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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.
在过去的几年里——在本星球人类生活史的百万分之一的时间内——我们掌握了一种非同寻常的技能，它可以使我们找到苍茫宇宙间的文明世界，哪怕他们和我们一样尚处于不发达的状况。这种技能被称为射电天文学。它包括单架射电望远镜，射电望远镜组阵，灵敏的无线电探测器，对收集到的资料进行加工的先进的计算机，以及具有献身精神的科学家们的想像力和技术。近十年来，射电天文学开辟了一个观察宇宙物质世界的新窗口。倘若我们的聪明才智发挥得当，或许也可以用它揭示出宇宙生物界的许多秘密。
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.
许多从事外星人研究的科学家，包括本人在内，均在努力估算银河系中有多少个先进的技术文明社会——为方便起见，我们给这种文明社会下的定义是：掌握了射电天文学的社会。这类估算无异于猜测。它要求将许多情况用具体的数字表达出来，诸如恒星的数目和年龄;行星系究竟多达多少和生命起源的可能性——这些，我们知之甚少，以及有智慧的生命进化的可能性和技术文明社会有多长的生命期——对此，我们更是近乎一无所知。
