His Master's Voice - (Mit Press) by Stanislaw Lem (Paperback)
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<p/><br></br><p><b> About the Book </b></p></br></br>"His Master's Voice is one of Lem's most polished and fully realized novels. It is told in the voice of Peter Hogarth, an eminent mathematician, who admits in the initial chapter that "the fundamental traits of my character I consider to be cowardice, malice, and pride." Hogarth recounts how he was conscripted to join the secret Master's Voice project -- several hundred scientists and researchers on an isolated desert base who are attempting to interpret an extraterrestrial message encoded in neutrino emissions. Despite some early and partial successes the efforts of the scientists to understand the message prove futile. Hogarth is drawn into intrigues between various research groups, and the unnervingly increasing influence of the Pentagon. He is eventually made aware of clandestine research into a potential side-effect of HMV, one that has the potential for a weapon of unimaginable power. Originally published in 1968, His Master's Voice holds up a mirror to Cold War politics, the alignment of military power and scientific knowledge, and human hubris. It also reflects on how unlikely it is that we could ever comprehend a message from another civilization: "Given that our civilization is unable to asilimate well even those concepts that originate in human heads when they appear outside its main current, although the creators of those concepts are, after all, children of the same age -- how colud we have assumed that we would be capable of understanding a civilization totally unlike ours, if it addressed us across the cosmic gulf?""--<p/><br></br><p><b> Book Synopsis </b></p></br></br><b>Scientists attempt to decode what may be a message from intelligent beings in outer space.</b><p>By pure chance, scientists detect a signal from space that may be communication from rational beings. How can people of Earth understand this message, knowing nothing about the senders--even whether or not they exist? Written as the memoir of a mathematician who participates in the government project (code name: His Master's Voice) attempting to decode what seems to be a message from outer space, this classic novel shows scientists grappling with fundamental questions about the nature of reality, the confines of knowledge, the limitations of the human mind, and the ethics of military-sponsored scientific research.</p><p/><br></br><p><b> Review Quotes </b></p></br></br><br>Such deadly wit, such deadly playful tightrope walking...a modern European version of Swift or Voltaire." --Peter S. Beagle, <i>New York Times <p/></i>The release of these new volumes seems to expand the possibilities of what a university publisher can do. --LitHub <p/>This thorough, intellectual take on a classic hard sci-fi trope is Lem at his best. --<b>STARRED REVIEW</b>, <i>Publishers Weekly <p/></i>Fourteen years after his death, the universe is still struggling to catch up with the vast creative force that was Stanislaw Lem. And for my money, it won't be surpassing him anytime soon...Enjoying the genius of Lem requires readerly dexterity and a willingness to go wherever the author takes you...These marvelous, absorbing and often hilarious books make our weary universe seem pale and undistinguished by comparison. --<i>The Washington Post</i><br>
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