TY - BOOK AU - Genta,Giancarlo ED - SpringerLink (Online service) TI - A Man From Planet Earth: A Scientific Novel T2 - Science and Fiction, SN - 9783319211152 AV - QB1-991 U1 - 520 23 PY - 2016/// CY - Cham PB - Springer International Publishing, Imprint: Springer KW - Popular works KW - Astrobiology KW - Astronomy KW - Earth KW - Geology KW - Physics KW - Popular Science KW - Popular Science in Astronomy KW - Popular Life Sciences KW - Popular Science in Physics KW - Popular Earth Science KW - Electronic books KW - local N1 - Preface -- part i: novel -- part ii: scientific -- Appendix N2 - Sometime in the not-too-distant future ... unbeknownst to Earth, the Galaxy is home to a number of spacefaring societies. This confederation enforces a strict protocol forbidding any contact with civilizations that have not yet achieved both a substantial spacefaring capability and sufficient maturity to control the technology explosion before triggering their own extinction.   While this policy is intended to only bring in peaceful new members, matters change entirely when the confederation is threatened by some unknown entity - is the menace real or imagined?  The confederation decides to break with the rules and sends a delegate to Earth to hire one of the supposedly belligerent Earthlings to investigate and to revive the confederation’s long-unused starfleet. The Earthman agrees, but demands a high price: should he succeed, the confederation will have to accept Earth as a new member. As the threat becomes ever more acute, the question soon becomes which mission will prove harder - saving the confederation or convincing it to accept the deal!   The extensive appendix, written in non-technical language, reviews the scientific and technological topics underlying the plot - ranging from the Fermi paradox, space travel and artificial/collective intelligence to theories on possible universal convergences in technological and biological development UR - http://ezproxy.alfaisal.edu/login?url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21115-2 ER -