Nov 18 1972
From The Space Library
NASA and Boston Univ. Dept. of Astronomy sponsored symposium "Life Beyond Earth and the Human Mind" at Boston Univ. Panel Chairman Richard Berendzen, Boston Univ. astronomer, had said symposium was being held because recent findings in astronomy, biology, chemistry, engineering, and physics had indicated high probability of existence of extraterrestrial life. Many scientists believed that "within the next few decades some form of communication will be achieved with intelligent life elsewhere in the Universe." Panelists were anthropologist Dr. Ashley Montagu, Massachusetts Institute of Technology physicist Dr. Philip Morrison, Cornell Univ. astronomer Dr. Carl E. Sagan, Dean Krister Stendahl of Harvard Divinity School, and Dr. George Wald of Harvard Univ., winner of 1967 Nobel Prize for medicine and researcher in biochemical evolution. Dr. Sagan said human technology had reached stage where man could detect another civilization as advanced as his. "Most optimistic estimate of civilizations in our galaxy is one million, which means one per many hundred thousand stars." Searching stars one by one could take hundreds of years. Dr. Montagu said that "some other forms of life are probably more intelligent than we, which can explain why they haven't contacted us." Dean Stendahl said discovery of life else-where would teach man that God's domain is larger and would give man better idea of his place in it. Contacting other beings might help man to stop viewing God in his own image. Dr. Wald said he was convinced that life existed elsewhere in galaxy but he doubted man would ever contact it. Dr. Morrison predicted man would receive and verify message from another civilization. Message would be technical, scientifically coded communication received over many months or years. NASA filmed symposium to produce educational film. (NASA Release 72-213; Leary, W Post, 11/24/72, C10)
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