Beings on Earth: Is That All There Is?

The systematic search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) has been ongoing for slightly more than half the century that this journal has been in print, and the topic has been of human interest through recorded history. Are we any closer to detecting cosmic company or knowing whether it should be there? This paper takes a look at what has been done, what we are currently doing, and briefly speculates about what the future of SETI research may look like as well as the implications of a successful detection.