This is a very good book with a few caveats. It is comprehensive and looks at many different concepts, as well as being a good source to identify articles and further reading. It is really a must for anyone who is interested in interstellar travel. The weakness are minor but:
- Depending on your comfort with math, this book will either be to light or to challenging. The math is a bit light- I think they tried to tread the line of not making it too intimidating for liberal arts majors but, as a result may have dumbed the book down to much. With that being said, there is a lot of helpful formulas and no calculus- all you need to know is algebra. A high school senior should be comfortable with the little bit of math in the book, but it will be too hard for middle school. A few examples where the formulas are demonstrated would probably help with some of the concepts. This is especially true as some of the formulas are long, and the primitive typeset (see later paragraph) makes reading them difficult. For instance, on page 94 the calculation for a solar sail interstellar departure velocity is difficult to interpret.
- Through no fault of the authors the book is a bit outdated, and a revision may be needed. With that being said, the math and physics do not change so despite being 30+ years old, the book is not missing any fundamental new ideas.
- Partly related to the books age, some of the drawings and the overall look of the book, including the typeset and in particular the math presentation, is dated. The drawings look somewhat rough and unpolished. The introductory sketches to the chapters sometimes have you scratching your head- they don't add to the presentation.
- Much of the book is dedicated to theorhetical ideas and this book is mostly about concepts. Not much can be found about the actual engineering- or how these things would be built. It is exclusively written from a scientist point of view- with nary and engineer in sight.
Despite these minor caveats, this book is a must have for this topic.
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