Book Review - "Living Off the Land in Space: Green Roads to the Cosmos"

I recently came across this book at the library, and was intrigued when reviewing the back cover. This book is a collaboration of two NASA space scientists and one artist. Written in an easy to follow style, it is a pleasant read and very accessible even for complete novices in the area of space exploration. Starting with a historical backdrop of exploration on planet Earth, it provides a good overview of human space endeavors and the associated technologies. The book discusses both the traditional and the more speculative aspects of space exploration; chapters range in topics from basic rocket propulsion all the way to interstellar travel, space elevators, and defending the Earth from catastrophic asteroid impacts. While the content mostly discusses NASA programs, it also does a good job of mentioning international and private efforts as well.

Most books of this type will age fairly quickly, as technology developments march on the content starts to feel dated. However, as the scope of "Living off the Land in Space" includes both historical accomplishments and speculative future endeavors, it was a fun read even 3 years after its publication date. Although it isn't highly technical, it still contains the occasional bit of space lore that I had not come across previously - making it fun bedside reading even for someone as well-educated in the topic area as myself.

The title of the book is somewhat misleading; while the book does mention the concept of "living of the land" in some chapters, it feels forced and included almost like an afterthought. I originally expected the content to focus more on how to leverage the various resources available in space which could support human space activities, such as Martian water deposits for a permanent base or propellant production for example. However, the words "in situ resource utilization" (ISRU) are nowhere to be found, and while the content is well researched and engaging, the theme implied by its title does not really seem to be at its focus.

The book is a good read for the person wanting to get a non-technical overview of the various concepts being pursued by NASA and others across the globe. It is informative and the authors manage to bring across technical concepts in terms even the lay-person should have no difficulty in understanding. There is only one equation in the entire text (the "rocket equation") and its presence is well justified and explained to further the reader's understanding of the challenges of space flight.

The book's back cover describes it as a collaboration between two scientists and an artist, with the aim of capturing the concept of space-resource sustained exploration in both the images and the text. There are several color pages in the center, and numerous gray-scale illustrations throughout the text. The technical illustrations in support of the text are nice and helpful in visualizing what the text is talking about. However, the artistic images meant to visually capture the "spirit" of the book's theme struck me as somewhat silly. Taking the outline of a fishing boat and combining it with a background of deep space and NASA's Deep Space 1 spacecraft just didn't do anything for me. There are many great space artists out there (Greg Martin comes to mind), but in this case it didn't really add anything to the book.

One feature that I did like a lot is a list of "additional reading" at the end of each chapter. While the concept is similar to the references at the end of a scientific paper, the included reading lists are all at a similar (non-technical) level of layman accessible writing, and I picked up a couple of great suggestions to add to my casual reading list.

Altogether, I enjoyed reading the book once I had gotten past that it wasn't really what the title implied. I wouldn't rate it a "must-have" for any space buff's bookshelf, but definitely recommend it for an informative and casual read.

Title : Living Off the Land in Space: Green Roads to the Cosmos
Authors : Gregory L. Matloff, Les Johnson, C Bangs
Length : 250 pages
Publication : 1 edition (June 6, 2007)
ISBN-10 : 0387360549