The Future of Humanity, by Michio Kaku

In the best science fiction stories, the author takes real science of today and extrapolates it in realistic ways so that the reader can believe that the world the author describes could be an actual future.  Michio Kaku is a fan of sci-fi.  In The Future of Humanity: Terraforming Mars, Interstellar Travel, Immortality, and Our Future Beyond Earth Kaku writes realistic scientific projections and about actual research and development in a variety of fields.  He fires readers' imaginations with possibilities and potential.

Kaku, a theoretical physicist, college professor, and all around interesting guy, starts with a challenge.  He writes, "If we scan all the life-forms that have ever existed on the Earth . . . we find that more than 99.9 percent of them eventually become extinct.  This means that extinction is the norm, that the odds are already stacked heavily against us."  In other words, the odds are that humans will become extinct.  But we have options: "Either me must leave the Earth or we will perish.  There is no other way."

The first chapters are most immediate and easiest to grasp.  What will it take to establish colonies on the Moon and on Mars?  How close are we to mining resources on asteroids?  How about the moons of the outer planets?  These are a relatively short step from current technology.  Given sufficient funding and national and international commitment, a more permanent human presence away from Earth could be a reality.

Kaku raises many of the questions that sci-fi writers conveniently avoid.  Is there a practical means of travel to other planetary systems?  Are multi-generation space journeys realistic?  Is it possible to put astronauts in suspended animation?  What about the time frames of terraforming, the physiological effects on humans of life in space or on other planets, or the prospects for downloading our consciousness to electronic storage?

As the book progresses and Kaku stretches his ideas further and further beyond current reality.  But even the wildly speculative portions have a basis in believable premises.  The Future of Humanity has lots of ideas familiar to sci-fi fans.  He includes copious references from movies and novels to illustrate his ideas.  Kaku makes science and the future very exciting and builds anticipation for what may be around the corner for us.  Hopefully The Future of Humanity will inspire a new generation of scientists to take humanity into a more hopeful future.


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!