The New World on Mars

Robert has clearly put a lot of thought into Mars and its possible future, looking not only at the technologies needed, but also the politics, sociology, and many other aspects.

There is a depth of scholarship here that is very impressive, it is hard to argue with anything that he puts forward other than the likelihood of human failure in what he is proposing. I really want to believe that everything he puts here will come to past, it would be a bright future for mankind and for the planet of Mars. The book bursts with ideas, facts and interesting speculations and really is a manual for how to settle the planet. My only real concern is that with the way things are in the world at the moment, I just can’t see it happening. What we have at the moment is not exactly techno- optimism but almost its complete opposite, certainly iPhone one feel like we are moving more into a technological and political dystopia.

Nevertheless this book is still worth reading for the look at the future we could have if only we could get our collective selves together.