Rating: 
Summary: Brain-damaging speculation!
Review: Zubrin knows what he is talking about. This book was great! Zubrin leads us from the early space program, through the technology we could build today -- but haven't -- and into the far, far future.The first 1/3 of the book covers the current state of affairs in space exploration and what we could have done by now, but didn't. This section of the book will make you wish for election day, so you can toss those bums in DC out the airlock. In the second section (my personal favorite of the three), Zubrin explains how we can explore and exploit the solar system, with great emphasis on the technology thereof. Finally, Zubrin takes us to the stars, and engages in some really bizzare -- but cool! -- speculation into what technology our distant descendants might use to build new worlds. Great book, great science. 5 stars!
Rating: 
Summary: Zubrin gets out of his depth
Review: Zubrin writes well, and the technology parts are well described and a good read. However, the overall book is quite negative towards anything that is not Mars related, or in the distant future. Section 1 is mainly an exercise in bashing NASA and the large space contractors. Perhaps some of this is justified, but it comes across as sour grapes. Zubrin then takes aim at O'Niell's High Frontier ideas. However, he is factually incorrect in much of what he says, and loses his credibility at this point. Section 2 is mainly about Mars. Zubrin is excellent on the technical aspects of Mars Direct. However, when he moves on to Mars colonisation, most of his ideas are based on parallels with the colonisation of North America. Here Zubrin is out of his depth, as the engineering is left behind and he enters into sociology and politics. Section 3 is far future stuff, and much of the engineering discussion is useful. There are some ideas which are "interesting". For example, because it is theoretically possible for bacteria to travel in space, Zubrin assumes that is what happened. He then goes on to show that the reason that Earth has not been colonised by higher beings is that advanced civilisations self destruct after a while, despite these civilisations spanning many thousands of light years. Overall, good on the engineering, and some interesting stories about how NASA can't make anything work. However, for most of the book, Zubrin is either out of his depth, or trying to discredit ideas that might be competitors to Mars Direct. It's worth reading, but keep an air of scepticism.
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