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In the last few years -- in one-millionth the lifetime of our species on this planet -- we have achieved an extraordinary technological capability which enables us to seek out unimaginablydistant civilizations even if they are no more advanced than we. That capability is called radio astronomy and involves single radio telescopes, collections or arrays of radio telescopes, sensitive radio detectors, advanced computers for processing received date, and the imagination andskill of dedicated scientists. Radio astronomy has in the last decade opened a new window on the physical universe. It may also, if we are wise enough to make the effort, cast a profound light on the biological universe.
在過去的幾年里——在本星球人類生活史的百萬分之一的時間內——我們掌握了一種非同尋常的技能，它可以使我們找到蒼茫宇宙間的文明世界，哪怕他們和我們一樣尚處于不發達的狀況。這種技能被稱為射電天文學。它包括單架射電望遠鏡，射電望遠鏡組陣，靈敏的無線電探測器，對收集到的資料進行加工的先進的計算機，以及具有獻身精神的科學家們的想像力和技術。近十年來，射電天文學開辟了一個觀察宇宙物質世界的新窗口。倘若我們的聰明才智發揮得當，或許也可以用它揭示出宇宙生物界的許多秘密。
Some scientists working on the question of extraterrestrial intelligence, myself among them, haveattempted to estimate the number of advanced technical civilizations -- defined operationally as societies capable of radio astronomy -- in the Milky Way Galaxy. Such estimates are little better than guesses. They require assigning numerical values to quantities such as the numbers andages of stars; the abundance of planetary systems and the likelihood of the origin of life, which we know less well; and the probability of the evolution of intelligent life and the lifetime of technical civilizations, about which we know very little indeed.
許多從事外星人研究的科學家，包括本人在內，均在努力估算銀河系中有多少個先進的技術文明社會——為方便起見，我們給這種文明社會下的定義是：掌握了射電天文學的社會。這類估算無異于猜測。它要求將許多情況用具體的數字表達出來，諸如恒星的數目和年齡;行星系究竟多達多少和生命起源的可能性——這些，我們知之甚少，以及有智慧的生命進化的可能性和技術文明社會有多長的生命期——對此，我們更是近乎一無所知。
