Publisher's Synopsis
An advanced civilization within 1000 light years is almost certain.
Dr. Lukens explains the steps of going from primordial chemicals to an advanced civilization, and the time it takes on a habitable planet. He defines a habitable planet and estimates how many there are in our galactic neighborhood with the aid of exoplanet data gathered within the past decade. It is likely that an advanced technical civilization in our galactic neighborhood will be technically more advanced than ours, and Dr. Lukens describes some inferences about this based on our own cutting edge science and technology.
