Science · Research & investigation

Philip Morrison

Physicist; interstellar-search proposal coauthor

Also known as P. Morrison

Who they are

Philip Morrison and Giuseppe Cocconi proposed a radio search for interstellar communications in 1959. Their paper considered how a technological civilization might choose a detectable signal and why astronomers could search systematically. It is a foundation of a research strategy, with the existence of a transmitting civilization left as a question to investigate.

He appears in the scientific development of SETI observing proposals.

Selected contributions

Coauthored the proposed microwave search strategy with Giuseppe Cocconi.Source ↗

Selected works

Academic paper · 1959
Searching for Interstellar Communications
Coauthor with Giuseppe Cocconi · Nature 184, 844–846; permissioned Cosmic Search reprint
Cocconi and Morrison propose searching the microwave spectrum for interstellar communications and explain why a physically motivated observing strategy is possible. They present a search proposal, not evidence that a signal has been found.
Original published September 19, 1959; linked January 1979 reprint is abridged and omits mathematics.
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Reading scope & citation
Reuses documented prior inspection: Provenance, exact original publication date, qualitative proposal and explicit uncertainty inspected. Full original Nature retrieval failed; omitted equations and complete original remain unread. Reused prior inspected evidence: Provenance, exact original publication date, qualitative proposal and explicit uncertainty inspected. Full original Nature retrieval failed; omitted equations and complete original remain unread.