McDevitt (World 52)
Jack McDevitt
(1935 – ; first SF publication, 1981) writes in his Priscilla Hutchins series of a future in which faster-than-light travel is discovered, followed by ever-faster (and thus ever-farther) advancements in travel. As humanity expands into the galaxy (and beyond), it also reaches back farther and farther in time, exploring the traces and ramifications of alien civilizations long-since vanished … and a civilization or two that are still in existence.
He explores the consequences of long-ago civilization, both alien and human, in other stories, as well. Ancient Shores uncovers a pristine boat docked on a lake that disappeared thousands of years earlier. Eternity Road searches for knowledge in a post-apocalyptic America. And in my favorite McDevitt series, set about 9000 years in the future, archaeologist Alex Benedict and pilot Chase Kolpath search for artifacts of lost ships, famous encounters, and even the long-ago birth of spaceflight. These are well-written mysteries in a science fiction setting, with believable characters — tasty reading!
Stellar Antiquities
Benedict and Kolpath track down all types of stellar antiquities, some from as recently as sixty years earlier, some from voyages of a much earlier age.