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A CITY ON MARS: CAN WE SETTLE SPACE, SHOULD WE SETTLE SPACE, AND HAVE WE REALLY
THOUGHT THIS THROUGH?


KELLY WEINERSMITH, ZACH WEINERSMITH

4.23
496 ratings103 reviews
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* THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A Times Best Science and Environment
Book of 2023“Exceptional. . . Forceful, engaging and funny . . . This book will
make you happy to live on this planet — a good thing, because you’re not leaving
anytime soon.” —New York Times Book ReviewFrom the bestselling authors of
Soonish, a brilliant and hilarious off-world investigation into space settlement

Earth is not well. The promise of starting life anew somewhere far, far away—no
climate change, no war, no Twitter—beckons, and settling the stars finally seems
within our grasp. Or is it? Critically acclaimed, bestselling authors Kelly and
Zach Weinersmith set out to write the essential guide to a glorious future of
space settlements, but after years of research, they aren’t so sure it’s a good
idea. Space technologies and space business are progressing fast, but we lack
the knowledge needed to have space kids, build space farms, and create space
nations in a way that doesn’t spark conflict back home. In a world hurtling
toward human expansion into space, A City on Mars investigates whether the dream
of new worlds won’t create nightmares, both for settlers and the people they
leave behind. In the process, the Weinersmiths answer every question about space
you’ve ever wondered about, and many you’ve never considered:

Can you make babies in space? Should corporations govern space settlements? What
about space war? Are we headed for a housing crisis on the Moon’s Peaks of
Eternal Light—and what happens if you’re left in the Craters of Eternal
Darkness? Why do astronauts love taco sauce? Speaking of meals, what’s the legal
status of space cannibalism?

With deep expertise, a winning sense of humor, and art from the beloved creator
of Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, the Weinersmiths investigate perhaps the
biggest questions humanity will ever ask itself—whether and how to become
multiplanetary.

Get in, we’re going to Mars.
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GenresScienceNonfictionSpaceTechnologyGraphic NovelsHistoryHumor

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448 pages, Hardcover

First published November 7, 2023

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

KELLY WEINERSMITH

4 books197 followers
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Dr. Kelly Weinersmith is adjunct faculty Biosciences department at Rice
University, where she studies parasites that manipulate the behavior of their
hosts. She also cohosts Science…sort of, which is one of the top 20 natural
science podcasts. Kelly spoke at Smithsonian magazine’s The Future Is Here
Festival in 2015, and her work has been featured in The Atlantic, National
Geographic, BBC World, Science, and Nature.
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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

4.23
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 103 reviews
Cav
723 reviews119 followers
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December 13, 2023
"It is no longer a question of if we will colonise the Moon and Mars, but
when..."
—Tim Peake, astronaut

A City on Mars had its moments, but ultimately, it ended up being a mixed bag
for me. I am admittedly a huge fan of books on space exploration and future
science, but this one left a bit to be desired. More below. The authors drop the
quote above at the start of the book.

Authors Kelly Weinersmith and Zach Weinersmith are married. Kelly is an American
scientist, New York Times-best selling writer, and podcaster. She is a member of
the faculty at Rice University, and an alumni collaborator with the Parasite
Ecology Group at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Zach is an American cartoonist and writer, best known for his webcomic Saturday
Morning Breakfast Cereal.

Zach Weinersmith and Kelly Weinersmith:


The book opens with a good intro. They've got a lively style; for the most part.
The book is written with liberal pepperings of humour added, in an attempt to
keep things fun and light. Unfortunately, this kind of thing is (IMHO) very
difficult to pull off effectively, and can be really hit-or-miss... Someone like
Bill Bryson is a good example of an author who really nails this style well.

Sadly, I feel that - despite the authors' best efforts - this style didn't
really work here. I found their attempts to be funny got a bit grating as the
book went on, and managed to irritate the hell out of me as the book
progressed... (Sorry)
Although this could have been a lot to do with the narrator of the audio
version. She's very... animated (for lack of a better term), and I think this
started to wear on me.

They lay out the aim of the book in this bit of writing:


> "The little book you’re reading right now, which admittedly begins with a
> Uranus joke and contains an explainer on space cannibalism (stay tuned), is
> nevertheless the only popular science book we’re aware of that offers the
> whole picture without trying to sell you on the idea of near-term space
> expansion.[*] Rather, we’ll try to clear up a lot of misconceptions and then
> replace them with a much more realistic view of how feasible space settlements
> are and what they might mean for humanity."


As I mentioned above, I love books about future science. I read a lot of sci-fi
in my youth and it sparked a life-long flame for me. The topic(s) of space
exploration and/or colonization are extremely interesting.
My own take (before and after reading this book), is that it will remain no more
than a pipe dream for a very long time. There are just some basic but extremely
difficult obstacles to overcome.
To their credit, each of these topics (and more) are examined in this book.

They are; in no particular order:
* Interstellar radiation. All kinds of short-wave ionizing radiation are being
beamed throughout the cosmos everywhere, and always. Bad for humans. Crops can't
survive this bombardment, either.
* Energy. What can we use? There are no fossil fuels on Mars.
* Life at 0- <1g. Humans have not evolved to live in environments less than 1g.
Although you may want to discount this, there have been major problems with life
in 0g, even from durations as short as a few months.
* The long transit time between Earth and Mars. The long communication delay for
any correspondence.

They also drop this quote early on, speaking to the difficulties of colonizing
Mars:


> "Consider the 2015 Newsweek article “ ‘Star Wars’ Class Wars: Is Mars the
> Escape Hatch for the 1 Percent?” which claims “the red planet will likely only
> be for the rich, leaving the poor to suffer as earth’s environment collapses
> and conflict breaks out.” The only way you could believe this would be if you
> had no idea how thoroughly, incredibly, impossibly horrible Mars is. The
> average surface temperature is about -60°C. There’s no breathable air, but
> there are planetwide dust storms and a layer of toxic dust on the ground.
> Leaving a 2°C warmer Earth for Mars would be like leaving a messy room so you
> can live in a toxic waste dump. The truth is that settling other worlds, in
> the sense of creating self-sustaining societies somewhere away from Earth, is
> not only quite unlikely anytime soon, it won’t deliver on the benefits touted
> by advocates. No vast riches, no new independent nations, no second home for
> humanity, not even a safety bunker for ultra elites."


On the positive side, I will say that the book was very well-researched and
contains quite a lot of informative and interesting information about the
possibilities, limitations, and challenges of colonizing other planets, and even
space; in general. The authors clearly spent quite a lot of time with this book,
and it would make a great reference guide.

However, and further to what I mentioned earlier, I felt that the book was just
too long. The version I have clocks in at a buky 628 pages. The audio version:
Over 11 hours. While it got off to a good start, I found my finicky attention
wandering many times as it progressed...

Fault me if you will for being too picky about how engaging I find a book, but I
often find that shorter books are more effective at conveying information than
longer ones. Longer books tend to go off on lengthy segues and dive deep into
the weeds, rarely coming up for air. This has the effect of leaving the reader
frustrated (well, this reader, anyhow...)

In this case, I felt that there was just too much superfluous writing,
particularly after the first ~half of the book. I found the latter ~half of the
book really dragged for me. Obviously, this is likely a subjective thing, and
your mileage may vary...

********************

A City on Mars was a mixed bag for me. On one hand, it contained quite a lot of
really interesting and informative writing. On the other hand, I became
frustrated with its long length and tedium at times.
So, this leaves me rating it at 2.5 stars, but rounded up to 3, since the
authors did try to keep things lively.
It's just too bad that it didn't resonate as well with me as I'd hoped...
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americas astronomy culture

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Leilani
20 reviews3 followers
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November 6, 2023
A very good accessible and understandable academic piece of literature. As a
student currently creating a piece of writing about whether humanity should be
exploring space, it was a very useful resource that covered a variety of bases.
It was also very informative in general about just how much needs to be
considered before space colonisation can ever really be an option.


7 likes
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Pete
941 reviews58 followers
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December 10, 2023
A City on Mars : Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really
Thought This Through? (2023) by Kelly and Zach Weinersmith is an amusing read
about just how difficult space settlement would really be. Zach is the author of
the highly successful webcomic Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal and his wife
Kelly is a biologist at Rice University.

It’s important to note that the Weinersmiths are self-described space nerds and
they are really keen on space exploration, but they also want people to be
realistic about space travel and space settlements.

The book has six parts. The first is all about just how hard living in space is
on a human body. They go into how what happens to astronauts when they spend six
months in space. The second part of the book surveys the places people could
live in space, the best places being the moon, Mars or a space station. The
difficulty of creating a successful biome in space is next considered. Part four
looks at space law and how tricky that is. Part five looks at how space
colonisation could be done. Part six describes how many people you’d need for a
successful civilisation and considers space politics. The book finally
summarises what the Weinersmiths think.

The book is probably the first popularisation that really goes into detail about
how ferociously difficult space settlement would be. It’s quite a contrast to
books like ‘The High Frontier’ and books by Robert Zubrin. It’s probably far
more realistic too.

The book spends quite a lot of time discussing the legal difficulties of space
exploration. This is interesting, but of all the things about space settlement
being difficult this is one that surely we can handle. Humanity handled it,
albeit with wars, when Europeans colonised the Americas. Also the law has shown
itself to be able to adapt to new circumstances very well. The way the law has
managed to work well with the internet.

The book also, surprisingly, has little to say about the role of robotic
exploration of the solar system. With the recent improvements in AI and NASA’s
success with robotics avoiding sending wet meatbags into space with so much
requirement for life support may not be as necessary. About 15-20 years ago I
went to an interesting talk where the way to colonise space was described as
sending robots with human eggs and sperm to other galaxies. With nuclear powered
spacecraft similar to Project Orion this would be physically feasible.

A City of Mars is well worth a read for anyone interested in space exploration.
Even for people who disagree with the conclusions it’s an amusing read that
presents serious arguments well.
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nonfiction science space


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Matthew
340 reviews1 follower
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November 30, 2023
For anyone who watched The Martian and thought, "Heck yeah! When can we go?", A
City on Mars is an entertaining reality check.

The book was a lot of fun considering the somewhat downer of a thesis. In the
opening chapter of the book, the authors answer the main questions posed in the
subtitle: Can we settle space and should we settle space? To paraphrase the
fun-loving Weinersmiths, we probably can... but let's not try just yet.

The authors pose a lot of important questions that science has not yet answered.
The chapters on space babies and closed ecosystems were particularly interesting
to me. However, I struggled a bit through the space law chapter. (I know it's
important, but it's just not super exciting.) Lastly, I thought the comparison
to company towns was super insightful.

I am by no means a space geek, but the Weinersmiths kinda made me want to become
one.

Good times all around!

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Translator Monkey
540 reviews12 followers
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December 7, 2023
An entertaining and educational read. Lots of fun, lots of information, and I
was pleased to discover early on that, unlike so many similar books that take
themselves far more seriously, this book was not USA-centric when it came to
studying the history of space exploration.


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taeli
785 reviews31 followers
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November 20, 2023
I like that the authors have really put in the time, research, and thinking to
show what'll we need to be ready to settle somewhere outside of Earth, and how
likely it will be in the near future.

audiobook library-book nonfiction


4 likes
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LeastTorque
753 reviews12 followers
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November 28, 2023
A book with a bibliography of this size has every right to be more serious and
focused and technical. The humor, despite giving me a few laughs, distracted and
detracted. It all ended up as more of a comedic opinion fluff piece rather than
the persuasive research-backed book it aspires to be. Too bad, as there was some
good information and some good arguments in there.

As to UNCLOS being a model for the space commons, it seems to me to have a major
difference: the deep sea is here, and damaging it by spewing far ranging toxins
affects the life it contains, so environmental concerns argue for proceeding
slowly (even if commercial interests win out in the end). Everywhere else is
“just a rock, no indigenous life”. There is nothing short of the threat of war
to stop the mad dash for space, and we can only hope that threat is taken
seriously.

As much as I love the idea of space travel in spite of its dangers, seeing it
dominated by egotistical libertarian billionaires brings me down.
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science


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Kirsten
351 reviews7 followers
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September 24, 2023
Definitely pop science. Definitely asked questions I hadn't asked yet and made
the bits of real science more accessible.


2 likes
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Librariann
1,471 reviews62 followers
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July 18, 2023
I finally finished this one! So many new ideas for my space AU.

2023 adult arc

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Peter Baran
590 reviews41 followers
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December 2, 2023
Humorous popular science is a tough nut to crack, and the Weinersmith's don't
exactly crack it here. He's a cartoonist, she's a scientist so the division to
labour does seem to be getting him to draw infrequent Randall Munroe-esque gags
illustrating the text. The text itself mainly leans on quotidian or nonsense
comparisons to carry it over the line, but all of that's fine because the
content is strong enough. Because you need to drill past the somewhat misleading
title here to the subtitle - Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and
Have We Really Thought This Through? Which it happily answers in its
introduction, and that answer is pretty much NO.

They are self-deprecating enough to know that this is not the conclusion most
readers want, and apologetic enough to all the experts whose knowledge they have
aggregated to come up to this conclusion (not least when many of those experts
may have a very different opinion. But it is unfortunately a convincing
conclusion considering quite how difficult every step of building a permanent
colony in space is, and furthermore, quite how much space wants to kill us. For
space colony they are looking at something self-sustaining with food, energy,
and people - so they get to be nicely prurient about space sex and space poo.
And not forgetting, of course, the complexities of space law.

Again they warn the reader in the very beginning that there will be a pretty
large section here on space law. It may be that it is due to them being American
(which they are largely apologetic about), but the idea of Elon Musk just
sending a spacecraft to Mars and claiming eminent domain runs up against several
international treaties about who owns what in space and what you can do with it.
And they don't see an easy way of changing it in a way that billionaire
investors would be happy enough to risk it. It's an interesting and unusual part
of the book, in as much as the science and human survivability parts I have
considered and seen before. But it is also a bit dry, and no end of
stick-figures are going to make the legal shenanigans funny. Though by that
point you are two-thirds of the way book (even further if you have checked how
much back matter there is) and you might as well keep going.
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non-fiction-2023


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Dan Wahl
8 reviews1 follower
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December 5, 2023
Abandoning early for now, but may return later. Not enjoying as much as other
Weinersmith publications. Some initial observations:

- There's a missing mood--space travel is cool! The beginning especially is
pessimistic where pragmatism would have sufficed.
- Spends the opening section arguing against a set of naive positions that I
imagine relatively few readers endorse (or have even heard of).
- Seems satisfied with "we have no evidence" statements around long-term health
effects of space. Let's get some (so long people consent to the risk)?
- Overly deferential to the same political processes that created the
much-maligned current regulations. Surely they can be changed before they
destroy the world?
- But the point on short-term space settlement increasing existential risk is
interesting!
- But also, space is horrible and mostly empty but so desirable that people will
fight civilization-ending wars over it?
- Might be addressed later, but seems to be overfitting on current technological
landscape. Advances in robotics, nanotech, AI, etc. could quickly upend
underlying assumptions.
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dnf


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Kyle
348 reviews
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November 30, 2023
This is a very interesting take on space settlement. I thoroughly enjoyed the
informal style and researched arguments against space settlement soon. The
authors do a good job of explaining the arguments for and against pursuing space
settlement within the next decades, and why they have come to their perspective
that in order to ethically inhabit space (on stations, the moon, or Mars) will
require a lot more research and technology. (They are not at all against
research for space settlement, however.)

If you are one who thinks space settlement is something we need to do, I highly
recommend reading this book. I think the authors make good points that nullify
the typical arguments in favor of space settlement, but if you read and are
unconvinced by these arguments, you will have engaged with honest and good
counterarguments, and should have improved your arguments and thoughts for the
future of humans in space.
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economics history other-nonfiction

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Daniel Hageman
334 reviews46 followers
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November 26, 2023
While not as hard-hitting for me as Deudney's 'Dark Skies', this book is a great
complementary work pushing back on some of the optimism bias that seems to guide
so many intellectuals and people of influence (including myself in years past,
though not considering myself to fall in either of those categories, per se :)
in their thinking about space exploration. Many of the complications of Mars
settlement are not what one would immediately consider, and the authors do an
impressive job in bringing them to the forefront of the conversation. I think
that the book could have used a bit more ethical seriousness to provide further
normative argumentation against contemporary pursuits, but it does a
sufficiently laudable job in the practical aspects that I can remain very
satisfied with the book overall.
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effective-altruism science


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John
496 reviews16 followers
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November 30, 2023
I really enjoyed this book: it’s funny but also thoughtful, exhaustively
exploring the effective arguments for and against space settlements. It is clear
that the authors have a lot of affection for the idea of settling space, but
they’re unconvinced by many of the practicalities in the short term, especially
when one starts to move beyond the immediate scientific practicalities to the
more political considerations, many of which I had not considered and all of
which seem critical to the endeavour. This book repeatedly tells you that it’s a
controversial book, and so it seems from having read The Discourse, but I don’t
really understand why – it seems like having these conversations and exploring
these issues can only be a good thing.
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physical


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Elsa
179 reviews12 followers
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December 18, 2023
As a sci-fan with a STEM background, I've been thinking that the biggest
challenges for space settlement would be physical, biological and technical, but
the Weinersmiths show that the legal and geopolitical issues are an even bigger
obstacle to overcome. Their well-researched book is filled with entertaining
examples, and they even made things like international law and political
treaties interesting and easy to understand.

popular-science read-in-2023


1 like
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Ivor
55 reviews5 followers
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December 14, 2023
This is the best book I've read about what it would be like to colonize Mars. I
never thought about the laws of space, or what it would be like to have babies
in space to continue the population.
It is easily accessible and written in the style of Mary Roach. If you liked
"Packing for Mars," you'll love this book.


1 like
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Blair Frances
31 reviews
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November 26, 2023
I admit it, I skipped most of the legal chapters. Maybe they were awesome, but I
couldn't face it. Other than that, this was a super educational and entertaining
book and it changed the way I think of space settlement. To be fair, I didn't
think very much about that before, but it's definitely not something I'm gunning
for now.


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Andrzej
17 reviews
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November 25, 2023
This is my kind of pop-science book - informative, to the point and well
written. It gives fresh and eye-opening perspective on the prospects of
colonizing space.


1 like
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Olivia
147 reviews11 followers
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November 27, 2023
Really great writing, especially loved the audiobook. Kept me engaged even
through some of sections I wasn’t too interested in. Definitely recommend!


1 like
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Awais Ahmed
20 reviews13 followers
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November 30, 2023
Well researched but not enough depth for my personal liking and a tad
pessimistic.


1 like
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Calvin Jensen
2 reviews1 follower
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December 6, 2023
The best book on international space law I've ever read


1 like
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Anne Jaconette
18 reviews6 followers
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December 18, 2023
Incredibly fun, a little silly, and also earnest! Mostly it’s fun to consider
how miserable billionaires will be in space (as our authors often tell us “space
sucks!!”). Long story short: we have NOT thought Space settlements through and
you’ll have a fun time hearing about how/why.


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Daniel Cornwall
350 reviews11 followers
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December 1, 2023
Entertaining and well documented outline of the many hard challenges that we'd
need to meet before settling outer space. Made me want to see more Earth based
experiments in closed ecologies, among other things.


1 like
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George Johnson
26 reviews2 followers
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December 4, 2023
Interesting read. As a space and space settlement enthusiast, I found their
pessimistic attitude an important check on my enthusiasm. While in the final
conclusion I wish to push for space settlement much faster than they do, it has
helped me frame the problems to be overcome and the need to work on research to
develop out settlement problem solutions.


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Charles Korb
337 reviews6 followers
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December 6, 2023
This is unique among pop science books that I've read. Most of them try to
present an optimistic view of their field and generally simplify things to make
them more comprehensible. This one is pretty pessimistic and in every chapter it
is talking about how little we know.

It also feels very clear that the authors originally wanted to write a more
optimistic book but had to retrofit their outline to align with the facts, which
is intellectual honestly I can appreciate


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Steadman Watson
19 reviews
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November 19, 2023
Interesting in some parts, but biased nearly as much as the myths it seeks to
debunk.

did-not-finish


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Christine
135 reviews
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October 8, 2023
This is a really fun and interesting pop science book. If you are into space and
the idea of humans eventually settling on the moon or another planet, this book
is for you. It looks at some really interesting issues that humans would have to
deal with - everything from physical to psychological issues, reproduction,
water, food, laws, etc - in an informative but easy to understand way. The
authors are very witty, which makes this book a lot of fun, and not some boring,
highly technical book. I received an advance copy of this book, and am writing
an honest review.
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Brian Clegg
Author 210 books2,739 followers
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November 7, 2023
The subtitle of this book contains an important question when talking about
settling space: 'Have we really thought this through?' - and in around 400 pages
this key question is answered with an extremely thorough 'No way.' The
Weinersmiths (as they refer to themselves) hammer many nails into the coffin of
the science fictional idea that space is in some ways comparable to the kind of
frontiers that were historically crossed on Earth. I was always aware that the
obstacles were huge, but this book makes clear just how overwhelmingly enormous
they are - and how many of them are pretty much ignored by enthusiasts for
settling on the Moon, on Mars or in space habitats.

One topic the Weinersmiths cover in depth is the geopolitics of space, saying
pretty well everyone ignores it. Admittedly, there has been a significant book
this year dedicated to it (The Future of Geography/Astropolitics by Tim
Marshall), but, that apart, the legal pitfalls and how nations will react to any
attempts to settle space tend to be ignored. Here we get it analysed in depth
with useful comparisons to Antarctica and the deep sea bed and what has happened
there.

Similarly, the Weinersmiths give us plenty on the sociological, biological and
agricultural aspects of living on the Moon, Mars or in space habitats. It's
quite shocking how little we understand about these essential topics, given they
will make the difference between life and death for any settlers. As the authors
point out, what is spent on the International Space Station (which tells us
almost nothing about living in a space settlement both because stays are too
short and microgravity is not the same as being on a lower gravity planet or
moon) would fund about 500 major experiments to try to find out more about those
subjects. Can humans safely give birth and raise children in reduced gravity?
Can we grow food on Mars, with poisonous soil, radiation and reduced sunlight?
How will groups of people fare in a location where there can be no outside
assistance in less than months if (or, rather, when) something goes wrong? And
much more.

There is no doubt that the Weinersmiths have put in a huge amount of research
into the topics they cover at length. The content can be a little repetitive -
they don't so much make a point as drive it home with a sledgehammer. This is
supposed to be lightened by the book's humour - but, to be honest, I find the
cartoons included uninspiring and much of the humour weak. Author Andy Weir
describes the book as 'Funny as hell' on the cover - I did wonder if it should
have been a sarcastic 'Funny as Hell' with a capital H. There is also far too
much information dumping, with insufficient narrative. Even what promises to be
a good story about penguins and Nazis, for example, proves a big let down.

There's no doubt that the book is hugely informative, though. It should be
enforced reading for anyone working in space agencies, for governments that deal
with space, for journalists who overhype the possibilities, and for the many
enthusiasts (space geeks, as they are called here), including certain tech
billionaires, who are convinced that humans will soon be living off Earth and
who tend to brush aside the economic, physical, biological, legal and other
barriers. I don't doubt we will get visitors to the Moon and eventually Mars
this century - but I am now far less hopeful for anything resembling the
lunar/Martian colonies or vast space habitats suggested by the science fiction
reading of my youth. It's more than a little depressing - but sometimes reality
is.
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Greg Stoll
322 reviews11 followers
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November 26, 2023
An entertaining look at the many difficulties with colonizing the Moon and Mars.
If you're really excited about colonizing these places this book might be kind
of a downer!

Some of the interesting things I learned:
- The "soil" on the Moon and Mars (the proper term is "regolith") is going to be
a major problem. It's surprisingly sharp, dangerous to breath in, and Mars
regolith has the added bonus of being toxic due to the presence of perchlorates!
- If we do try to colonize space, it probably makes sense to "go big" and start
with a big colony after we feel like we have sufficient technology. The colony
is going to need a large support structure and it will be more likely to survive
the bigger it is. But of course that means it will need more supplies from
Earth, etc, so that is also tough. (it's unlikely to be entirely self-sufficient
with the technology we have today)
- The international law around what you can do in space is pretty limiting right
now. The two models we have of governing shared territory that work right now
are:
- Antarctica: it is divided up based on existing claims (before the treaty went
into effect), but you can kind of build wherever you want. But you can't extract
anything from the land for private gain, which would probably be a problem in
space because colonies will need to do that to survive.
- The bottom of the ocean: outside of territorial waters, if you want to extract
resources somewhere you have to apply to the International Seabed Authority, and
if the Authority says yes then the applying company gets access to half of the
area and the Authority gets access to the other half, with the proceeds going to
developing nations in some way that isn't terribly concrete yet. This is
somewhat more promising.
- I knew very little about international law before this book, and apparently
some space enthusiasts don't think international law is going to have an impact
on how we colonize space because we can just ignore it. But countries actually
adhere to international law more than one might think, and "just ignore it"
probably isn't a viable strategy!
- There's also an interesting section about how areas of land become countries
that are recognized by other countries. Basically, "distinct groups" of people
have the right to "self-determination", and may have the right to unilateral
secession if they're being persecuted. (this last point is why a ruling was made
that Quebec cannot unilaterally secede from Canada, and while the book doesn't
mention this, probably rules out Texas doing so as well!)
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Cadence Woodland
228 reviews9 followers
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December 8, 2023
I loved this whirlwind tour through the social and biological practicalities of
one species - uniquely and specifically evolved to exist in a cosmologically
infinitesimal sliver of the known universe - thinking about trying to exist
literally anywhere else. The rocket launch is easiest part of the puzzle. It's
pop science in the sense that is very broad and wide-ranging, because a truly
deep dive into any one of the main themes is a tome in and of itself.

The thesis isn't that we shouldn't go to space, just that most people assume
that we can just transplant ourselves somewhere else and continue living much as
we do now. Pop culture, science fiction, and the inevitable downsides of being
the premier species on our current planet and therefore an evolutionary "winner"
all combine to trick us into thinking that space travel and colonization will be
like moving to another country. Nothing could be further from the truth.

We are specifically designed to live 93m miles away from a specific star, in a
precise soup of liquids and gases, nourished by substances that have co-evolved
with us, balanced in a constant push/pull of familiar mathematical forces.
Change any ONE aspect of that and things start breaking down in our bodies
really quickly.

How are we going to live long term in an environment where combined non or
non-earth gravity changes our skeletons and viscera in fundamental ways (hi moon
blindness!). There is no research on radiation effects on mammal much less human
gametes over breeding generations without the buffer of an atmosphere protecting
us from the nuclear explosions of the universe, and having good old fashioned
sex in zero gravity is surprisingly tricky.

Making more of ourselves is just the beginning. You think reproductive law is a
nightmare on earth? Try building legal consensus for things like personhood,
citizenship and property rights in an environment where even ideas like "up" and
"down" don't have meaning anymore. And THEN we turn to the social problems like
conflict avoidance, collaboration, material management, personhood protections
and rights...all the things we have such a well documented grip on as a species.

In short, we are so focused on certain elements of getting off planet (and
usually the ones related to commerce and industry in the here and now) that we
haven't actually started thinking about how we will need to construct an - pun
intended - alien society.

The writing gets a bit too joke-y in some places, but keeps the overall book
highly accessible.


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