Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series: Will the 21st Century be the Time We Discover Life Beyond Earth?

This Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series event has passed, but a video of the lecture can be found here.

Dr. Jill Tarter of the SETI Institute will give a free, illustrated, non-technical talk.

Dr. Tarter is one of the great scientific pioneers of our time, leading the effort to search for signals from civilizations among the stars. To celebrate the publication of Sarah Scoles’ recent popular biography of her life and work, Making Contact (Pegasus Books), Jill Tarter will talk about her vision of the future of understanding life on Earth and beyond our planet. Then she will answer audience questions and sign copies of the book. 

In 2004, Craig Venter and Daniel Cohen suggested that if the 20th century was the century of physics, the 21st century will be the century of biology on our planet.  Jill Tarter believes that their idea will be extended beyond the surface of our world and that we may soon have the first opportunity to study biology that developed on other worlds. The techniques we will need are different, depending on whether we are searching for microbes or mathematicians, but both are within reach. The technology required may develop more rapidly than any of us can now imagine. 

Jill Tarter holds the Bernard Oliver Chair for SETI at the SETI Institute, serves on the management board for the Allen Telescope Array, is President Emeritus of the Board of the California Academy of Sciences and continues to make groundbreaking contributions to the worlds of science, education, and the arts. Jodie Foster portrayed a fictionalized version of Dr. Tarter in the film Contact. In 2004, she was on Time Magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world.