9780393239300 |
(hardcover) |
0393239306 |
Available:*
Library | Material Type | Call Number | Shelf Location | Status | Item Holds |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... East Library | Book | 629.40112 IMPE | Nonfiction | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
With plans to launch hotels into orbit and experiments in suspending and reanimating life for ultra-long-distance travel, private companies and entrepreneurs have outpaced NASA as the leaders in the new space race. With accessible prose and relentless curiosity, Chris Impey reports on China's plan to launch its own space station by 2020, proves that humans could survive on Mars and unveils cutting-edge innovations such as the space elevators poised to replace rockets at a fraction of the cost. Setting mankind's urge towards exploration in the context of all human history and space travel thus far, he shows that the present-day scientists mapping billions of Earth-like exo-planets are the descendants of the first humans to venture out of Africa. We must forge ahead, argues Beyond, because exploration is in our DNA.
Author Notes
Chris Impey is a distinguished professor in the Department of Astronomy at the University of Arizona and the critically-acclaimed author of Beyond, How It Began, and How It Ends, and four other books, as well as two astronomy textbooks. He lives in Tucson, Arizona.
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
As governments debate the value of funding space science, Impey (Humble Before the Void) delivers a timely book covering a wealth of reasons to care about space and what we could accomplish there if we accept the challenge. The "profound human urge to explore" is in our genes, Impey says. Rockets provide a way to escape Earth, but the Cold War "Space Race" between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. highlighted the struggle to balance funding-as well as competing motivations-between military and civilian space science, which has left NASA in its current "doldrums." Currently, private space companies such as SpaceX and Virgin Galactic offer potential new routes off Earth, while others explore ways to settle "[the] Moon, Mars, and beyond"-though Impey cautions the reader about the inherent risks, particularly that "people are going to die." Space travelers will face long-term biological troubles, including bone loss, weakened immune systems, and genetic isolation. They'll also confront questions of identity, diplomacy, and ownership, especially as more nations and businesses enter space. With vivid writing that skillfully walks the line between visionary and pragmatic, Impey finds equal opportunity for both humans and robotic explorers on a journey that could not only teach us about new worlds, but "how to be better caretakers of this one." Illus. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
During the Wild West days of frontier expansion, statesmen would often talk about manifest destiny and the inevitability of the U.S. stretching from coast to coast. In this rousing and compellingly readable look at the past, present, and future of space exploration, University of Arizona astronomy professor Impey talks about another kind of manifest destiny, arguing that it's part of our human DNA to relentlessly reach beyond our home planet and out to the stars. In four sections, titled Prelude, Present, Future, and Beyond, Impey traces this wanderlust from a past involving rocket building to today's world of such space entrepreneurs as Richard Branson, then explores the likely outcome decades hence of today's technological innovations. A few of the tantalizing possibilities include superstrong space elevators, colonies on the moon and Mars, asteroid mining, and interstellar spacecraft powered by solar sails. Impey's work will appeal to the usual space buffs as well as sf fans looking for an entertaining and informative peek into the future that's also grounded in plausible science.--Hays, Carl Copyright 2015 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Impey (University Distinguished Professor and Deputy Head, Astronomy, Univ. of Arizona) agrees with Stephen Hawking, whose zero-gravity sojourns he chronicles, that "the human race doesn't have a future unless it goes into space." The author's investigation of our possibilities profiles the heroes-many of them unsung-who made past space exploration an exciting but at times deadly voyage and are the same kinds of people pioneering consumer travel in space now. The history portion of the book includes Ming dynasty misadventures, Nazi rocketry, the Cold War, animals in space, moon landings, recent voyages to planets, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's "doldrums." Today's space entrepreneurship is addressed in a fascinating look at an exciting but risk-filled and regulation-stifled industry run by the likes of Elon Musk and Richard Branson. Practical steps toward establishing space as home are explored, too, in looks at astrobiology, the search for exoplanets, the physical and legal feasibility of a permanent lunar or planetary habitation, space elevators, and other technologies, and even the difficulties (many!) of sex in space. Impey also describes the frightening aspect of the pioneers becoming a different species. In an enjoyable writing style, the author exhaustively examines what seems like every obstacle to life "beyond," creating an unusual and at turns startling and funny read. VERDICT Popular science fans will eat this up. Great for public libraries.-Henrietta Verma, Library Journal © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.