Frank Drake believed that the universe had to contain other intelligent beings
The intrepid radio astronomer died on September 2nd, aged 92
It was not something Frank Drake set out to do, but it seemed pretty useful. In 1961 he was drawing up a list of topics for a conference he had convened at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory at Green Bank, West Virginia. This would gather in every scientist in the world who cared about intelligent life elsewhere in the universe; about 12 people, by his reckoning. One of them was researching what dolphins said to each other. His own question went somewhat further: whether there were civilisations beyond our solar system, and what they might be trying to say.
This article appeared in the Obituary section of the print edition under the headline “The “Are we alone?” equation”
From the September 24th 2022 edition
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