My thanks to NetGalley and Workman Publishing Company for an advance copy of this book that explores the world of alien contact from the early days of many looking up, to the possible future of visiting strange new worlds, and hopefully treating them better than we have this one.

To quote a poster that Fox Mulder of the show The X-Files kept in his office I want to believe. I want to believe that the world and the universe is far bigger, far weirder, and a little more saner in some places than the old sod we are living on. Though to quote Bill Waterson, “The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us." Not for lack of trying on our part, space probes, Voyager programs and communications have been sent to the stars, asking, begging for digits to make contact with others. As a long time science fiction fan I am sometimes of mixed thoughts about this. For ever Arthur C. Clarke, hey we want to help, there is an H. G. Wells saying, hey humans love to colonize don't you think aliens do too. These points of view along with a lot of science, a lot hope and a lot of humor make up First Contact: The Story of Our Obsession with Aliens by Becky Ferreira a book about aliens, the night sky, what is out there, and if we will ever go there.

The starts with a dedication that paraphrases Douglas Adams, so I knew that I was going to enjoy this. We start with the ancients looking into the night sky and slowly coming to realize how important those blinking lights can be. Stars can tell one's destination, how to sail what to follow in landscape that looks all similar. Stars can tell time, which people used, creating instruments and monuments that have kept the History Channel in the black for years. The clash of science and religion, something that never seems to go away is discussed, with ideas about the Earth being the center of things giving way to the Earth being a small atom in a sea of countless stars and exoplanets. There are stories of aliens, starting with ancient astronauts, to Kenneth Arnold's saucers, even to the US Navy's release of videos showing fast movers and confused pilots. In addition their is a tour of the universe, with ideas and possibilities of what man might someday find, along with the troubles and dangers it would take to get there.

I enjoyed this book quite a bit. This is more of a primer about aliens, planets and space. Hardcore nerds who can name all the Air Force programs on UFO's won't learn anything new, but to people who are intrigued by all this Mars talk, or people like my nephews who are just beginning to look up from their phones and seeing the night sky this is a good read. Ferreira is a good writer mixing facts and lots of sources with a bit of humor. The humor is just right, not to jokey, not to hokey. As I said there is a lot of sourcing here, and gives those readers who are interested more works to look at to further their education. The illustrations are quite good too.

One can just drop in read a section, and than share that information for the rest of the day with people. I did this with my nephews, and was surprised to find they were actually interested. I would recommend this for kids too. My nephews are not readers, but they enjoyed what I shared, and asked questions. A nice book to start with before one enters the contentious world of Ufology, when stories about space were fun, and not about making safe places for millionaires to exploit or hide from dying Earths.

This is a cheerful and convivial look through the history of humanity's search for life "out there". It isn't an "ancient aliens" style book of nonsense, but rather a steady walk through what has actually happened - and what we hope might happen.

It is a beautiful PDF which has been gorgeously typeset and lushly illustrated. So many fonts! Sure, it isn't brilliant for eInk but excellent for a tablet or any other full-colour screen.

The language is unpretentious and accessible. It's probably aimed towards the space-obsessed teen market, but I found it delightful.

The authorities were decidedly unchill about all this philosophizing, however, and Anaxagoras was condemned to death for impiety—a charge based on his rejection of religious teachings—after he kept insisting the Sun was a hot and large natural object, not some hunky god driving a chariot across the sky.

There aren't any inline references or footnotes - and links to images would be nice - but they're all all stuffed at the end if you want to find more.

It would have been nice if some of the examples were a little more fleshed out:

Many cultures have imagined themselves as the descendants of celestial objects, or believed that they will ascend to the skies to join their ancestors after death.

But it is an excellent jumping off point for anyone who wants to expand their horizons. The book isn't really in any chronological order so jumps around a fair bit. Full of fascinating titbits - especially radio silence day - and avoids the trap of sticking to just the USA cultural hegemony,

A great starting point for anyone who wants to get quickly acquainted with our (so far futile) attempts to discover alien life.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the preview copy - the book is on sale 30th September 2025.