The Future of Humanity: Terraforming Mars, Interstellar Travel, Immortality, and Our Destiny Beyond Earth by Michio Kaku
“The Future of Humanity” is an awe-inspiring exploration of the pioneers who have the energy, vision, and the resources to change the fate of humanity. He also analyzes the advance in technology that will make it possible to leave the Earth and settle elsewhere. Cofounder of string field theory, best-selling author and professor of theoretical physics at the City University of New York, Dr. Michio Kaku takes the reader on a unique journey beyond Earth. This splendid 352-page book includes fourteen chapters broken out by the following three parts: I. Leaving the Earth, II. Voyage to the Stars, and III. Life in the Universe.
Positives:
1. A Kaku trademark, great science writing for the general public. Informative, interesting and fun to read.
2. The fascinating topic of the future of humanity in the hands of an expert.
3. Excellent format. The book is broken out logically and in chronological order of future events. Also, each chapter is introduced by chapter-appropriate quotes.
4. An excellent introduction that clearly states the main purpose of the book. “In this book, I will describe the technologies that will take us even farther as we explore the planets and the stars. In part 1, we will discuss the effort to create a permanent moon base and to colonize and terraform Mars. To do this, we will have to exploit the fourth wave of science, which consists of artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, and biotechnology.”
5. Interesting factoids throughout. “The V-2 set a number of world records, shattering all past achievements in terms of speed and range for a rocket. It was the first long-range guided ballistic missile. It was the first rocket to break the sound barrier. And most impressively, it was the first rocket ever to leave the boundary of the atmosphere and enter outer space.”
6. Thought-provoking philosophy. “Since science is the engine of prosperity, nations that turn their backs on science and technology eventually enter a downward spiral.”
7. Excellent look at the pioneers with deep pockets and their dreams for humanity. “Today, it is not the private fortunes of the members of the Baltimore Gun Club fueling this new space race but the checkbooks of moguls like Jeff Bezos. Instead of waiting for NASA to give him permission to build rockets and a launchpad with taxpayer dollars, he founded his own company, Blue Origin, and is building them himself, with his own pocket money.”
8. For the love of astronomy. “Asteroids, in some sense, are like flying gold mines in outer space. For example, in July 2015, one came within a million miles of Earth, or about four times the distance from the Earth to the moon. It was about nine hundred meters (or about three thousand feet) across and was estimated to contain ninety million tons of platinum in its core, worth $5.4 trillion.”
9. Discusses what it will take to live on Mars. “But settlers would have to get used to the gravity on Mars, which is only 40 percent of the gravity on Earth, and, as on the moon, they would have to exercise vigorously to avoid muscle and bone loss.”
10. Discusses potential life-supporting venues besides the planets. “Perhaps the most intriguing of all is Europa, one of the original moons discovered by Galileo. Europa, like some of the other moons of the gas giants, is covered with a thick layer of ice.”
11. Such discussions are not possible without the great contributions from Einstein. “Albert Einstein, recognizing that Newton’s laws could be flawed, showed that Mercury’s orbit could be explained by an entirely new effect, the warping of space-time according to his theory of relativity.)”
12. Robots in space, oh my. “The next push for self-replicating robots came in 1980, when NASA spearheaded a study called Advanced Automation for Space Missions. The study report concluded that self-replicating robots would be crucial to building lunar settlements and identified at least three types of robots that would be needed. Mining robots would collect basic raw materials, construction robots would melt and refine the materials and assemble new parts, and repair robots would mend and maintain themselves and their colleagues without human intervention.”
13. One of the joys of reading Kaku are the numerous references to popular science fiction movies that help readers understand science topics. Movies like Passengers, Interstellar, Arrival and of course the classic 2001 get a lot of love.
14. Discusses a variety of types of spaceships. “The ramjet fusion rocket is another enticing concept. It would look like a giant ice cream cone and would scoop up hydrogen gas in interstellar space, then concentrate it in a fusion reactor to generate energy. Like a jet or a cruise missile, the ramjet rocket would be quite economical. Because jets gulp ordinary air, they do not have to carry their own oxidizer, which reduces cost. Since there is an unlimited amount of hydrogen gas in space for fuel, the spaceship should be able to accelerate forever. As with the solar sail, the engine’s specific impulse is infinite.”
15. Did somebody say wormholes? “In conclusion, negative energy does exist, and if enough negative energy could somehow be collected, we could, in principle, create a wormhole machine or a warp drive engine, fulfilling some of the wildest fantasies of science fiction.”
16. The fascinating topic of aging and immortality. “In fact, there is an influx of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs investing millions to defeat the aging process. Not content to wire up the world, their next goal is to live forever. Sergey Brin, the cofounder of Google, hopes to do nothing less than “cure death.””
17. The quest to find extraterrestrial life. “A new branch of science has recently been born, called exobiology, to study life on distant worlds with ecosystems different from those found on Earth. So far, exobiologists have had difficulty trying to find a path to creating life-forms that are not based on the carbon chemistry that gives us rich and diverse molecules.”
18. A look at the Kardashev scale of civilizations. “His ranking was as follows: 1. A Type I civilization utilizes all the energy of the sunlight that falls on that planet. 2. A Type II civilization utilizes all the energy its sun produces. 3. A Type III civilization utilizes the energy of an entire galaxy.”
19. The search for the theory of everything. “What theory can unify general relativity and the quantum theory at the Planck energy? Einstein spent the last thirty years of his life chasing after a “theory of everything” that could allow him to “read the mind of God,” but he failed. This remains one of the biggest questions facing modern physics.”
20. The three possibilities for the ultimate fate of the universe. “So my point of view combines both the Copernican and anthropic principle. I believe that our universe is not special, as in the Copernican principle, except for two features: that it is very stable and that it is compatible with life as we know it. So instead of having an infinite number of parallel universes floating in the Nirvana of hyperspace, most of them are unstable, and perhaps only a handful of them survive to create life like ours.”
Negatives:
1. I would have preferred a better laid out book. I would have added timelines, highlight factoids, and take advantage of linking capability in eBooks. Time to take these books to another level.
2. Limited visual supplementary material for such a great narrative.
3. Honestly, how many readers even at its most basic will truly understand string theory?
4. Let’s be honest it’s hard to live up to the The Future of the Mind.
5. In order to reach a broader audience, depth pays a price.
In summary, I really enjoyed this book! Kaku is the tour guide you want to teach us about the future of humanity. This is what popular science writing should all be about, inspiring minds to dream big while keeping us grounded in sound science. What makes this book a treat to read is the combination of Kaku’s mastery of the topic, his enthusiasm, his ability to convey complex topics in an accessible manner, and providing readers with excellent examples from popular science fiction movies. Some shortcomings aside, I highly recommend it!
Further recommendations: “The Future of the Mind” and “Physics of the Future” by the same author, “Astrophysics for People in a Hurry” by Neil deGrasse Tyson, “Heavens on Earth” by Michael Shermer, “Immortality” by Stephen Cave, “Cosmos” Carl Sagan, “The Big Picture” Sean Carroll, “A Universe From Nothing” by Lawrence Krauss, “The Grand Design” by Stephen Hawking, “The Elegant Universe” by Brian Greene, and “Wonders of the Solar System” and “Wonders of the Universe” by Brian Cox.
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Join or create book clubs
Choose books together
Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. Learn more
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle Cloud Reader.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Flip to back Flip to front
Follow the Author
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.
| Price | New from | Used from |
|
Audible Audiobook, Unabridged
"Please retry" |
$0.00
| Free with your Audible trial | |
|
Audio CD, Audiobook, Unabridged
"Please retry" | — | $4.39 |
Great on Kindle
Great Experience. Great Value.
Putting our best book forward
Each Great on Kindle book offers a great reading experience, at a better value than print to keep your wallet happy.
Explore your book, then jump right back to where you left off with Page Flip.
View high quality images that let you zoom in to take a closer look.
Enjoy features only possible in digital – start reading right away, carry your library with you, adjust the font, create shareable notes and highlights, and more.
Discover additional details about the events, people, and places in your book, with Wikipedia integration.
Get the free Kindle app: 
Enjoy a great reading experience when you buy the Kindle edition of this book.
Learn more about Great on Kindle, available in select categories.
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.
Frequently bought together
- +
- +
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Choose items to buy together.
Customers who viewed this item also viewed
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
Popular Highlights in this book
Since science is the engine of prosperity, nations that turn their backs on science and technology eventually enter a downward spiral.Highlighted by 419 Kindle readers- If we scan all the life-forms that have ever existed on the Earth, from microscopic bacteria to towering forests, lumbering dinosaurs, and enterprising humans, we find that more than 99.9 percent of them eventually became extinct.Highlighted by 288 Kindle readers
- In the twenty-first century, the third wave of science has been expressed in high tech, spearheaded by the quantum physicists who invented the transistor and the laser. This made possible the supercomputer, the internet, modern telecommunications, GPS, and the explosion of the tiny chips that have permeated every aspect of our lives.Highlighted by 217 Kindle readers
Limited-Time Offer
Join Audible Premium Plus for 60% off. Get this deal
About the author
Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Customer reviews
An uncluttered and insightful approach is an essential start to exploring the potential for humanity’s expansion beyond these earthly confines.Fortunately, Michio Kaku’s 2018 work, “The Future of Humanity”, is a bold effort to project what we know now toward what we think could be. The author, a theoretical physics at the City University of New York and co-founder of string field theory, has written many science books in this highly competitive field.This new effort is presented in an admirably down to earth, uncomplicated style and blends science fiction imaginings with the practical observations of scientific learning based on experience to project where humanity might be headed.The Prologue sets up a basic proposition regarding humanity’s fate based on our own and other species histories dealing with change: leave, adapt, or die. For the first two options a practical assessment of the risks to survival is critical.The Introduction references the musings of the great science fiction writer, Isaac Asimov, and cosmologist and SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) founder, Carl Sagan, to establish the desire and need for humanity to be a two or more planet and galaxy species.Kaku’s exploration of how this might be achieved unfolds through fourteen chapters grouped into three sections:1. “Leaving Earth”: six chapters discussing challenges and practical considerations for humans in their present form for leaving Earth, setting up colonies for cultivating mineral and water resources on the Moon, Mars, asteroid belt and beyond as well as how to survive in hostile environments2. “Voyage to the Stars”: three chapters looking at the issues and considerations for humans on multi-generational starships travelling at speeds below the speed of light, including the practicality of building starships and possibility of using technically advanced robots to run the ships and assist with colonizing exoplanets along the voyage path3. “Life in the Universe”: five chapters considering a range of topics facing very advanced humans who may have capabilities blended with technological enhancements (“transhumanism”), the possibility of encountering extraterrestrials more advanced than humans, faster than light transportation models, the impact of dark matter and dark energy, living in the multiverse realmThe last two chapters were outstanding layman summaries of the issues and differences among Einstein’s general relativity theory about the very big,, quantum mechanical theory and limitations about the very small and an insightful discussion about string theory as an attempt to reconcile the seemingly contradictory elements of the different theories. Did the universe originate with the Big Bang or has it (and others) always been in a continuous evolving state?Some areas might have been discussed in more detail, or were not addressed:A quirk inherent in Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle is whether an objective reality exists outside the observer who technically is in the quantum state, along with everything he or she sees. Are the physical world interpretations a creation of our own imagination still seeking an independent reality?An underlying assumption of Kaku’s work is future potential is based on a human consciousness model. Yet, there seems to be evidence of interstellar existence of life in basic forms such as spores, even organic chains that eventually replicate and can evolve into more complex forms. Is a more rudimentary form better suited for exploring the universe? Or is this book more about how far and what is needed to extend human consciousness and collective learning?For all the expansion of our technical capability to observe and theorize, are we simply getting better at measuring what we still don’t understand?With flying conditions so great, why not enjoy this magical mystery tour?
Images in this review
Top reviews from other countries
J. Axup
Every core sci-fi concept explained
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 1, 2020
Matthew Whyndham
Expecting more science
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 7, 2021Dr Mike
Save your money for something worth buying and reading
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 12, 2018james dey
Thought provoking
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 27, 2019
Life Reviewed ☑️
A very good book on future science and humanity's destiny among the stars
Reviewed in India 🇮🇳 on July 14, 2019
A very good book on future science and humanity's destiny among the stars
Reviewed in India 🇮🇳 on July 14, 2019
Love this type of books which try to look into our future based on what we are today.Reviewed in India 🇮🇳 on July 14, 2019
Some countries of Earth are on the verge of interplanetary travel and even settling on other worlds. It is becoming a necessity. Climate change, resource depletion and future catastrophes will compel us to abandon Earth, one day we will make our homes among the stars.
Physicist Michio Kaku discussed in detail how humanity might gradually develop a sustainable civilization in outer space and build habitable cities on Mars. Kaku also explores alternative paths to ensure the survival of humanity, including the possibility of genetic engineering and transferring human consciousness into non-biological machines and transcend our physical bodies entirely.
Click on the 'Helpful' button if you liked this review. Uploading some pics for your benefit. Thanks for reading.
Images in this review
