Emigrating Beyond Earth: Human Adaptation and Space Colonization (Popular Science)

Smith, Cameron M M.; Davies, Evan T.

ISBN 10: 1461411645 / ISBN 13: 9781461411642

Published by Springer, 2012

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 1461411645-4-35023529

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Emigrating Beyond Earth: Human Adaptation and Space Colonization (Popular Science)
• Publisher: Springer
• Publication Date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1461411645
• ISBN 13: 9781461411642
• Binding: paperback
• Condition: Fair
• Weight: 18 ounces

About this title

Synopsis

Emigrating Beyond Earth puts space colonization into the context of human evolution. Rather than focusing on the technologies and strategies needed to colonize space, the authors examine the human dimensions of space colonization, from genetics to cultural change. In this approach, space colonization is shown to be a natural continuation of the human species' 4 million-year legacy of adaptation to difficult new environments. The authors describe what can be learned from the evolutionary process to make space colonization more likely to succeed, and present examples from the history of human expansion into new environments -- including the astounding case of the prehistoric settlement of the upper colonization of the Pacific islands around 3,000 years ago -- to show that space colonization will be no more about rockets and robots that Pacific colonization was about sailing, but, instead, a natural and worthwhile continuation of human adaptation over time.

About the Author

Dr. Cameron M. Smith, Ph.D. teaches human evolution and prehistory at the Department of Anthropology at Portland State University in Oregon. His professional training began as a student of Harvard University's early human archaeology field school at the Leakey research station in northern Kenya. After a year at the University of London's Institute of Archaeology, Dr. Smith earned a Joint Honors BA in Anthropology and Archaeology and Masters and Doctoral degrees in the USA and Canada. His courses emphasize adaptation and evolution as structuring facts of human prehistory. Dr. Smith has been widely published in both scientific journals and popular science magazines, including the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Structure and Dynamics, The Journal of Field Archaeology, Scientific American MIND, Evolution Education and Outreach, Archaeology and Spaceflight. He is the co-author of The Top Ten Myths About Evolution (Prometheus, 2005) -- endorsed by the National Center for Science Education and the American Library Association -- and author of The Fact of Evolution (Prometheus, 2011), recently selected for the Scientific American Book Club. Evan T. Davies, PhD, began his professional career as an archaeological and geographical fieldworker. He has taught anthropology at Rice University and the University of Houston and, with Dr. Smith, coauthored Anthropology for Dummies (Wiley 2008).