Contact (novel)

Contact

Company type	Novel
Industry	Publishing
Founded	1985
Founder	Carl Sagan
Products	Science fiction novel

Contact is a 1985 hard science fiction work authored by American scientist Carl Sagan. The narrative explores humanity's encounter with an extraterrestrial civilization possessing superior technology. It achieved the No. 7 position on Publishers Weekly's bestseller rankings for 1985. This novel represents Sagan's sole complete fictional publication and originated from a screenplay co-developed with Ann Druyan, who later became his wife, in 1979. After the film project was temporarily shelved, Sagan transformed the screenplay into a novel. Eventually, the movie was revived and released in 1997 as Contact, featuring Jodie Foster.

Plot

Eleanor "Ellie" Arroway demonstrates an early talent for science and mathematics. Following the completion of her doctorate at Caltech under radio astronomer David Drumlin, she assumes leadership of "Project Argus," a New Mexico-based radio telescope array dedicated to searching for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). Despite facing resistance, including from Drumlin who attempts to cut SETI funding, the team detects a transmission originating from Vega, located 26 light-years away, which consists of prime numbers—recognized as a universal mathematical language. Further examination uncovers a retransmission of Adolf Hitler's 1936 Olympic speech, Earth's earliest television broadcast to escape the ionosphere.

President Helen Lasker involves Ellie in establishing protocols for first contact. Ellie begins a romantic relationship with Ken der Heer, the Presidential Science Advisor, and collaborates with her Soviet counterpart Vaygay Lunacharsky to maintain continuous monitoring of the signal. A third message reveals blueprints for an advanced device; however, decoding its extensive 30,000-page content requires a missing instructional guide.

At the President's behest, Ellie meets religious figures Billy Jo Rankin and Palmer Joss. Although skeptical, she finds Joss’s insights compelling while dismissing Rankin’s beliefs. In Paris, specialists verify that the Machine is a five-seat dodecahedron. There Ellie encounters Devi Sukhavati, a physician who left India for love. Billionaire S. R. Hadden proposes searching for phase modulation within the signal, leading to the discovery of the primer.

A competitive effort between U.S. and Soviet teams to construct the Machine unfolds; due to flaws in the Soviet design, only the American version remains functional. Ellie applies to be a passenger but loses her place to Drumlin. During testing, extremists bomb the Wyoming facility, resulting in Drumlin's death and project delays. Concurrently, Ellie's mother suffers a stroke, causing familial strain.

Ellie later learns that Hadden has covertly assembled a third Machine in Japan scheduled for launch on December 31, 1999. Alongside Vaygay, Devi, Nigerian physicist Abonnema Eda, and Chinese archaeologist Xi Qiaomu, Ellie secures one of the seats. Before departure, Joss presents Ellie with a medallion.

The Machine transports its occupants through wormholes to a station near the Milky Way's core where each individual encounters an alien entity appearing as someone they love. Ellie's visitor takes the form of her late father and explains their species' objectives along with their endeavor to alter cosmic properties using mass within Cygnus A. The wormhole network was constructed by unknown precursors; concealed messages are embedded in transcendental numbers such as pi. They document proof before returning to Earth.

The journey seems instantaneous from Earth's perspective; however, video evidence is erased—likely due to magnetic fields associated with wormholes—and with Hadden presumed dead and transmissions halted, officials suspect deception. Under pressure to remain silent, the travelers comply although Joss believes Ellie's account is truthful. The novel reveals that Hadden faked his death and launched himself into space through cryogenic means—unknown to others.

Following "Ted's" suggestion, Ellie initiates a program calculating pi to unprecedented lengths and discovers after 10²⁰ digits in pi's base-11 notation a circular pattern formed by 0s and 1s—serving as confirmation of her journey. Shortly after revealing that Staughton—not Ted—is Ellie's biological father, her mother passes away.

Publication history

Motivated by his childhood immersion in science fiction literature, Sagan sought to create authentic narratives that illuminate genuine scientific concepts and historical contexts. In 1981, Simon & Schuster granted him what was then a record $2 million advance for Contact, which sold 1.7 million copies within two years and was selected as a Book-of-the-Month-Club main feature.

Physicist Kip Thorne provided input regarding wormholes during the novel’s development. The protagonist Eleanor Arroway’s name draws inspiration from Eleanor Roosevelt (a figure admired by Sagan’s wife Ann Druyan) and Voltaire (whose surname was Arouet), with her character modeled after SETI researcher Jill Tarter.

The book received the Locus Award for Best First Novel in 1986.

External links

• In-depth examination of the novel and film by Larry Klaes