Jill Tarter has been asking the big question, “Are we alone in the universe?” since she was a child. Several decades have passed with no answer since that time, and the questions remain:
“We want to know, where do we come from? Where are we going? What is? Why is? And of course if we’re really interested in whether or not there’s anyone else out there.” —
Jill Tarter, Making Contact
Tarter has spent her entire life trying to find an answer to those questions and she’s not done yet. Not only is she the co-founder of the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute in Silicon Valley, she’s also a revolutionary figure in the field of astronomy. From being one of the only female engineers in her university, to oftentimes the only woman in the room at meetings, Tarter’s forged a path for herself out of sheer will and necessity.
You might already know her, or at least a fictional version of her. When Carl Sagan wrote his famous book Contact, he based the main character, Ellie Arroway, on Tarter and her work in radio astronomy. The book eventually led to the film
Contact, where Tarter was played by Jodie Foster, who portrayed a determined and hardworking astronomer constantly battling for funding and telescope time.
Science journalist Sarah Scoles recently wrote an excellent biography of Jill Tarter called
Making Contact: Jill Tarter and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. The book weaves us through the challenges of being a young female engineer and astronomer, while taking an intimate look at the real person behind the fictional character we’re more familiar with. Moreover, the book also provides a rich history on the search for intelligent life in the cosmos, one that frankly wouldn’t exist without Tarter.
I spoke with Sarah about why she wrote the book, the state of SETI, and why Jill Tarter has unknowingly captured our attention for so long. Our interview has been edited for length and clarity below: