The author was a professor of English at the University of Kansas. This novel is a well researched compilation of the history of SETI together with an interesting fictional plot. The author has included many quotes from literature related to contact with alien species.

"For fifty years Project scientists has listened from their backwater Puerto Rican outpost for some sign of other intelligent life in the universe.

In 2025, a Message from Capella was received!

Amd suddenly, Robert MacDonald, Project Director, faced one of Mankind's greatest challenges. He had to find a way to decipher a communication from a totally alien culture...and then persuade a reluctant world to respond."