Echoes of Time: Scales of Time

"Echoes of Time: Scales of Time" is a hard science fiction novel that tells the entire process of contact between human civilization and alien civilization. The work starts from the first interception of signals from extraterrestrial civilizations by humans. Through the perspective of scientist Jiang Chen, it shows an epic interstellar exchange of civilizations. The description of the analysis of signals from extraterrestrial civilizations in the novel refers to the real SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Civilizations) project methods, including Fourier transform analysis of signals, repeatability confirmation, etc. The story takes place on Earth in the near future. Humanity's technological level has improved compared to today, but interstellar navigation has not yet been achieved. The protagonist Jiang Chen is an astrophysicist who works at a radio telescope array in the mountains. When the array received a signal from an exoplanet 437 light-years away from Earth, human civilization ushered in the most revolutionary moment in history. It is not the interstellar war in traditional science fiction works, but the cognitive gap between two completely different civilizations. The alien civilization "Blue Ring People" have completely different thinking patterns and ways of perception from humans, which makes understanding and communication between the two parties face huge challenges. The work deeply explores the meaning of communication itself - when the basic perceptions and logical frameworks of both parties are completely different, is true understanding possible? When faced with a civilization that far exceeds human understanding, will humans choose to retreat in awe or bravely engage? This power asymmetry between civilizations is strikingly similar to the contact between different civilizations in human history. True science fiction is not only about describing the future, but also about helping us look at the present from a new perspective and examine the essence of who we are as human beings.