Contact

I'm really surprised that I didn't read Carl Sagan's Contact before now. I mean, it's my life and I know that there was always something else I wanted to read. But looking back, I really wish I had read this book in high school. I think a lot of what Ellie experiences in the first few chapters would have prepared me better for the massive amount of sexism I suddenly encountered in college. I'm impressed with how well Sagan captured the experience of being a woman in science.

Mostly I really liked this book. The science that went in to sending and then decoding the message was really interesting. And there were some great characters, including Palmer Joss and the man who funded the building of the machine. It got a bit slow at times, especially towards the end. But it mostly held my attention.

Now I just need to track down and watch the movie again. I haven't seen it since high school, but I remember liking it. I'd like to see how it compares to the book and get another glimpse of how they translated all the heavy math and science to a visual medium

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