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Work #1646 · Late

Contact

Carl Sagan
1985 · English
Science-fiction novel · Saganian science popularisation / philosophical science fiction / SETI-naturalist humanism

Sagan's 1985 'Contact' — first scientifically rigorous SETI-contact novel; the science-religion dialogue dramatised

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute Contact (Late)
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Curved
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Finite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Mediated
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Partial
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Active
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency None
Observer · Moral Authority Reason
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Non-conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

Contact

1985.

Space

Contact

Cornell / Pasadena (Sagan's institutional context).

Matter

Contact

Single science-fiction novel.

Observer

Contact

Late Sagan.

Energy

Contact

Public-scientific-philosophical energies.

Information

Contact

Single novel.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

Contact

Sagan's only novel; defining late-twentieth-century science-religion-dialogue science fiction.