Earth and its great civilizations, understand how life itself evolved Homo sapiens, briefly review the challenges and risks that a species entails in developing a civilization and growing into a space-fairing entity, and then explore the makeup of the Universe to gain insight into the chance of other sentient creatures living elsewhere. The quest to reach beyond the confines of our world is a natural consequence of being a very small part of a grand and dynamic Universe. Looking up at the sky instills within us some expectation that we are not alone, and we wonder if there is not something amazing happening out there somewhere. This sense of awe may not be exclusive to Earthlings; for in a galaxy truly far away, there could be creatures with similar musings as they peer towards our corner of the Universe. The idea that we share a common experience with others in the cosmos is something to keep in mind while reading this book. "The surface of the Earth is the shore of the cosmic ocean. From it we have learned most of what we know. Recently, we have waded a little out to sea, enough to dampen our toes or, at most, wet our ankles. The water seems inviting. The ocean calls."- Carl Sagan

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