Aliens Like Us?: An Anthropologist's Field Guide to Intelligent Extraterrestrial Life - Hardcover

$27.95

Aliens Like Us?: An Anthropologist's Field Guide to Intelligent Extraterrestrial Life - Hardcover

Name: Aliens Like Us?: An Anthropologist's Field Guide to Intelligent Extraterrestrial Life - Hardcover
Brand: BooksCloud
SKU: 9780826367426
Price: 27.95 USD
Availability: InStock

by Anthony Aveni

$27.95

Format

Hardcover $27.95 Paperback $19.95

Book Overview

In this authoritative, accessible, and at times funny and irreverent work, distinguished anthropologist Anthony Aveni speaks to the trained astrophysicist and the curious layperson alike about a simple but previously unexplored question: Why do we assume aliens, if they are really out there, behave just like us?

Aveni's newest work departs from the usual scientific treatment of extraterrestrial intelligence by probing the historical and widely neglected anthropological record, which offers relevant analogous incidents of contact among terrestrial cultures. Beginning with theories of the evolution of life and culture advocated by astrobiologists, Aliens Like Us? explores how the Western cultural imagination is influenced by ways of knowing that are deeply embedded in the minds of the questioners--for example, how we consider the ownership of property, the idea of progress, and even the way we classify things. The lessons of anthropology offer not only value structures from other cultures that differ profoundly from our own but also testify to the diverse ways in which "alien" cultures interact.

Finally, on the question of potential first contact, Aveni closes with a fascinating exploration of the image of extraterrestrials in popular culture that is derived in part from the hugely influential realm of science fiction.

ISBN	9780826367426
Author	Anthony Aveni
Publisher	High Road Books
Genre	History and Education
Format	Hardcover
Published	March 2025
Language	ENG- English
Pages	272
Weight	1.0 lb
Target Audience	Adults
Print Size	Standard Print