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the Complete Review
the complete review - space travel



A City on Mars

by
Kelly and Zach Weinersmith


general information | review summaries | our review | links | about the author

To purchase A City on Mars


Title: A City on Mars
Author: Kelly and Zach Weinersmith
Genre: Non-fiction
Written: 2023
Length: 388 pages
Availability: A City on Mars - US
A City on Mars - UK
A City on Mars - Canada
Unsere Zukunft steht in den Sternen - Deutschland
from: Bookshop.org (US)
  • Can we settle space, should we settle space, and have we really thought this through?
  • With numerous illustrations by Zach Weinersmith

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Our Assessment:

B : entertainingly presented, and covers a lot of ground

See our review for fuller assessment.



Review Summaries
Source Rating Date Reviewer
The Guardian . 14/12/2023 Stuart Jeffries
The NY Times Book Rev. A 28/10/2023 W.M.Akers
TLS . 29/3/2024 Erika Nesvold
Wall St. Journal . 19/1/2024 Shlomo Angel


  From the Reviews:
  • "The book reminds us that exploration is predicated on the suffering of pioneers. (...) In another reversal of cold war certainties, even though the Weinersmiths are -- there's no easy way to say this -- Americans, they write like communists." - Stuart Jeffries, The Guardian

  • "(A)n exceptional new piece of popular science (.....) Forceful, engaging and funny, it is an essential reality check for anyone who has ever looked for home in the night sky. (...) A City on Mars is hilarious. The breezy prose is studded with charming cartoons" - W.M.Akers, The New York Times Book Review

  • "This is a delightfully readable book, full of Zach's cartoon illustrations, amusing commentary and real-world case studies, and the bibliography provides an excellent starting place for further research." - Erika Nesvold, Times Literary Supplement

Please note that these ratings solely represent the complete review's biased interpretation and subjective opinion of the actual reviews and do not claim to accurately reflect or represent the views of the reviewers. Similarly the illustrative quotes chosen here are merely those the complete review subjectively believes represent the tenor and judgment of the review as a whole. We acknowledge (and remind and warn you) that they may, in fact, be entirely unrepresentative of the actual reviews by any other measure.

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The complete review's Review:

       The subtitle of A City on Mars spells out pretty clearly what Kelly and Zach Weinersmith explore here: Can we settle space, should we settle space, and have we really thought this through ? They try to think it through here, considering the pros and cons -- which fairly easily puts a damper on much of the space-settling enthusiasm one finds elsewhere, especially from those who are in a rush to settle Mars and the like (and think its doable soon).
       A basic point the authors make repeatedly is that: "space sucks". Specifically -- since the focus is on settling someplace -- they explain how the Moon and Mars (much less anyplace else out there) are inhospitable, and how making even small bits of them livable for any lengths of time is, to put it mildly, a great challenge. They mention that: "Our impression talking to nongeeks is that while they realize space sucks, they have underestimated the scale of suckitude" and, writing for a wide audience (i.e. also non-space-geeks), they go into helpful detail about the many ways in which space -- including space-travel and living in space -- sucks.
       Much of this is obvious -- such as that space travel is cramped, uncomfortable, and dangerous (from sitting atop a container of explosive fuel to the radiation encountered once one clears Earth) -- but the Weinersmiths helpfully spell it all out, making for a vivid picture (not least concerning the issues of food and water -- obtaining and consuming them in space, as well the resulting post-digestive disposal issues). They also make clear just how inhospitable the Moon and Mars are, specifically their surfaces -- regolith (bonus: "The lunar surface is electrically charged, meaning it clings like fresh laundry" -- coating everything) ! no real (protective) atmosphere ! etc. -- and how difficult it would be to build the necessary structures for humans to live and work in. (In both cases, underground is the obvious way to go (i.e. place to stay), but that also poses a variety of difficulties.) A lack of resources, beginning with water and carbon, are also a major issue, and both transporting anything from Earth or mining/refining it on site are costly, complicated processes.
       The Weinersmiths also repeatedly hammer home the fact that we know very little about long-term effects of being in space on humans -- and settlement would, by definition, be very long-term. Few individuals have spent significant amounts of time in space, so we still have very little idea of how bodies would be effected. Of particular importance is reproduction: successful settlement in space would have to involve the ability to sustain and grow the population locally, and we have practically no data yet about pregnancy in (generally low-to-no-gravity and radiation-heavy) space.
       Technological progress and continued research (including on animals) will help with many of the issue faced by potential space-settlers, but the Weinersmiths have a good point: why the big rush ? They make the case for: "a wait-and-go-big approach to settlement", noting that:

     If current technology barely permits survival and only permits natural population growth via throwing conventional moral standards out the window, and if there's no reason to leave this second, why not be patient ?
       Particularly welcome is also their focus on space law, as they note that this has huge ramifications on settling and, for example, mining in space. The current main text that's still relied on is the Outer Space Treaty, which came into force in 1967, and, as they note, it's remarkable: "how much the world has changed while the law has stayed the same". Untested, in many ways, they helpfully explore how the law might be interpreted and how, despite apparently limited enforcement possibilities, there are strong incentives to go along with it. Similarly, they discuss the issues surrounding the militarization of space, and why states might be cautious about what steps they take in that direction.
       All this is presented in a very breezy manner, the Weinersmiths often referring to themselves and presenting themselves as informed and enthusiastic while also emphasizing that they are not experts in the various fields they discuss. The folksy tone and approach make for some chuckles along the way, but some may find it a bit much at times.
       A sentence such as this offers a representative example (of: their personal approach; informed non-expertise on display; interesting facts; unnecessary joking):
We did a back-of-the-envelope calculation and estimated you'd need to cook all the water out of six tons of lunar soil to get the three kilograms of water you need daily to survive, not including cleaning, showering, and the occasional water ballon fight.
       Zach Weinersmith is also a cartoonist, and the book includes many of his illustrations. They generally are that -- illustrative, helping to visualize various points they're making --, though the emphasis here also tends more to humor than scientific precision. Overall, they're generally helpful, and fit with the general tone and approach of the book.
       The Weinersmiths do treat the material seriously, and they have done their research, and A City on Mars does helpfully bring the discussion about settling space 'down to earth', as it were. In particular, their discussion of space-law and governance in space is a welcome and important one, too often overlooked in the focus on technical feasibility. Examining so many of the aspects and difficulties of settling space, A City on Mars is an entertaining guide for a popular audience.

- M.A.Orthofer, 9 November 2024

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Links:

A City on Mars: Reviews: Kelly Weinersmith: Zach Weinersmith: Other books of interest under review:

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About the Author:

       American biologist Kelly Weinersmith teaches at Rice University.

       American cartoonist Zach Weinersmith was born in 1982.

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© 2024 the complete review

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