How to Live on Mars: A Trusty Guidebook to Surviving and Thriving on the Red Planet (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School—This guidebook for would-be Mars settlers is equal parts "Mars-humor" and science fiction (the narrator was born on Mars in 2071); a satire highly critical of NASA; and a Loompanics-flavored manifesto of rugged individualism. Fans of vintage Robert A. Heinlein, particularly The Rolling Stones (Del Rey, 1977), will feel right at home here as they enjoy descriptions of practical situations that might actually be encountered: air circulation technologies; choice of "habs"; pitfalls and scams that greenhorns should avoid. Enlivened by witty illustrations, the prose is both humorous and fact filled, with more technical and scientific information set aside in sections marked "Warning: High Science Content." Zubrin's presentation is clear and interesting but some might object that he puts no curbs on content like chemical recipes for explosives, and his Mars-based narrator's views are simplistic on complex Earth-based issues like global warming, bioengineering, and the value of government as a social contract. These topics could spark interesting classroom discussions. Valuable for teachers, this book is enjoyable and attractive for teens and will fascinate, provoke, and delight anyone interested in Mars and space settlement.—Christine C. Menefee, formerly at Fairfax County Public Library, VA
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From Booklist

In The Case For Mars (1997), Zubrin outlined a plan for visiting the red planet on a budget, offering plausible scientific scenarios for its colonization and eventual terraforming. Here he makes his case more whimsically by presenting in the form of a guidebook for the twenty-second-century pioneer on the way to already well-established, prefab Martian settlements. In practical, bite-sized chapters, he doles out advice on choosing a spacesuit (the elastic kind accentuates your buff physique, if you have one), describes Martian jobs that pay well (and don’t kill you), and even provides tips on delivering effective pickup lines (hint: what works in Earth’s saloons won’t work at film festivals in New Plymouth, Mars). Skillfully rendered illustrations of Martian colony life spice up instructions on how to invest your savings, avoid bureaucratic persecution, and achieve fame by making groundbreaking discoveries. Despite its deliberately droll tone, Zubrin’s primer grounds each chapter in legitimate science (with some leeway for delightfully extravagant speculation) and makes this futuristic peek at the Martian frontier an enjoyable learning experience. --Carl Hays

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press (December 2, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307407187
• ISBN-13: 978-0307407184
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #60,825 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pure platinum-group metals - Classic Zubrin, only more so., December 4, 2008

By	Eli J. Harman (Raleigh, NC United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Once again, Zubrin delights and informs like no other. This concise, easy-reading, laugh-out-loud, little volume is packed with more solid scientific and engineering information about Mars, Mars exploration and settlement than even "The Case for Mars." Whereas the latter was informative and interesting, but fairly straight-laced, Zubrin here takes a decidedly more lighthearted approach, creating a fictional, early 22nd century guide to surviving and thriving on the new frontier.

As usual, Zubrin's strongest suit is his ability to turn his caustic wit against the foolish, timid, bureaucratic, cowardly, thoughtless paralysis which presently cripples the aerospace establishment, and indeed, Zubrin suggests, the entirety of terrestrial "civilization" (if what we have down here still merits the term.) Perhaps my favorite example is the following passage detailing water reclamation from the exhaust of a space suit's methanol/oxygen fuel-cell (used to provide electric power) in order to extend the endurance of Martians on EVA.

"The water you obtain will include a significant quantity of carbon dioxide in solution, which is why NASA has banned systems that plumb fuel-cell wastewater directly back to the suit canteen. However, despite the claimed medical problem, it is a fact that in the twentieth century, many people chose to drink carbonated water as a matter of preference."

I do not hold with those who regard Zubrin's political asides as an interruption of an otherwise interesting presentation of scientific or engineering information. Zubrin's ability to decisively skewer folly of all sorts, technical, medical, political, social, is the primary reason that he has always impressed me, and in my opinion, constitutes the single best feature of this particular book.

Zubrin's brutal and sustained critique of bureaucracy toward the end of "How to Live on Mars" is positively brilliant. If it doesn't make you yearn to give up the soul-destroying stagnation and conformity of Earth to live on a planet full of misfits, outcasts and rugged individualists, then there's just simply no trace of idealism, romance, nobility or heroism left in your black, flabby, little heart.

I'm pleased to see Zubrin take such a radical turn, or maybe simply to more openly embrace the radicalism which he has never been able to entirely prevent from seeping into his work. This one is not going to win Zubrin any friends in high places, but I suspect it will contribute to the immortality he achieves when the Martians (descended from pioneers who will make the first crossings in Mars-Direct inspired spacecraft) finally throw off their tyrannical Earthling overlords and establish a truly civilized branch of humanity for the first time in far too long.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mixes Science and humor. , December 3, 2008

By	Stephen A. Lajoie (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Supposedly written by a Robert Zubrin born on Mars in the year 2071, when there are Martian settlements, this book mixes humor and science fact in a guidebook format.

Chapters include:
* How to Get to Mars
* How to Choose a Spacesuit
* How to Choose Your First Ground Rover
* How to Choose Your Homestead
* Choosing the Right Technology for Your Hab
* How to Save Money on Radiation Protection
* How to Stay Alive in the Desert
* How to Make Anything
* How to Grow Food (That is Actually Edible)
* How to get a Job that Pays Well and Doesn't Kill You
* How to Fly on Mars.
* How to Invest Your Savings
* How to Make Discoveries That Will Make you Famous
* How to Profit from the Terraforming Program
* How to be a Social Success on Mars
* How to Avoid Bureaucratic Persecution.

The book is an enjoyable, easy and quick read. You need not have a physics or engineering degree to understand it (I have both) and it is written for the layperson, which chapters with more technical content having warnings. I smirked at the jabs at NASA but ridicule is not my thing.

I'm not sure the last two chapters had much to add to the book. For example, in the social success chapter, the pick up lines were funny, but don't really say much about Mars. I would have rather had much more technical content than humor, but the book is what it is; and what it is is a book that everyone can enjoy.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Science meets humor, a must read for future Martian emigrants!, December 5, 2008

By	Heather - See all my reviews

This book was a delightfully enjoyable read. Written with clever mix of humor, anecdotes, ridiculing stagnant status quo, and science in a wonderful blend.

Written from the point of view of a hypothetical early 22nd century Martian as a guide to getting to, living on, and living a happy and successful life on Mars for those brave and adventurous Earthlings wishing to make the trip to Mars.

While having the humor and straight talk that make this book such an easy and enjoyable read it still has the science and engineering data that a new Martian (or anyone interested in Mars) should know. The technical sections are clearly labeled for those wishing to simply skim those sections, which also increases it's readability as you decide how much of the technical sections you wish to read with each siting.