Hitting the Books: What exactly did Jodi Foster hear in 'Contact'?

Art may imitate life but it rarely does so with realistic fidelity. As Naomi Pequette, Space Science Programs Specialist at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, argues in her essay "The Sounds of Contact" as part of The Science if Sci-Fi Cinema: Essays on the Art and Principles of Ten Films, being "based on a true story" doesn't exactly mean we're getting the whole story. McFarlandFrom The Science of Sci-Fi Cinema: Essays on the Art and Principles of Ten Films © 2021 Edited by Vincent Piturro by permission of McFarland & Company, Inc., Box 611, Jefferson NC 28640.How would you react if you found out we aren’t alone in the universe? Imagine the moment you discover a radio signal from another civilization had traveled billions of miles through interstellar space, had been detected by some of the most powerful radio telescopes in the world, and decoded by scientists. Would it matter if it was first detected by scientists from your home country? Would the content of the signal matter? Would you want the chance to be able to meet the alien civilization that sent the signal? These are all questions that the movie Contact explores.The opening sequence of Contact sets the scientific basis for the rest of the film. As the camera travels away from Earth, the audience hears a cacophony of sounds. These sounds, which are radio and television signals traveling out into space, get older and older as we zoom past planets and asteroids. Eventually there is silence as the audience... Continue reading at 'Engadget'

[ Engadget | 2021-09-04 15:30:43 UTC ]
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E-books and Continuum buy drive sales at Bloomsbury

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 27/10/2011 - 09:41 E-book sales and the acquisition of Continuum helped sales at Bloomsbury leap 16%, although relocation and restructuring costs led to pre-tax profit more than halving to £0.3m, in its latest set of financial accounts.... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Virgin Books goes wild for David Essex

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 24/10/2011 - 09:15 Virgin Books has acquired actor and 1970s heartthrob David Essex's autobiography. The as-yet-untitled book will be published in March 2012 and will chart Essex's career spanning four decades as a drummer, singer, theatre star,... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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First enhanced ebook from Short Books

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Mon, 24/10/2011 - 08:10 Short Books has produced its first enhanced ebook for the digital version of Birdwatching with your Eyes Closed (3rd November), the new book from Simon Barnes, author of How to be a Bad Birdwatcher. The book explores the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Phone hacking scandal hits publishing

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Fri, 21/10/2011 - 08:33 The News of the World phone hacking scandal has hit the book industry, with the revelation that private material relating to individuals within the trade has been discovered by police during "Operation Weeting". Both agent... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Small Demons Makes Big Splash at Frankfurt Book Fair

In his closing remarks, Frankfurt Book Fair director Juergen Boos said that 2011 was a strong year for startups at the fair. Among those startups, perhaps none had a better reception than Small Demons, in Los Angeles. “We couldn’t have asked for a better first Frankfurt Book Fair,” Small Demons... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-10-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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New Holland hit by more redundancies

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 20/10/2011 - 15:50 Illustrated publisher New Holland has undergone its third round of redundancies in four years, with nearly half the company’s UK staff leaving the publisher, including its managing director. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Heaney lauded at Irish Book Awards

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 20/10/2011 - 15:10 Poet Seamus Heaney is to receive a lifetime achievement award at this year's Bord Gais Energy Irish Book Awards, with the gongs including an Irish Bookshop of the Year Award for the first time. Also new this year, RTE... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Alma Books to expand after profitable year

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 20/10/2011 - 08:45 Alma Books is planning to hire more staff and expand its non-fiction and YA lists, after reversing a loss made in its 2009 financial year. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Winman wins Edinburgh Festival book prize

Written By: Katie Allen Publication Date: Wed, 19/10/2011 - 14:45 Sarah Winman’s debut When God Was a Rabbit (Headline Review) has won the 2011 Edinburgh International Book Festival’s Newton First Book Award. The award encourages attendees of the festival to vote for their favourite of the 47... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Saltyard acquires Prashad restaurant books

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 18/10/2011 - 07:00 Saltyard Books has bought two books about Prashad, the Indian restaurant run by the Patel family in Bradford which narrowly missed out on Gordon Ramsey's Britain's Best Restaurant award. Saltyard Books publisher Elizabeth... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Open Road launches Iconic E-Books

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 18/10/2011 - 15:19 Digital publisher Open Road is launching a new imprint, Iconic E-books, with Erica Jong's Fear of Flying and Alice Walker's The Color Purple to be among its first titles. The Iconic E-Books titles will be those that have... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Miller and Birch lead Booker sales for book chains

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 18/10/2011 - 09:00 AD Miller's Snowdrops and Carol Birch's Jamrach's Menagerie are the bestselling books in the Man Booker shortlist on the high street, ahead of the prize's announcement this evening. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Lauren Myracle Withdraws ‘Shine’ From National Book Awards

Lauren Myracle, the author of “Shine,” withdrew from the shortlist for the National Book Awards on Monday, soon after she was mistakenly named a finalist by the National Book Foundation. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-10-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hollinghurst makes Galaxy Book Awards shortlist

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 17/10/2011 - 08:25 Alan Hollinghurst, whose novel The Stranger's Child was a surprise omission from the Man Booker shortlist this year, has been shortlisted for an award at the Galaxy National Book Awards 2011, with works by Ian Rankin and... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Science book deals at Frankfurt

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Fri, 14/10/2011 - 11:25 Popular science writer Simon Singh has accepted a six-figure world English language rights pre-empt made at Frankfurt for his next book, The Mathematics of The Simpsons. The deal, Singh's first since winning the legal case... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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PW Select Fall 2011: E-Book Master Class: PW Talks with Joshua Tallent

If self-publishing is a major part of the future of the publishing business, then its most uncharted region, and the frontier of greatest possibility, is digital self-publishing, where authors can make their own names and sell infinite numbers of books with the help of a handful of increasingly... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-10-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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21 Finalists for 2011 National Book Awards

The announcement of the nominees for the 2011 National Book Awards had an extra dose of drama this year as the National Book Foundation added a sixth selection to the Young People’s Literature category after the original broadcast over Oregon Public Broadcasting’s program Think Out Loud had only... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-10-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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E-tailers, E-books Move Ahead

Online retailers continued to increase their market share of book purchases in the second quarter of 2011, according to the latest data from Bowker’s PubTrack Consumer service. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-10-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Frankfurt Book Fair in upbeat mood

Written By: Philip Jones and Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 13/10/2011 - 16:10 The quadruple threat of air traffic control strikes, economic slow-down, creaking Blackberry servers and digital disruption failed to dim spirits as the 63rd Frankfurt Book Fair continued this week. read... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Beautiful Books enters administration

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Tue, 11/10/2011 - 15:00 Independent publisher Beautiful Books entered administration earlier today (11th October). The company has ceased to trade and four members of staff have been made redundant. A spokesperson for London firm Leonard Curtis, the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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