Archive for the ‘Space Book Reviews’ Category
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July 24th, 2015
Credit: International Space Business Council 2015
This just issued space careers book shows how to find an out-of-this-world job.
“Space Careers” (International Space Business Council, 2015), by Leonard David and Scott Sacknoff, contains detailed information about the many career paths in the space industry — far beyond “astronaut.”
The book is aimed at high school, college and graduate students, or people looking for jobs in the industry, and the idea is to give accurate, up-to-date information on the careers that are out there beyond just astronaut (but it gives tips on how to become an astronaut, too).
To read the full review by Sarah Lewin, Staff Writer at SPACE.com, go to:
http://www.space.com/30024-space-careers-book.html
Posted in 
Credit: NASA, ESA, D. Calzetti (University of Massachusetts), H. Ford (Johns Hopkins University), and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration
The author of a new study of evolutionary convergence argues that the development of life on Earth is predictable, meaning that similar organisms should therefore have appeared on other, Earth-like planets by now.
“The almost-certainty of ET being out there means that something does not add up, and badly. We should not be alone, but we are.”
That’s the view of leading evolutionary biologist, Simon Conway Morris, a Fellow at St John’s College, University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. That outlook and others are carried in his new book The Runes of Evolution – How the Universe Became Self-Aware.
Rigid set of rules
Extra-terrestrials that resemble humans should have evolved on other, Earth-like planets, making it increasingly paradoxical that we still appear to be alone in the universe, Conway Morris suggests.
According to a University of Cambridge press statement, the book claims that evolution is far from random, but a predictable process that operates according to a fairly rigid set of rules.
Simon Conway Morris
Credit: Map of Life website
“If that is the case, then it follows that life similar to that on Earth would also develop in the right conditions on other, equivalent planets. Given the growing number of Earth-like planets of which astronomers are now aware, it is increasingly extraordinary that aliens that look and behave something like us have not been found,” Conway Morris contends.
Inevitable consequence
Conway Morris has previously raised the prospect that alien life, if out there, would resemble earthlings – with limbs, heads, and bodies. In his new book, he adds that any Earth-like planet should also evolve thunniform predators (like sharks), pitcher plants, mangroves, and mushrooms, among many other things.
Limbs, brains and intelligence would, similarly, be “almost guaranteed.” The traits of human-like intelligence have evolved in other species – the octopus and some birds, for example, both exhibit social playfulness – and this, Conway Morris observes, indicates that intelligence is an inevitable consequence of evolution that would characterize extraterrestrials as well.
Perplexing issue
“The number of Earth-like planets seems to be far greater than was thought possible even a few years ago,” Conway Morris notes. “That doesn’t necessarily mean that they have life, because we don’t necessarily understand how life originates. The consensus offered by convergence, however, is that life is going to evolve wherever it can.”
Credit: Map of Life website
Conway Morris adds: “I would argue that in any habitable zone that doesn’t boil or freeze, intelligent life is going to emerge, because intelligence is convergent. One can say with reasonable confidence that the likelihood of something analogous to a human evolving is really pretty high. And given the number of potential planets that we now have good reason to think exist, even if the dice only come up the right way every one in 100 throws, that still leads to a very large number of intelligences scattered around, that are likely to be similar to us.”
If this is so, as the book suggests, then it makes Enrico Fermi’s famous paradox – why, if aliens exist, we have not yet been contacted – even more perplexing.
Resources
The Runes of Evolution, by Simon Conway Morris, is published by Templeton Press at:
https://www.templetonpress.org/book/runes-evolution
Also, go to this Cambridge University press release:
http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/map-of-life-predicts-et-so-where-is-he
Check out this Map of Life website at:
Credit: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.
The Orbital Perspective – Lessons in Seeing the Big Picture from a Journey of 71 Million Miles by Ron Garan; Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.; $27.95 (Hardcover); 2015.
There have been a number of “tell-all” books authored by former space travelers. But this book tells all and more.
Ron Garan spent 178 days in space, carrying out four spacewalks. He flew on both the U.S. Space Shuttle and Russian Soyuz spacecraft, and spent 18 days at the bottom of the ocean participated in the joint NASA-NOAA, NEEMO-9 mission.
Garan has authored this book about these experiences, but also his shift in perception. He has viewed Earth from space, and gained viewpoints while working on development projects on the ground. This book is a synthesis of the two – and the result is an engaging, thought-provoking read.
Drawing from the book, you’ll find some stimulating themes:
Looking Skyward: If nations can join together to build the most complex structure ever built in space – the International Space Station — imagine what can be achieved by working together to overcome the challenges facing all here on Earth.
Looking Earthward: Gazing back at Earth from space can fill you with insight: Each and every one of us is riding through the Universe together on this spaceship we call Earth and that we are all in this together.
Looking Forward: Possibilities are only limited by our imagination and our will to act, and don’t accept the status quo on our planet. Nothing is impossible, including the elimination of suffering and conflict here on Earth.
In short, The Orbital Perspective is a call to action- how best to care for the most important space station of all: Planet Earth.
Yes, this is a book about space – filling that space with hope, creativity and collaboration.
For more information on this book, go to:
http://www.bkconnection.com/books/title/the-orbital-perspective
For a dedicated website related to this book, go to:
http://orbitalperspective.com/
Garan has also founded the initiative Fragile Oasis, championing his “Orbital perspective” message to improve life on Earth. Go to:
By Leonard David
Credit:
International Space Business Council, 2015
A new book offers the most in-depth source for understanding and finding a career in the space and satellite industry.
This book is designed for high school, college, and graduate students and job seekers of all ages.
It is my pleasure to announce the release of Space Careers, a completely-updated and revised version of the 1998 award-winning classic: Guide to Space Careers.
Fully-updated for 2015, the book is specially written for job seekers interested in the opportunities that the space and satellite industry present. Whether the reader is interested in satellite communications services, designing next generation rockets, planning future Mars missions, or monitoring the Earth’s environment, Space Careers will be a valued resource.
Career trajectory
Written by longtime space journalist Leonard David, entrepreneur Scott Sacknoff, and with a foreword from astronaut Buzz Aldrin, this award-winning book contains resources that enable the user to understand the varied activities of the industry so they can narrow and determine their areas of interest.
This guide helps you identify university programs and find scholarships and fellowships that can finance your career trajectory. It provides details on how and where to network, locate opportunities, and offers hundreds of profiles as well as links to industry organizations.
It does the work so you don’t have to.
But this book offers more than just a compilation of facts and data.
Valuable advice
Throughout the book you will find valuable advice to students and job seekers provided by leading industry professionals including Marillyn Hewson, the President & CEO of Lockheed Martin; Charles Bolden, the administrator of NASA; as well as engineers, scientists, and businesspeople working in the field.
Space Careers is a resource that needs to be shared, read, and used by students, educators, and people working in the STEM/STEAM fields [Science, Technology, Engineering, [Art] & Mathematics]. With the space industry seeking to identify and entice the next generation of workers, companies and institutions, you’ll find this volume a valuable resource.
For more details including bios of the authors, the table of contents, and ordering information, please visit:
Space Careers
By Leonard David and Scott Sacknoff
Foreword by Buzz Aldrin
International Space Business Council, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-887022-19-4
Retail Price: $20 USD
Pages: 224, trade paper
Courtesy: Michael Mackowski
Here’s a personal story about space activism, a memoir by Michael Mackowski.
His recollections as a member of local chapters of the L5 Society and the National Space Institute — later to merge into the National Space Society — offer a grassroots look at early citizen space support.
The book closes with some reflections on whether those dreams of a hopeful future from the 1980s had any effect on the realities of the 2010s.
The author’s hope is that historians of the space movement will find the book to be an interesting first-hand account of grass-roots efforts to promote space exploration to the public.
Similarly, current space activists, Mackowski suggests, can learn from these examples of how to execute large pro-space events.
Michael Mackowski is an aerospace engineer whose passion for space exploration has led him to be an advocate for greater public awareness and support for America’s reach for the stars.
This engaging and thoughtful book is now available via Amazon in print and digital formats (hard copy is $8.95 plus shipping, Kindle edition is $4.95) at this link:
Book Review: Living Among Giants – Exploring and Settling the Outer Solar System by Michael Carroll; Book Publisher: Springer; $34.99 (Hardcover); 2015.
Here is a fascinating and unique look at the outer Solar System, masterfully detailed in words and artwork regarding planned and imagined future human exploration and possible colonization.
Carroll is a prominent prize-winning space artist with a flair for writing and swinging a paintbrush. This book includes numerous illustrations, among them original paintings by the author.
Right from the start, Carroll asks a picture-captioned question: “Mars is the next logical site for human habitation. But what other sites offer promise?”
Future space travelers to the realm of the gas and ice giants “will be confronted by glorious, spectacular views beyond anything experienced thus far,” the author explains. And thanks to his talented artistry, Living Among Giants has a dozen or so original paintings that Carroll produced specially for the book.
Divided into three parts – The Backdrop; Destinations; and A New Frontier – the book is an enthralling read that includes healthy sections on the early robotic intruders that crossed the great divide of space, such as the Pioneers, the Voyagers, Galileo and the Cassini spacecraft.
But the added thrill here is contemplating, after decades of robotic exploration, planting humans on Enceladus, frolicking in a cruise ship off the “coast” of Titan, and having face time with Ariel, Miranda and Triton – moons of Uranus and Neptune. This book is compelling and provocative, pointing out that landscapes of unprecedented scale and splendor await up-close eye contact.
The book includes a nicely compact section on propulsion – the ability of just getting there, be it via chemical rockets, ion drives, plasma rockets, solar sails or other modes of travel to cut across the distances involved.
There is a wilderness of worlds out there, Carroll concludes, ready to inform our culture, society, arts, and our perspectives. “They can do no less than enrich our lives, and they will continue to do so – even more deeply – as we venture out to live among the giants,” he concludes.
For more information on this book, go to:
http://www.springer.com/astronomy/popular+astronomy/book/978-3-319-10673-1
Book Review: The Art of Space – The History of Space Art, From the Earliest Visions to the Graphics of the Modern Era by Ron Miller; Zenith Press/Quarto Publishing Group, Minneapolis, Minnesota; $35.00 (hardcover); September 2014.
This is an impressive gathering of artwork, drawn together by Ron Miller, artist extraordinaire. The book is an eye-catching work showing how astronomy and space travel has been represented in a variety of media over the past two centuries.
The book is divided into 5 sections: Planets & Moons, Stars & Galaxies, Spaceships & Space Stations, Space Colonies & Cities; and Aliens. Each section is rich with both artwork, but also an opening text and informative captions.
As Miller notes: “The advent of space exploration enabled some artists to create space paintings of unprecedented accuracy, and it enabled others to abandon realism entirely, leaving them free to explore the impact of space on humanity in other ways.”
That sweep of accuracy to castle in the sky sketches is the fuel that has powered generations to embrace space exploration, the beauty of adventure, and ponder the strangeness of the unfamiliar.
The reader will enjoy some spotlighted space artists of the past and present, from Chesley Bonestell, several astronaut/cosmonaut artists, to the works of Don Davis and Pat Rawlings.
In its concluding pages, The Art of Space has a helpful “Further Resources” page that includes artists’ websites and also where to see space art.
The book includes two nicely written forewords by Carolyn Porco, the Cassini Imaging Team Leader at the Space Science Institute, and Dan Durda, a gifted artist and space scientist at Southwest Research Institute.
As Durda explains: “Art and exploration have been long and intimate partners, each inspiring the other through history as we expanded the frontiers of new lands and pressed the boundaries of human activity with novel technologies.”
You’ll find Miller’s book an excellent read and a visual feast – a volume that is an inspirational bridge between art and exploration.
For more information on this book, go to:
http://www.qbookshop.net/products/214437/9780760346563/The-Art-of-Space.html
A composite image created by Susie Duckworth from the following:
Top: Rainforest canopy in Panama. (Art Wolfe); Middle: Waterfall in the rainforest of
Madagascar. (Art Wolfe); Bottom: A “Blue Marble” image created from images taken
January 4, 2012, using the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the
Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite. Credit: NASA/NOAA
A new book – Sanctuary: Exploring the World’s Protected Areas from Space – offers a stunning look at current global conservation challenges here on Earth and explores the role that information generated by remote-sensing satellites plays in effective terrestrial and marine conservation.
Published by the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) of Arlington, Virginia, with support from NASA, the publication highlights how the view from space with Earth-orbiting sensors is being used to protect some of the world’s most interesting, changing, and threatened places.
The book recently debuted at the 2014 World Parks Congress in Sydney, Australia.
Written by Nancy S. A. Colleton and Andrew Clark of IGES, they note the striking contribution of Earth orbiting satellites: “What we have found is a remarkable bounty of information about the natural world. Every shade of color we could have imagined in the past pales in comparison to what we now know.”
This “Blue Marble” image was created from images taken January 23, 2012, during six orbits of the Suomi National
Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite, using the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS). Credit: NASA/NOAA
Gauging the impact of human activity
“NASA and numerous other space agency partners from around the globe have used this view from space to make incredible scientific advances in our understanding of how our planet works,” explains NASA’s chief, Charles Bolden. “As a result, we can now better gauge the impact of human activity on our environment and measure how and why our atmosphere, oceans, and land are changing.”
As a former astronaut, Bolden explains that he has gazed upon Earth from space, adding: “I hope that we can advance the use of space-based remote sensing and other geospatial tools to study, understand, and improve the management of the world’s parks and protected areas as well as the precious biodiversity that thrives within their borders.”
Sunrise over Lake Moraine, Banff National
Park, Canada.
Credit: Shutterstock/Zvia Shever
Take a look at this impressive piece of writing and collection of photos by going to:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/www.strategies.org/IGES_SanctuaryBook_Oct2014.pdf
Credit: Martha Sewall/Purestock/Thinkstock/Johns Hopkins University Press
Why Mars – NASA and the Politics of Space Exploration by W. Henry Lambright; Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland; $49.95 (hardcover); 2014.
Wondering when humans will set boot on Mars?
Author W. Henry Lambright has written an absorbing and detailed look at the long trail of robotic Mars exploration program from its origins to today. This is an excellent review of the politics and policies behind NASA’s multi-decade quest at exploring the Red Planet, the roles of key individuals and institutions, including a look at triumphs and defeats in reaching Mars.
Lambright tells of the quest for Mars, one that stretches out over decades and involves billions of dollars. The book is up-to-date in that it also includes the big ticket rover now scouting about on Mars – Curiosity – and how it took more than seven minutes of terror to get its wheels down and dirty.
Don’t look to this book to give you the technical needs for sustaining humans on that faraway world. However, this book details what’s needed to mount and give coherence to a multi-mission, big science program. In that light, Lambright’s look at robotic Mars probing suggests a number of lessons learned that might apply to large-scale national endeavors in science and technology.
Why Mars details what’s required to formulate missions, establish priorities, followed by the hard part: “Get the funds to accomplish technical miracles,” Lambright notes in the book’s preface.
Lambright is a professor of public administration, international affairs, and political science at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. He is also author of Powering Apollo: James E. Webb of NASA and Space Policy in the Twenty-First Century, both published by Johns Hopkins.
The last page of his new book is the kicker: “Robots are there today and will continue to forge a trail,” Lambright writes. “Robots go first as pioneers. Ultimately, men and women will bring life to the Red Planet. Mars calls because we want to know about ourselves,” he concludes.
For more information on this book, go to:
https://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/content/why-mars
Note:
Tune into David Livingston’s The Space Show and listen to Lambright discuss this book. Go to Broadcast 2274 (Special Edition) at:
http://www.thespaceshow.com/detail.asp?q=2274
Credit: Springer International Publishing
Given that the surrounding Universe may be awash in worlds, the expectations of finding ET out there is growing.
If the rate of discovery keeps up its current pace, one estimate has it that astronomers will have identified more than a million exoplanets by the year 2045.
Vanderbilt Professor of Astronomy David Weintraub has written a thought provoking new book: Religions and Extraterrestrial Life. It will be issued next month by Springer International Publishing.
Weintraub decided to find out what the world’s major religions have to say about the matter of ET, detailed in a recent Vanderbilt press release.
Weintraub’s book describes what religious leaders and theologians have to say about extraterrestrial life in more than two dozen major religions, including Judaism, Roman Catholicism, the Eastern Orthodox churches, the Church of England and the Anglican Communion, several mainline Protestant sects, the Southern Baptist Convention and other evangelical and fundamentalist Christian denominations, the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), Seventh Day Adventism and Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons), Islam and several major Asian religions including Hinduism, Buddhism and the Bahá’í Faith.
Public opinion
Public opinion polling indicates that about one fifth to one third of the American public believes that extraterrestrials exist, Weintraub reports. However, this varies considerably with religious affiliation.
Belief in extraterrestrials varies by religion:
— 55 percent of Atheists
— 44 percent of Muslims
— 37 percent of Jews
— 36 percent of Hindus
— 32 percent of Christians
Vanderbilt Professor of Astronomy David Weintraub.
Credit: Daniel Dubois/ Vanderbilt
Reincarnated as aliens
According to Weintraub, Asian religions would have the least difficulty in accepting the discovery of extraterrestrial life. Some Hindu thinkers have speculated that humans may be reincarnated as aliens, and vice versa, while Buddhist cosmology includes thousands of inhabited worlds.
Weintraub found very little in Judaic scriptures or rabbinical writings that bear on the question.
The few Talmudic and Kabbalistic commentaries on the subject do assert that space is infinite and contains a potentially infinite number of worlds and that nothing can deny the existence of extraterrestrial life.
At the same time, Jews don’t believe the discovery of extraterrestrial intelligence would have much effect on them.
Are we ready?
Among Christian religions, the Roman Catholics have done the most thinking about the possibility of life on other worlds, the astronomer discovered.
Weintraub also identified two religions – Mormonism and Seventh-day Adventism – whose theology embraces extraterrestrials.
All this and other information in the book leads to the big question: Are we ready?
In answer to that question Weintraub concludes, “While some of us claim to be ready, a great many of us probably are not… very few among us have spent much time thinking hard about what actual knowledge about extraterrestrial life, whether viruses or single-celled creatures or bipeds piloting intergalactic spaceships, might mean for our personal beliefs [and] our relationships with the divine.”
Are the world’s religions ready for E.T.?
Check out this video:
