Here you will find a list of my publications that focus on space exploration. This list is updated when I get around to it…
Books
- Traphagan, John W. Culture, Science, and the Search for Life on Other Worlds. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.
- Traphagan, John W. Extraterrestrial Intelligence and Human Imagination: SETI at the Intersection of Science, Religion, and Culture. New York: Springer.
Peer Review Journal Articles
- Traphagan, John W. In press. Should We Lie to Extraterrestrials? A Critique of the Voyager Golden Records. Space Policy.
- Schwartz, James S. J., Sheri Wells-Jensen, John W. Traphagan, Deana Weibel, and Kelly Smith. 2021. What Do We Need to Ask Before Settling Space? Journal of the British Interplanetary Society 74(4): 140-149.
- Traphagan, John W. 2021. SETI, Evolutionary Eschatology, and the Star Trek Imaginary. Theology and Science. https://doi.org/10.1080/14746700.2021.1910911
- Traphagan, John W. 2020. Religion, Science, and Space Exploration from a Non-Western Perspective. Religions 11(8): DOI10.3390/rel11080397.
- Traphagan, John W. and Ken Wisian. 2020. Protocols for Encounter with Extraterrestrials: Lessons from the Covid-19 Pandemic. Journal of the British Interplanetary Society 73(7).
- Smith, Kelly and John W. Traphagan. 2020. First, Do Nothing: A Meek Protocol for First Contact. Space Policy.
- Wisian, Ken and John W. Traphagan. 2020. The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence: A Realpolitik Consideration. Space Policy 52:
- Traphagan, John W. 2019. Deconstructing the Rio Scale: Problems of Subjectivity and Generalization. International Journal of Astrobiology 18(5):463-467.
- Traphagan, John W. 2019. Cargoism and Scientific Justification in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science 54(1): 29 – 45.
- Smith, Kelly, Keith Abney, Greg Anderson, Linda Billings, Carl DeVito, Brian Green, Alan Johnson, Lori Marino, Gonzalo Munevar, Michael Oman-Reagan, Adam Potthast, Jim Schwartz, Koji Tachibana, John W. Traphagan, Sheri Wells-Jensen. 2019. The Great Colonization Debate. Futures 110:4-14.
- Traphagan, John W. 2019. Which Humanity Would Space Colonization Save? Futures 110:47-49.
- Traphagan, John W. 2018. Active SETI and the Problem of Research Ethics. Theology and Science 17(1):69-78.
- Traphagan, John W. 2018. Cargo Cults and the Ethics of Active SETI. Space Policy 46:18-22.
- Traphagan, John W. 2017. Do No Harm? Cultural Imperialism and the Ethics of Active SETI. Journal of the British Interplanetary Society 70: 219-224.
- Traphagan, John W. 2010. Ritual, Meaningfulness, and Interstellar Message Construction. Acta Astronautica 67(7/8): 954-960.
Book Chapters
- Traphagan, John W. and Julian W. Traphagan. SETI in Non-Western Perspective. In Imagining Extraterrestrial Intelligence: Anthropocentric Assumptions? In Steven Dick (ed.), The Impact of Discovering Life Beyond Earth. Cambridge University Press, Pp. 299-307.
- Traphagan, John W. Equating Culture, Civilization, and Moral Development. In Imagining Extraterrestrial Intelligence: Anthropocentric Assumptions? In Steven Dick (ed.), The Impact of Discovering Life Beyond Earth. Cambridge University Press, Pp. 127-142.
- Traphagan, John W. 2014. Anthropology at a Distance: SETI and the Production of Knowledge in the Encounter with an Extraterrestrial Other. In Douglas Vakoch (ed.), Archaeology, Anthropology, and Interstellar Communication. NASA History Series, Pp 131-142.
- Traphagan, John W. 2014. Culture and Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence. In Douglas Vakoch (ed.), Archaeology, Anthropology, and Interstellar Communication. NASA History Series, Pp. 161-174.
- Traphagan, John W. 2011. Culture, Meaning, and Interstellar Message Construction. In Douglas A. Vakoch (ed.), Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Albany: State University of New York Press, Pp. 469-486.
Blog Posts
- Traphagan, John W. 2020. What Can SETI Scholars Learn from the Covid-19 Pandemic? Centauri Dreams.
- Traphagan, John W. 2017. SETI and the Meaningless Rio Scale. Huffington Post.
- Traphagan, John W. 2016. Is Signal From HD164595 Evidence Of Aliens Or Just Another False Alarm? Huffington Post.
- Traphagan, John W. SETI, Imagining Extraterrestrial Civilizations, and War. Huffington Post.
- Traphagan, John W. Is Active SETI Really Dangerous? Huffington Post.
- Traphagan, John W. Cultural Evolution, Extraterrestrials, and Active SETI. Huffington Post.
- Traphagan, John W. 2015. Active SETI and the Perils of Isolationism. 14 December. Huffington Post.
- Traphagan, John W. So What if KIC 8462852 Did Have Megastructures? Huffington Post. 10 December.