Kardashev's Types

In 1964, Soviet scientist Nikolai Kardashev proposed a way to sequence civilizations based 9n the amount of energy they used. Type I civilizations would have access to all the energy resources of their home planet; Type II, of an entire solar system; and Type III would be in command of the energy output of an entire galaxy. '

It's fairly clear no Type III civilization exists in the Milky Way galaxy. Types I and II, however, are quite possible, and could be detected by us, perhaps by one of several strategies emerging in SETI, perhaps by astronomers finding something they cannot explain naturally-- or maybe a bit down the road when our space exploration effort comes across a machine of unearthly origin somewhere in our Solar System.

Kardashev's work on the subject of extraterrestrial intelligence fit within a rather strong stream of Soviet scientific thought. Soviet scientists who worked in experimental fields risked coming to conclusions that were contrary to Soviet dogma. That could be extremely unfortunate for the scientist and his or her family. Many scientists, therefore, chose to concentrate on theoretical work, where the State was less inclined to feel threatened.

Nikolai Kardashev and his classification scheme should be remembered for more than helping SETI researchers conceptualize possible alien neighbors. After all, in his classification, human society is not yet even a Type I civilization. Maybe Kardashev was making a political statement as well as speculating about intelligent life in the universe.