The complete story of Voyager’s Golden Record: how a committee of scientists tried to explain humanity to the universe in 1977 and what their choices reveal about us

Each Voyager Golden Record contains analog-encoded photographs, greetings in dozens of languages, and approximately 90 minutes of music selected by a small committee working under extraordinary time pressure in 1977. The two 12-inch gold-plated copper disks now travel through interstellar space at speeds exceeding 30,000 miles per hour, each one carrying a portrait of Earth assembled by a small team in a matter of weeks. That fact alone should give you pause. A handful of scientists, artists, and engineers decided what humanity sounds like...