"James E. Gunn - The Listeners" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gunn James E)

The quotation attributed to Carl Sagan dated 1966 are taken from
INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE by I. S. Shklovskii and Carl Sagan, published
by Holden-Day, Inc., copyright 1966 Holden-Day, Inc,. and are reprinted by
permission of Dr. Sagan and the publisher.
The lines of poetry attributed to William Butler Yeats are from "The
Song of Wandering Aengus" and "The Second Coming," and are reprinted by
permission of the Macmillan Company from COLLECTED POEMS by William Butler
Yeats. Copyright 1906 The Macmillan Company, renewal copyright 1934 William
Butler Yeats; and copyright 1924 The Macmillan Company, renewal copyright 1952
Bertha Georgie Yeats.
 (The Following page constitutes an extension of this copyright page.)
"Robert MacDonald" was first published in _Galaxy Magazine,_
September 1968, as "The Listeners."
"George Thomas" was first published in the Magazine of _Fantasy and
Science Fiction,_ September 1972, as "The Voices."
"William Mitchell" was first published in _Galaxy Magazine,_ May-June
1971, as "The Message."
"Andrew White" was first published in _Galaxy Magazine,_
January-February 1972, as "The Answer."
"The Computer" was first published in _Galaxy Magazine,_ May-June 1972,
as "The Reply."
Illustrations on pp. 137 and 154 by Lance Williams.
To Walter Sullivan, Carl Sagan, and all the scientists whose books and
articles and lectures and speculations provided, so clearly, the inspiration
and source material for this book -- may their listening be rewarded and may
all their messages be answered...
--------
*PREFACE*
After a decade when there never had been a day when I wasn't working on
some story or novel, I accepted a position as the first Administrative
Assistant to the Chancellor for University Relations at the University of
Kansas. Those were the turbulent 1960s, and between learning my job and trying
to explain student unrest to the various University publics, I had no time for
writing. _The Joy Makers, The Immortals_, and _Future Imperfect_ were
published between 1961 and 1964, but they had been written in the 1950s.
By the middle of the 1960s I was feeling serious withdrawal symptoms,
and I resolved to take the month's paid vacation that I was due. I prepared
for that month -- August after the end of the summer session and before the
beginning of the fall semester -- for months ahead so that when the time came
I wouldn't have to think or do research, I could sit down and write. Beginning
in 1966, I wrote the second and third novellas that completed _The Burning_
(and published them in _If_ and _Galaxy_), the second chapter of what later
became _Kampus_, and the novelette I called "The Listeners."
"The Listeners" was inspired by Walter Sullivan's _We Are Not Alone_.
Sullivan was the long-time science editor of _The New York Times_. He had
attended a seminal conference of scientists in Washington, D.C., along with
many of the people who were being attracted to the idea of listening for
messages from the stars -- what now is called SETI, the search for
extra-terrestrial intelligence -- including Frank Drake and Carl Sagan. His
book described the fascination people have displayed over the centuries about