Description

In the shadow of the Cold War, whispers from the cosmos fueled an unlikely alliance between the US and USSR. The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (or SETI) emerged as a foundational field of radio astronomy characterized by an unusual level of international collaboration-but SETI’s use of signals intelligence technology also served military and governmental purposes.

In this captivating new history of the collaboration between American and Soviet radio astronomers as they sought to detect evidence of extraterrestrial civilizations, historian Rebecca Charbonneau reveals the triumphs and challenges they faced amidst a hostile political atmosphere. Shedding light on the untold stories from the Soviet side for the first time, she expertly unravels the complex web of military and political interests entangling radio astronomy and the search for alien intelligence, offering a thought-provoking perspective on the evolving relationship between science and power.

This is not just a story of radio waves and telescopes; it’s a revelation of how scientists on both sides of the Iron Curtain navigated the complexities of the Cold War, blurring the lines between espionage and the quest for cosmic community. Filled with tension, contradiction, and the enduring human desire for connection, this is a history that transcends national boundaries and reaches out to the cosmic unknown, ultimately asking: how can we communicate with extraterrestrials when we struggle to communicate amongst ourselves?

Publisher Review

“With this work the torch passes to a new generation of SETI historians, who analyze not only the science of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence but also its cultural, religious, and political aspects. Focusing on the 1950s through the 1980s, Rebecca Charbonneau brilliantly explores both human and extraterrestrial communication, while vividly portraying CETI/SETI in the context of the Cold War.”
Steven J. Dick, Former NASA Chief Historian and author of Astrobiology, Discovery and Societal Impact

“Does intelligent life exist beyond our planet? Scientists have been searching for evidence of it for decades. Now, historian and SETI researcher Rebecca Charbonneau offers an engrossing and surprising history of those efforts on both sides of the Iron Curtain and shows that what we seek in outer space has repeatedly led us right back to earth.”
Greg Eghigian, Penn State University

“Any scientist who attempts to find, or communicate with, alien life possesses curiosity about and openness to hypothetical lives lived very differently from their own. In Mixed Signals, Rebecca Charbonneau offers the first investigation into those scientific attempts as they played out during the Cold War, among American and Soviet humans who were often alien to each other. Mixed Signals is an insightful, rigorously researched history that swirls the celestial and terrestrial together. Too often, astronomical science is divorced from the earthly conditions that it inhabits, eschewing politics for purity; Mixed Signals is an antidote to that attitude, showing science’s influence on politics, politics’ influence on science, and the overlap between communicating on Earth and communicating to the cosmos. The events and people detailed within the book show that humans’ attempts to learn about life in the universe are, in the end, fundamentally about our home planet.”
Sarah Scoles, science journalist and author of Making Contact: Jill Tarter and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence

“A fascinating dive into the Cold War era history of humanity’s search for alien life. Charbonneau brings to life the personalities who brought forth the modern age of SETI, filled with a treasure trove of remarkable events and encounters supported by meticulous research. It highlights how SETI is as much a search of the human condition as it is for alien life.”
David Kipping, Columbia University

“Charbonneau has accomplished here the rare hat-trick of innovative research, incisive argument, and delightful writing, making this book an invigorating pleasure to read and a vital view of science history to engage with. A must-read for scientists, historians, and anyone curious about what-and whom-we seek in the stars. Charbonneau offers a new and compelling way to understand the search.”
Jaime Green, author of The Possibility of Life: Science, Imagination, and Our Quest for Kinship in the Cosmos