New astronomy and space titles reviewed
The End Of Astronauts
Humans have travelled into space for more than 60 years, not from necessity but in response to our desire to explore what’s beyond Earth. Future decades will continue to test how much we want and how much we Þ Astronauts may have need to send astronauts technological kit, but will they be replaced by robots? into Earth orbit or to the Moon and Mars. Space probes and rovers have explored these territories, and no one doubts that machines can perform in space more efficiently and less expensively, but can they equal human explorers’ abilities? This is the central focus of The End of Astronauts, a book that asks whether, with the emergence of AI (Artificial Intelligence) and the rapid development of robotics, it is time to retire the idea of human space exploration.
The authors present a confident argument from the outset, weighing the benefits and risks of human exploration across the Solar System. But the real treat of this read is the concise review of human space exploration: past, present and future. It follows the story of how our space programmes ventured further afield from low-Earth orbit to the Moon, Mars, the asteroids and beyond. Packed with insights, and decades of research and experience, the book chronicles the human endeavour in space, counterpointed with the argument that robotic missions would be safer, more efficient and more cost effective.
The authors share stories of the humble beginnings of rocketry in 16th-century China; the Space Race of the Cold War – including the USSR’s Sputnik satellite triumph and Yuri Gagarin as the first man in space; and NASA’s Mercury, Gemini, Apollo lunar and low-Earth orbit Space Shuttle programmes. The ISS and NASA’s future Artemis programme are also covered. We also learn about the rise of China, India and Europe as emerging space leaders, the growth of the commercial space race, dreams of colonising other celestial bodies, the global cost of exploration and the task of governance in space.
The book informs us about the full cost of human space exploration and how AI and robotic missions deserve their place in this story. It’s a terrific read and an invaluable reference in the debate of human versus robotic spaceflight. ★★★★★
Interview with the author Martin Rees
Why explore space?
There are two motives. The first is to understand how we came to exist. We now know how stars and galaxies formed, how atoms were forged from hydrogen via stellar processes. We can speak with confidence about processes that happened only a fraction of a second after the Big Bang. Secondly, in space we can study conditions in the cosmos that are far more extreme than those we can create in a lab. We can test the laws of nature to their limits and discover new ones.
Can ‘space tourism’ ever be risk free?
It will never be routine; space travel beyond low-Earth orbit should be left to thrill-seeking adventurers funded by billionaires or private sponsors .It won’t be long before we see tourists on a week-long trip round the Moon. If I had the money I might sign up for the second flight, but not the first! As robots get more sophisticated, there’s a diminishing need for humans: they could assemble structures on planets and hibernate on journeys rather than require food.
Is there a future for humans in space?
A decade ago, Curiosity landed on Mars. It trundled slowly because it needed instructions from Earth. Perseverance, which landed a year ago, has AI to evade obstacles. Future probes will have geological discrimination to choose the most interesting route. The latter part of our book speculates about what might happen in the very long-term. Creatures descended from humans, but different from us (maybe electronic and near-immortal), may initiate a diaspora through space.
The Infinity of Worlds
Our cosmos is an infinite bubble in an infinity of other universes. Gives you a headache, right? Yet this is the inescapable consequence of the theory of inflation: the brief, exponential burst of cosmic expansion that happened before our Universe was a trillionth of a second old. In this concise book, cosmologist Will Kinney sets out to explain what happened before the primordial fire of the Big Bang.
It’s a brave attempt and no easy task. The first chapters, on topics like the history of cosmology, the standard cosmological model, and the cosmic microwave background, serve as a helpful refresher course for readers who have read about the topic before, but they may be a bit too fast-paced for newbies. However, when Kinney starts to describe phase transitions, symmetry breaking and the quantum vacuum, he will lose the average amateur astronomer and school student.
If you are proficient with equations and not daunted by concepts like ‘quantum zero-point modes’ or ‘vacuum birefringence’, this book is for you. Otherwise, you can always skim over the incomprehensible passages and enjoy the final chapters on the multiverse and the quest for a theory of quantum gravity.
In the preface, Kinney writes that he has “studiously ignored most of the rules set down by self-appointed experts in ‘science communication’”. Perhaps that was not such a good idea, as this unbalanced book may be appreciated more by his college students than a lay audience. ★★★★★
The Little Book of Space
In the way of similarly titled short books that promise a succinct all encompassing journey into a subject, The Little Book of Space duly delivers. It rounds up the key facts, figures and quirky details in an accessible way. There’s a practical element that’s pleasing to read, with its ‘Look up’ chapter highlighting the basic features of the night sky – the top 10 brightest stars, galaxies and nebulae to be seen with the naked eye – that anyone could view.
It also adds nice tidbits such as the names of craters on Mercury, including Angelou and Brontë. We learn about the horrendous weather conditions on Neptune, with its 2,000km/h whipping winds and 40-year-long seasons.
On the topic of animals in space, the book goes beyond Laika, the first dog, to mention the first rabbit, Little Martha, and spiders, Arabella and Anita: even the first to weave webs in space, aboard the Skylab space station.
The author also covers current and future developments, including space tourism and the potential for mining asteroids. Mixing in the more fanciful – with sections on fictional end-of-the-world scenarios and art, from Holst’s The Planets to Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’ – is a nice touch.
The Little Book of Space provides enough evidence that by the end, the idea that we are entering a new phase in space exploration stands up. But while this short venture into space is enjoyable, it doesn’t quite achieve the sense of awe or exhilaration hinted at its outset. The book is a perfect gift for someone interested in the cosmos, but perhaps without deep knowledge. ★★★★★
PACKED WITH FACTS
The Cosmos Explained
Who would have thought learning about the evolution of the Universe could be so fun and easy to follow? It doesn’t sound possible when you’re tackling a subject as overarching as this, but Charles Liu has managed to turn complex scientific prose and mathematics into an accessible and beautifully presented retelling of its origins.
Navigating your way through the vast history of our Universe has been made easier thanks to this book’s more digestible format. Absent are the complex equations and jargon words, and in their place, an easy to read and very engaging gateway into the Universe’s evolution, which is broken up into sections that flow seamlessly into each other.
The book begins at the first quadrillionth of a quadrillionth of a second after the birth of the Universe and takes you on a journey through the ages after the Big Bang, all the way to the birth of our Solar System, the evolution of life on Earth and onwards to the possible fate of the cosmos. Each section is accompanied by Maksim Malowichko’s stunning illustrations that give off 1960s Space Race vibes and bring Liu’s insightful text to life.
It may look like a short read, but The Cosmos Explained provides the perfect level of information without overloading the reader, making it easier to wrap your head around what is a multi-faceted, deeply fascinating subject.
Whether you’re a budding cosmologist or simply someone with a deep fascination for the Universe and how it came to be, this book is a great introduction to the subject. ★★★★★