Aliens: Why They are HereSince 1947, aliens have poured from the abyss that lies between ourselves and the world. So begins Bryan Appleyard's dazzling survey of one of the most pervasive yet under-reported phenomena of modern times: aliens -- what they are, why they are here, and what they say about us. Before science and technology took hold of our lives we called them different things: angels, demons, goblins. insignificance, our need for aliens has reached the stars. Since 1947 there has been a deluge of sightings, abductions, cover-ups, conspiracies and all their associated sub-plots from cattle mutilation to anal probes. Science fiction both on the page and on the screen is in thrall to our perception of Little Green Men. How did we get here? And what does our fascination with all things alien, whether extraterrestrial or manufactured, say about us in a post-religious world? Bryan Appleyard's brilliant book is both a cultural history and an intellectual tour de force, covering everything from the joyful anthropocentrism of Star Trek to the bloody-minded nihilism of Stanislaw Lem. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
PART | 10 |
Claudius PtolemaeusGalileo Galilei | 177 |
Copyright | |
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Adamski alien abduction alien eyes alien lore appear Area 51 become believe Blade Runner body brain Budd Hopkins centre cosmic cosmos course cover-up created creatures culture cyborg demons Dick Douglas Adams Earth evidence existence experience explain Extraterrestrial Intelligence fact feel film Flying Saucers galaxy Galileo gaze happened heavens Hopkins human Humanoids Hynek hypnosis idea imagination Jacobs John Mack Klaatu Krikkit live London look machine Mars Martian matter million mind modern nature Neuromancer novel nuclear organic ourselves perhaps physical planet possibility reality reason replicant robot Roswell sceptical Science Fiction scientific scientist secret seems seen sense signal simply Sirens of Titan soul space spaceship speed of light Stanislaw Lem Star Trek Steven Steven Spielberg story strange Strieber tell theory things third realm thought ufologists ufology UFOs and Abductions uncanny universe vision Weskers Westworld X-Files