November Meeting Dystopian/Sci-FI Book Group

Thursday,  November 21st, 2024  7-8:30pm

Join us for a lively discussion of A City on Mars: can we settle space, should we settle space, and have we really thought this through? by Kelly and Zach Weinersmith

The wife-and-husband writing team who penned Soonish (2017), a biologist and a cartoonist, respectively, take on the rough realities of space settlement in their immersive and entertaining examination of how close humanity actually is to living among the stars. The Weinersmiths are upfront about their major reservations about human beings living in space anytime soon as they delve into the realities that might keep people earthbound for the foreseeable future. The most notable one might be humankind's own biology, which is specifically designed for Earth's atmosphere and gravity; the astronauts at the International Space Station have seen their bone mass and muscles shrink during their months in space. The Weinersmiths also note that since no one has ever tried to get pregnant or give birth in space, there's no scientific data on what less gravity and more radiation would do to a fetus or a newborn. Biology isn't the only barrier; finding a suitable habitat, sourcing material and energy, and even navigating space law, born out of the geopolitical competition between the U.S. and the Soviet Union in the 1960s, all present daunting challenges. Despite their conclusion that humanity isn't quite ready for life in space, the Weinersmiths' passion and enthusiasm shine through every page of this absorbing, lively exploration.From Booklist

Copies of the book are available at our Circulation Desk.

Please email [email protected] for Zoom Link.