NASA has made available for general download as an eBook, the compilation of works titled Archaeology, Anthropology, and Interstellar Communication, edited by Douglas A. Vakoch.

In this collection, scholars are grappling with some of the enormous challenges that will face humanity if an information-rich signal emanating from another world is detected. By drawing on issues at the core of contemporary archaeology and anthropology, we can be much better prepared for contact with an extraterrestrial civilization, should that day ever come.

Addressing a field that has been dominated by astronomers, physicists, engineers, and computer scientists, the contributors to this collection raise questions that may have been overlooked by physical scientists about the ease of establishing meaningful communication with an extraterrestrial intelligence.

Archaeology, Anthropology, and Interstellar Communication is available in .MOBI format for Kindle, .EPUB format for other eBook readers, and .PDF for a fixed layout for desktop, laptop, tablet or printing.

For a sneak peak, here is a slightly abbreviated look at the table of contents:

I. Introduction

Reconstructing Distant Civilizations and Encountering Alien Cultures
Douglas A. Vakoch

II. Historical Perspectives on SETI

Chapter 1: SETI: The NASA Years
John Billingham

Chapter 2: A Political History of NASA’s SETI Program
Stephen J. Garber

Chapter 3: The Role of Anthropology in SETI–A Historical View
Steven J. Dick

III. Archaeological Analogues

Chapter 4: A Tale of Two Analogues–Learning at a Distance from the Ancient Greeks and Maya and the Problem of Deciphering Extraterrestrial Radio Transmissions
Ben Finney and Jerry Bentley

Chapter 5: Beyond Linear B–The Metasemiotic Challenge of Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence
Richard Saint-Gelais

Chapter 6: Learning To Read–Interstellar Message Decipherment from Archaeological and Anthropological Perspectives
Kathryn E. Denning

Chapter 7: Inferring Intelligence Prehistoric and Extraterrestrial
Paul K. Wason

IV. Anthropology, Culture, and Communication

Chapter 8: Anthropology at a Distance–SETI and the Production of Knowledge in the Encounter with an Extraterrestrial Other
John W. Traphagan

Chapter 9: Contact Considerations–A Cross-Cultural Perspective
Douglas Raybeck

Chapter 10: Culture and Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence
John W. Traphagan

Chapter 11: Speaking for Earth–Projecting Cultural Values Across Deep Space and Time
Albert A. Harrison

V. The Evolution and Embodiment of Extraterrestrials

Chapter 12: The Evolution of Extraterrestrials–The Evolutionary Synthesis and Estimates of the Prevalence of Intelligence Beyond Earth
Douglas A. Vakoch

Chapter 13: Biocultural Prerequisites for the Development of Interstellar Communication
Garry Chick

Chapter 14: Ethology, Ethnology, and Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence
Dominique Lestel

Chapter 15: Constraints on Message Construction for Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence
William H. Edmondson

VI. Epilogue

Mirrors of Our Assumptions–Lessons from an Arthritic Neanderthal
Douglas A. Vakoch