Dr. Seth Shostak, who is Senior Astronomer at the SETI Institute just sold two books to Lisa Thomas at National Geographic Publishing (agent on the deal was Carol Susan Roth of Carol Susan Roth Literary & Creative Agency).
Shostak described the two books:
Confessions of an Alien Hunter: “As the SETI Institute celebrates a quarter-century of searching for evidence of cosmic company, more than a few people wonder whether there’s really anyone to find. Shostak considers the premises of the SETI enterprise, what the latest search strategies are, and when we might reasonably expect to find the aliens. He also inquires into who will be behind the microphone if we do pick up an extraterrestrial broadcast, and whether we should be afraid to listen.”
The Immortals: “The public may worry about global warming and the spread of nuclear weapons, but do they have their sights set on the wrong catastrophes? What is the long-term future for Homo sapiens? Beyond the worries of the 21st century, can our species—or at least our culture—survive the slow deterioration of Earth, the eventual death of the Sun, or even the predictable demise of all suns? While most earthly species enjoy a million-year run before their bones are stacked up in the natural history museums, Shostak thinks that the peculiar abilities of mankind’s three-pound brain might be enough to ensure a survival time that nothing in the universe can match.”
Shostak is the author of Sharing the Universe: Perspectives on Extraterrestrial Life, and the co-author of Cosmic Company: Ths Search for Life in the Universe and the textbook Life in the Universe.