extraterrestrial intelligence: the debate continues. The readers respond to Tipler
L. E. Preuss;
L. E. Preuss
Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, Michiga
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F. P. Bolin;
F. P. Bolin
Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, Michiga
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Frank D. Drake;
Frank D. Drake
Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
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John Bart Willburn, Jr;
John Bart Willburn, Jr
US Army Electronic Proving Ground, Ft. Huachuca, Arizona
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Jonathan Klatz;
Jonathan Klatz
University of California, Los Angeles
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Eric M. Jones;
Eric M. Jones
Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico
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Barham W. Smith;
Barham W. Smith
Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico
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Charles A. Whitney;
Charles A. Whitney
Cambridge, Massachusetts
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Gregory Benford;
Gregory Benford
University of California, Irvine
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John Daugman;
John Daugman
Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
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Michael Gerverl
Michael Gerverl
Plasma Fusion Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts
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Physics Today 35 (3), 26–34 (1982);
Citation
L. E. Preuss, F. P. Bolin, Frank D. Drake, John Bart Willburn, Henriette Nadj, John Nadj, Miroslav Nadj, Jonathan Klatz, Eric M. Jones, Barham W. Smith, Charles A. Whitney, George Sai‐Halasz, N. L. Cohen, Gregory Benford, John Daugman, Michael Gerverl; Extraterrestrial intelligence: the debate continues. The readers respond to Tipler. Physics Today 1 March 1982; 35 (3): 26–34. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2914964
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