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Description Emigrating Beyond Earth: Human Adaptation and Space Colonization (Springer Praxis Books / Popular Science) by Cameron Smith and Evan T. Davies Springer | June 2012 | ISBN-10: 1461411645 | True PDF | 290 pages | 97.5 mb http://www.amazon.com/Emigrating-Beyond-Earth-Adaptation-Colonization/dp/1461411645 For four million years humankind has been actively expanding geographically and in doing so has adapted to a wide variety of hostile environments. Now we are looking towards the ultimate adaptation - the colonization of space. Emigrating Beyond Earth illustrates that this is not a technocratic endeavor, but a natural continuation of human evolution; a journey not just for the engineer and rocket scientist, but for everyman. Based on the most current understanding of our universe, human adaptation and evolution, the authors explain why space colonization must be planned as an adaptation to, rather than the conquest of, space. Emigrating Beyond Earth argues that space colonization is an insurance policy for our species, and that it isn't about rockets and robots, it's about humans doing what we've been doing for four million years: finding new places and new ways to live. Applying a unique anthropological approach, the authors outline a framework for continued human space exploration and offer a glimpse of a possible human future involving interstellar travel and settlement of worlds beyond our own. About the Author Educated in Africa, England, the USA and Canada, Dr. Cameron M. Smith teaches archaeology and human evolution at Portland State University and Linfield College. He has published in peer-reviewed research journals, written features for magazines including 'Scientific American', 'Scientific American MIND', 'OMNI', 'Cultural Survival' and 'Archaeology', and written several books. His award-winning travel writing has appeared in both magazines and anthologies. Away from his office, Cameron is an active SCUBA diver and paraglider pilot whose many expeditions have taken him from Africa to the Arctic. His most recent book is 'Emigrating Beyond Earth: Human Adaptation and Space Colonization' (Springer 2012). He is currently writing and illustrating an atlas of human prehistory (Fall 2014) and a technical foundation on the cultural and genetic issues involved in human space colonization (Fall 2016). CONTENTS List of Figures List of Tables Acknowledgements and Dedications About the Authors Preface Part 1: The Context and Uniqueness of Human Evolution and Adaptation 1 1 The Extraterrestrial Adaptation: Humanity, Evolution and Migration Into Space 3 2 Stardust: The Origins of Life, Evolution and Adaptation 31 3 The Adaptive Equipment of the Genus Homo: Symbolism and Niche Construction 91 Part II: Arguments For and Against Human Space Colonization 111 4 A Choice of Catastrophes: Common Arguments for Space Colonization 113 5 False Choices: Common Objections to Human Space Colonization 151 Part Ill: Human Adaptation to Space: Lessons from the Past and Shaping the Future 179 6 Starpaths: Adaptation to Oceania 181 7 Building an Adaptive Framework for Human Space Colonization 205 8 Distant Lands Unknown: Informed Speculation on the Human Future in Space 241 Bibliography 267 Index 283 Sharing Widget |
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