Cameron M. Smith

I liked the premise of this book. Approaching space colonization through anthropology and evolutionary history (rather than pure technology) seemed like an interesting and original endeavor. But I was disappointed by how little the authors actually make of it. The first 200 pages focus on evolution and anthropology with little reference or relevance to space travel. Anyone with a little bit of familiarity with these subjects will have read the same things before. The last 60 pages of the show more book finally get closer to space colonization, but the arguments remain vapid. The authors don't manage to make any good use of the preceding evolutionary presentation. All they have to say is that humanity should colonize space to ensure the long-term survival of the human species, because species tend to become extinct sooner or later. And we should begin colonization as soon as possible because civilization sometimes disintegrates.

These simple conclusions are an insufficient yield from a book of this length. My expectation was that this book would offer anthropologically or biologically informed speculation about how social relations and human life might develop in space colonies, but the authors don't seem to have enough imagination to take their analysis beyond the self-evident arguments. Perhaps evolutionary biology and anthropology really can provide valuable insights for space travel plans, but if so, the authors of this book failed to identify them. show less

This was a good, basic introduction to the many types or subfields of anthropology. I was hoping to learn more about ethnography, which I thought was synonymous with anthropology, but by reading the book I have found that it is only one field of study within anthropology. The book doesn’t go into a ton of detail about each part of anthropology, but I’m glad I got an overall introduction before diving into one of its specific branches.

The title is almost a challenge to the scientific reader, as it sounds like a creationist title, but in fact is defending evolution from attacks by those who claim it to be a myth. If I were selecting a book to recommend to my students, this would probably not be it, because overall they are much weaker in their arguments than many other authors. Stick with Jerry Coyne.

While not the most exciting book I have found on evolution, it is a good basic introduction for those who have preconceived notions of this controversial topic. Also has good explanations of the basic concepts-natural selection, "fittest" ect.