On the whole, the fictional chapters are entertaining, chilling, and put the science in a more human context. The authors' unsophisticated takes on global conflict are somewhat disappointing, but they do raise important questions about support for biotech-based eugenics and how it may be employed in space colonization. These future speculations read like a decades-spanning, dystopian sci-fi adventure. To that end, the book's fictional sections become an account of global conflict, a fresh start on Titan, and eventual habitation among the stars. They predict that something drastic would have to happen on Earth to motivate humans to seek another home. In addition to basic survival requirements, the authors tackle the problems unique to prolonged human spaceflight and reasons for planetary colonization. Their arguments for Titan are simple: it offers radiation protection, lakes of hydrocarbons for fuel, and an atmosphere that eliminates the need for pressurized suits. They take into account technology, psychology, politics, and more, concluding that humans' first colony will most likely be on Saturn's moon Titan. Planetary scientist Hendrix and writer Wohlforth weave scientific research with fascinating speculation to paint a picture of how and why humankind might spread to other planets. In Beyond Earth, Charles Wohlforth and Amanda R.Hendrix offer groundbreaking research and argue persuasively that not Mars, but Titan-a moon of Saturn with a nitrogen atmosphere, a weather cycle, and an inexhaustible supply of cheap energy, where we will even be able to fly like birds in the minimal gravitational field-offers the most realistic and thrilling prospect of life without support from Earth. But Beyond Earth does not offer another wide-eyed technology fantasy: instead, it is grounded not only in the human capacity for invention and the appeal of adventure but also in the bureaucratic, political, and scientific realities that present obstacles to space travel-realities that have hampered NASA’s efforts ever since the Challenger disaster. We are at the cusp of a golden age in space science, as increasingly more entrepreneurs-Elon Musk, Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos-are seduced by the commercial potential of human access to space. From a leading planetary scientist and an award-winning science writer, a propulsive account of the developments and initiatives that have transformed the dream of space colonization into something that may well be achievable.

Beyond Earth by Charles Wohlforth