This an interesting and enjoyable classic sci fi book, about space archeologists searching for an ancient lost species of sentinel beings! Interesting and enjoyable. Whoever wrote the criticism about sexism and racism clearly did not read the book! There are members of different species on the trip, and the discussion of their different traits could be interpreted as racism only by someone hypersensitive to human races. And OMG, a male protagonist finds a female shipmate attractive and hard to figure out! Relatively short book. Read and enjoy this classic and see for yourself how so much contemporary science fiction has become so lame in comparison.

This an early work, sadly filled with racial and gender discrimination to the brim. Distasteful to read.