When a neutrino beam with a possible message from an advanced civilization is discovered, scientists from many different fields try to decode the letter from the stars. Impeded by political and military interests, and limited by their own narrow-mindedness and hubris, they struggle to make sense of the transmission and to gain any useful knowledge from it. This is a deeply philosophical book, and Lem’s reasoning is absolutely sound. Since it is told from the viewpoint of one of the leading scientists, a mathematician, it […]