| Description | Is glad to see that Cocconi's discussion of extraterrestrial life is firing the imagination of Sir Bernard Lovell. Cocconi is a serious and able scientist and it is sensible to discuss the issue in scientific terms. Gold believes that the chances of detecting intelligent alien life are small with present-day radiotelescopes, but the time will come when more powerful instruments might be used for such a search. Lovell's telescope is spending only a small amount of time tracking satellites and is primarily used for research into the structure of our galaxy and the universe. Gold would not quarrel with the priorities adopted by Lovell. Listening to other worlds would be a full-time job for a large instrument and with 20 million dollars, 'the job could be started tomorrow'. |