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Winston Churchill’s essay on alien life found

A Correction to this article was published on 06 April 2017

A newly unearthed article by the great politician reveals that he reasoned like a scientist about the likelihood of extraterrestrials, writes Mario Livio.

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References

  1. Churchill, W. 'Fifty Years Hence' The Strand Magazine (December 1931).

  2. Jones, R. V. in Churchill (eds Blake, R. & Louis, W. R.) 437 (Clarendon Press, 1996).

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  6. Livio, M. & Silk, J. 'Where Are They?' Physics Today (in the press).

  7. Churchill, W. 'Churchill College' The New Scientist 12 (15 May 1958).

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  8. Humes, J. C. Churchill: The Prophetic Statesman 82 (Regnery History, 2012).

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Correspondence to Mario Livio.

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US National Churchill Museum

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Livio, M. Winston Churchill’s essay on alien life found. Nature 542, 289–291 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/542289a

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