A City on Mars

Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought This Through?

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? Bestselling authors Kelly and Zach Weinersmith set out to write the essential guide to a glorious future of space settlements, but after years of original research, and interviews with leading space scientists, engineers and legal experts, they aren't so sure it's a good idea. Space tech and space business are progressing fast, but we …

Hardcover, 448 pages

Published Nov. 7, 2023

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ISBN:
978-1-9848-8172-4
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Subjects
  • Nonfiction
  • Science
  • Space
  • Technology
  • Politics
  • Sociology

Reviews

A critical but sympathetic look at the space colony hype

The Weinersmiths strike a pretty unusual but pleasant tone for a fairly critical nonfiction book. It covers a wide range of topics, interspersed with funny anecdotes and illustrations. What I like the most about it is that it doesn't shy away from discussing political and economic realities with a lot of pragmatism. Still, it's a light-hearted read over all and doesn't go super in-depth in any particular area.

My main criticism is probably that the authors were too charitable (imo) with some of the "space libertarians" out there, even though they poke fun at a lot of the ideas.