2.1 Ancient Beginnings

2.2 The Long Interregnum

2.3 Plurality of Worlds and Divine Purpose

2.4 Science and Science Fiction

3.1 Xenoarchaeology

3.1.1 Extraterrestrial Intervention in

Biological Evolution

3.1.2 Extraterrestrial Cultural Intervention

3.1.3 Extraterrestrial Artifacts

and Manifestations

3.2 Ufology

3.2.1 Why Believe in UFOs?

3.2.2 The Evidence for UFOs

3.2.3 The UFO Game

3.3 The Resident Aliens

4.1 The Universe

4.2 Galaxies

4.3 The Milky Way Galaxy

4.4 The Stars

5.1 Planetary Evolution

5.2 Thalassogens

5.3 Planetary Atmospheres

5.4 Planetary Meteorology & Astrogeology

5.4.1 Climate and Weather

5.4.2 Sky Colors

5.4.3 Astrogeology

5.5 Planetary Habitability

6.1 Chronology

6.2 What Is Life?

6.2.1 The Traditional Answer

6.2.22 Organization

6.2.3 Towards a Definition of Life

7.1 Historical Views on the Origin of Life

7.2 Cosmochemical Evolution

7.3 Early Chemical Evolution on Earth

7.3.1 Prebiotic Synthesis

7.4 Proteins and Cells

7.5 Nucleic Acids and DNA

7.6 Early Biological Systems

8.1 The Argument for Diversity

8.1.1 Temperature Chauvinism

8.2 Alternative Biochemistries

8.2.1 The Limits of Carbon Aqueous

8.2.2 Alternatives to Water

8.2.3 Alternatives to Carbon

8.3 Exotic Lifeforms

10.1 Finding the Energy to Live

10.2 Photosynthesis

10.3 Animal Metabolism and Respiration

10.4 Alien Blood

10.5 Thermoregulation

11.1 Specialization and Symmetry

11.2 Xenobiomechanics

11.2.1 The Challenge of Gravity

11.2.2 Meeting the Challenge: Skeletons

11.3 Alien Locomotion

11.3.1 Aquatic Locomotion

11.3.2 Travel by Land

11.3.3 Avian Propulsion

12.1 Is Sex Necessary?

12.2 The Bisexual Universe

12.2.1 Intersexuality

12.2.2 Optional Sex

12.3 Alien Sex Practices

12.3.1 Alien Orgasms

12.4 Xenogamy

13.1 Tactile Senses

13.2 Olfaction

13.3 Acoustical Senses

13.3.1 Two-Dimensional Sound

13.3.2 Three-Dimensional Sound

13.4 Electrical and Magnetic Senses

13.5 Vision

13.5.1 Visible Vision

13.5.2 Infrared Vision

13.5.3 Radio Vision

13.6 Alien Senses

14.1 Evolution of Intelligence

14.1.1 In the Beginning

14.1.2 The Triune Brain

14.2 Juvenile Extraterrestrial Intelligences

14.2.1 Genetic Sentience

14.2.2 Brain Sentience

14.2.3 Communal Sentience

14.3 Alien Consciousness / Sentience Quotient

15.1 Type I Civilizations: Planetary Cultures

15.2 Type II Civilizations: Stellar Cultures

15.3 Type III Civilizations: Galactic Cultures

15.4 Type IV Civilizations: Universal Cultures

16.1 Bioneering

16.1.1 Intelligence Amplification

16.1.2 Genetic Surgery

16.1.3 Genetic Hybrids / Synthetic Genes

16.1.4 Ectogenesis and Cloning

16.2 Immortality

16.2.1 Xenogerontology

16.2.2 The Limits of Immortality

16.3 Androids and Cyborgs

16.3.1 Androids and Organleggers

16.3.2 The Bionic Alien

16.3.3 Enter the Robot? (aka. Uploading)

16.4 Machine Life

16.4.1 Artificial Intelligence

16.4.2 Robots and Robotics

16.4.3 Machine Evolution

17.1 Communication vs. Transportation

17.2 Relativistic Starflight

17.3 Conventional Interstellar Propulsion

Systems

17.3.1 Nuclear Pulse Propulsion

17.3.2 Controlled Fusion Rocket

17.3.3 Interstellar Ramjet

17.3.4 Beamed Power Laser Propulsion

17.3.5 Total Conversion Drives

17.4 Exotic Propulsion Systems

17.4.1 Gravity Catapults

17.4.2 Antigravity / Reactionless Field Drives

17.4.3 Tachyon Starships

17.4.4 Momentum Interconversion Drives

17.4.5 Statistical Transport

17.4.6 Black Holes and Space Warps

17.4.7 Teleportation / Transporter Beams

17.5 Time Travel

17.6 Interstellar Navigation

17.7 Generation Ships / Suspended Animation

18.1 Chemical, Biochemical,

and Biological Weaponry

18.2 Bionic Weaponry

18.3 Sonic Weapons

18.4 Photonic Radiative Weaponry

18.5 Particulate Radiative Weaponry

18.6 Nuclear Explosives

18.7 Climate Modification and

High Technology Weapons

18.8 The Ultimate Weapon

19.1 Alien Materials Technology

19.1.1 New Forms of Matter

19.1.2 Energy Storage / Mining Techniques

19.2 Extraterrestrial Habitat Engineering

19.2.1 Terraforminge

19.2.2 Space Habitats

19.2.3 Planet Moving and Star Mining

19.2.4 Large Scale Biospheric Engineering

19.2.5 Galactic Megastructures

20.1 Biological Evolution

20.1.1 Evolution Rates

20.2 Xenopsychology

20.2.1 Energy Ecology

20.2.2 Competition and Aggression

20.2.3 Universal Emotions

20.2.4 Xenophobia

20.3 Early Technological Civilizations

20.3.1 Telluric Civilizations

20.3.2 Aquatic Civilizations

20.3.3 Avian Civilizations

20.4 Alien Social Systems

20.4.1 Models for Extraterrestrial Societies

21.1 Dimensions of Extraterrestrial

Government

21.1.1 Governance Scales

21.2 Alien Political Organizations:

Xenopolitical Factors

21.2.1 Sentience

21.2.2 Dispersion

21.2.3 Size

21.2.4 Heritage

21.2.5 Xenopolitics: Tentative Conclusions

21.3 Extraterrestrial Organizational

Cybernetics

21.3.1 System Complexity

21.3.2 System Structure

21.3.3 System Stability

21.4 Strategic Galactography

21.4.1 The Economic Viability of

Interstellar Cargo Transport

21.4.2 Galactic Trade Routes

21.4.3 Interstellar War

22.1 Alien Religion

22.2 Alien Ritual

22.2.1 Religious Rites

22.2.2 Extraterrestrial Cults

22.3 Ethics and Law

22.3.1 Extraterrestrial Ethics

22.3.2 Legal Universals

22.3.3 Xenopenology

22.4 Philosophy and Knowledge

22.4.1 Alien Logic

22.4.2 Time, Language, and Space

22.4.3 Science and Paradigmology

22.4.4 Xenoeschatology

22.5 Extraterrestrial Aesthetics

22.5.1 Xenomusicology

22.5.2 Alien Painting and Surface Arts

22.5.3 Dance and Sports

22.5.4 Alien Sculpture and Architecture

23.1 Theoretical Galactic Demography

23.1.1 The Drake Equation

23.2 Observational Galactic Demography

23.2.1 Direct Observation of Alien Planets

24.1 The Cosmic Miracle

24.1.1 Eavesdropping

24.2 Extraterrestrial Signaling

24.2.1 Alternative Channels: Neutrinos,

HEPs, Gravitons and Tachyons

24.2.2 Electromagnetic Waves and

Frequency Selection

24.2.3 Acquisition and Artificiality Criteria

24.2.4 Alien Message Contents

24.2.5 SETI: Yesterday and Today

24.3 Extraterrestrial Starprobes / Artifacts

24.3.1 Why Probes are Better

24.3.2 Mission Profile

24.3.3 The Nature of Alien Artifacts

24.3.4 Project Daedalus

25.1 First Contact and Metalaw

25.1.1 Basic Metalaw

25.1.2 Fasan's Metalaws

25.1.3 Universal Thermoethical Principles

of First Contact

25.2 The Character of First Contact

25.2.1 Mass-Energy Scales of Contact

25.2.2 Information-Rate Scales of Contact

25.2.3 Generalized First Contact Taxonomy

25.3 First Contact Protocols and

Elementary Astropolitics

25.3.1 Encounters Between Equals:

The 0/0 Contact

25.3.2 Gods and Primitives: 11/0 Contact

25.3.3 Trees and Humans: The 0/10 Contact

25.3.4 Higher-Order Contacts

26.1 Military and Political Response

26.1.1 Remote Contact

26.1.2 Direct Contact

26.1.3 Surprise Contact

26.2 Public Reaction and the Press

26.2.1 Rumor and Credibility

26.2.2 Panic and Mass Hysteria

26.3 Legal Issues of First Contact

26.3.1 Alien Animals

26.3.2 Legal Standards of Personhood

26.3.3 Extraterrestrial Persons

26.3.4 Aliens and American Law

26.4 Human Sociocultural Response

26.4.1 The Acculturation of Humanity

26.4.2 Social Impact of First Contact

26.4.3 The Religious Response

26.4.4 Impact on Science and Technology