Seth Shostak
SETI Institute
Alien Life
Senior Astronomer
SETI Institute
Seth is the Senior Astronomer at the SETI Institute, in Mountain View. He has an undergraduate degree in physics from Princeton University, and a doctorate in astronomy from the California Institute of Technology. For much of his career, Seth conducted radio astronomy research on galaxies, and has published approximately sixty papers in professional journals.
He has written over five hundred popular magazine, newspaper and Web articles on various topics in astronomy, technology, film and television. He lectures on astronomy and other subjects, and for six years was a Distinguished Speaker for the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He also chaired the International Academy of Astronautics’ SETI Permanent Study Group. Every week he hosts the SETI Institute’s hour-long, science radio show, “Big Picture Science”
Seth has written, edited and contributed to a half dozen books, including a textbook on astrobiology. His most recent tome is Confessions of an Alien Hunter: A Scientist’s Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (National Geographic).
My Sessions
The Real Aliens: Not Little Gray Guys
Main StageFor more than a half century, scientists have been searching for signals that would tell us someone is out there. Although little thought has been given to what these putative beings might be like, it’s likely that the majority of the intelligence in the universe doesn’t resemble the aliens of the movies. Could we be […]
Book Signing: Seth Shostak, Annalee Newitz & Amy Shira Teitel
Exploration HallSwing by the Booksmith table in the Exploration Hall to grab a signed copy of “Confessions of an Alien Hunter” by Seth Shostak, “Scatter, Adapt and Remember: How Humans Will Survive a Mass Extinction” by Annalee Newitz, and “Breaking the Chains of Gravity: The Story of Spaceflight Before NASA” by Amy Shira Teitel.