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Final Frontier: The Pioneering Science and Technology of Exploring the Universe
Star Trek was right ― there is only one final frontier, and that is space... Human beings are natural explorers, and nowhere is this frontier spirit stronger than in the United States of America. It almost defines the character of the US. But the Earth is running out of frontiers fast. In Brian Clegg's The Final Frontier we discover the massive challenges that face explorers, both human and robotic, to uncover the current and future technologies that could take us out into the galaxy and take a voyage of discovery where no one has gone before… but one day someone will. In 2003, General Wesley Clark set the nation a challenge to produce the technology that would enable new pioneers to explore the galaxy. That challenge is tough ― the greatest we've ever faced. But taking on the final frontier does not have to be a fantasy. In a time of recession, escapism is always popular ― and what greater escape from the everyday can there be than the chance of leaving Earth's bounds and exploring the universe? With a rich popular culture heritage in science fiction movies, books and TV shows, this is a subject that entertains and informs in equal measure.
- GenresScienceNonfictionSpace
304 pages, Hardcover
First published August 19, 2014
9 people are currently reading
423 people want to read
About the author
Brian Clegg
162 books3,174 followersBrian's latest books, Ten Billion Tomorrows and How Many Moons does the Earth Have are now available to pre-order. He has written a range of other science titles, including the bestselling Inflight Science, The God Effect, Before the Big Bang, A Brief History of Infinity, Build Your Own Time Machine and Dice World.
Along with appearances at the Royal Institution in London he has spoken at venues from Oxford and Cambridge Universities to Cheltenham Festival of Science, has contributed to radio and TV programmes, and is a popular speaker at schools. Brian is also editor of the successful www.popularscience.co.uk book review site and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
Brian has Masters degrees from Cambridge University in Natural Sciences and from Lancaster University in Operational Research, a discipline originally developed during the Second World War to apply the power of mathematics to warfare. It has since been widely applied to problem solving and decision making in business.
Brian has also written regular columns, features and reviews for numerous publications, including Nature, The Guardian, PC Week, Computer Weekly, Personal Computer World, The Observer, Innovative Leader, Professional Manager, BBC History, Good Housekeeping and House Beautiful. His books have been translated into many languages, including German, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, Polish, Turkish, Norwegian, Thai and even Indonesian.
Along with appearances at the Royal Institution in London he has spoken at venues from Oxford and Cambridge Universities to Cheltenham Festival of Science, has contributed to radio and TV programmes, and is a popular speaker at schools. Brian is also editor of the successful www.popularscience.co.uk book review site and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
Brian has Masters degrees from Cambridge University in Natural Sciences and from Lancaster University in Operational Research, a discipline originally developed during the Second World War to apply the power of mathematics to warfare. It has since been widely applied to problem solving and decision making in business.
Brian has also written regular columns, features and reviews for numerous publications, including Nature, The Guardian, PC Week, Computer Weekly, Personal Computer World, The Observer, Innovative Leader, Professional Manager, BBC History, Good Housekeeping and House Beautiful. His books have been translated into many languages, including German, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, Polish, Turkish, Norwegian, Thai and even Indonesian.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
June 5, 2015
Received as an ARC from St. Martin's Press.
Clegg’s ’Final Frontier’ incorporates a small lesson into conceptual physics mixed with how humans translate their ideas (albeit from science fiction) from paper to reality in regards to exploring open space; travelling not only to our nearest theoretically possible habitable area (eventually) Mars, but also sharing hypotheses about deep space travel. Towards the end of the book, the author even states:
”As we have seen, going into space is not really a scientific endeavor at all. It may be for any or all of political, commercial, sociological – even spiritual – purposes.”
With that said, Clegg shares precise information about future space exploration and how money and politics are the main factors in what we do, how we do it and when we do it and also makes interesting arguments on why certain ideas such as building a station on the moon for the mining of natural resources or to envisage the terraforming of Mars into what it perhaps looked like millions of years ago. Some of his main arguments pertain to Earth, as a whole, working together to further our understanding to explore by human or probe, the relatively close areas (Mars or asteroids) or deep space (outside of the Solar System); the government sector (NASA) working with the private sector to achieve common goals.
’Final Frontier’ is informative, yet redundant at times, but not bad enough to put away. An easy 3 star book.
PS: In the last week (October 2014), we have had 2 catastrophes from both the government and private sector. NASA’s Cygnus spacecraft and Richard Branson’s SpaceShipTwo have had accidents while either testing or going on a small scale mission. With these two anomalies, it has befuddled scientists and put our ambition back to the drawing board. For some reason, we just can’t translate ‘paper’ ideas and make them come to fruition. Not necessarily a criticism, but an unfortunate set of circumstances that have, again, put our outlook on the future into a deep depression.
Clegg’s ’Final Frontier’ incorporates a small lesson into conceptual physics mixed with how humans translate their ideas (albeit from science fiction) from paper to reality in regards to exploring open space; travelling not only to our nearest theoretically possible habitable area (eventually) Mars, but also sharing hypotheses about deep space travel. Towards the end of the book, the author even states:
”As we have seen, going into space is not really a scientific endeavor at all. It may be for any or all of political, commercial, sociological – even spiritual – purposes.”
With that said, Clegg shares precise information about future space exploration and how money and politics are the main factors in what we do, how we do it and when we do it and also makes interesting arguments on why certain ideas such as building a station on the moon for the mining of natural resources or to envisage the terraforming of Mars into what it perhaps looked like millions of years ago. Some of his main arguments pertain to Earth, as a whole, working together to further our understanding to explore by human or probe, the relatively close areas (Mars or asteroids) or deep space (outside of the Solar System); the government sector (NASA) working with the private sector to achieve common goals.
’Final Frontier’ is informative, yet redundant at times, but not bad enough to put away. An easy 3 star book.
PS: In the last week (October 2014), we have had 2 catastrophes from both the government and private sector. NASA’s Cygnus spacecraft and Richard Branson’s SpaceShipTwo have had accidents while either testing or going on a small scale mission. With these two anomalies, it has befuddled scientists and put our ambition back to the drawing board. For some reason, we just can’t translate ‘paper’ ideas and make them come to fruition. Not necessarily a criticism, but an unfortunate set of circumstances that have, again, put our outlook on the future into a deep depression.
October 25, 2020
I'm quickly becomming a fan of Brian Clegg's books, and this one is well written and very readable like the other ones I've read. However, this book was published in 2014 (and probably written between 2010 and 2013) so, like almost every technology book, stumbles because it's already vastly out of date.
The author optimistically sites about 15 defunct space programs going on at the time including the infamous Mars One program that we now know were either marketing schemes, fraud, or way too ambitious to ever come close to reaching their goals. Every time the author mentioned a space program in the book, I Googled it to see what the current status was and was dismayed to read that the programs were either in litigation, bankrupt, or lost their funding.
I would not recommend this book to anyone wanting to understand the current status of space exploration (for that, you're better off following blogs), but the book does have merit as a reminder that space exploration is an insanely difficult and slow moving field and that progress in this field should be measured in generations and not years.
Bonus points to the author for his candid opinions on the merit of the ISS program (it's a refreshing take from the media's normal spin) and for discussing the OSIRIS-REx probe which I was happy to learn was still a valid program (and in fact, only weeks away from making humanities first asteroid grab).
The author optimistically sites about 15 defunct space programs going on at the time including the infamous Mars One program that we now know were either marketing schemes, fraud, or way too ambitious to ever come close to reaching their goals. Every time the author mentioned a space program in the book, I Googled it to see what the current status was and was dismayed to read that the programs were either in litigation, bankrupt, or lost their funding.
I would not recommend this book to anyone wanting to understand the current status of space exploration (for that, you're better off following blogs), but the book does have merit as a reminder that space exploration is an insanely difficult and slow moving field and that progress in this field should be measured in generations and not years.
Bonus points to the author for his candid opinions on the merit of the ISS program (it's a refreshing take from the media's normal spin) and for discussing the OSIRIS-REx probe which I was happy to learn was still a valid program (and in fact, only weeks away from making humanities first asteroid grab).
January 19, 2021
It's a bit disappointing that many of the projects discussed in this book never got off the ground, but that's no reason to dismiss this book. The author touches on many different aspects of colonizing the galaxy and brings to light many of the challenges faced in doing so. As amazing as it would be if more projects came to fruition it is still truly awe-inspiring what we have been able to accomplish in the short time we've been visiting the vacuum of space. It is truly inspiring to look ahead at what humanity it striving toward, and I look forward to seeing where it takes us.
March 15, 2019
My ratings of books on Goodreads are solely a crude ranking of their utility to me, and not an evaluation of literary merit, entertainment value, social importance, humor, insightfulness, scientific accuracy, creative vigor, suspensefulness of plot, depth of characters, vitality of theme, excitement of climax, satisfaction of ending, or any other combination of dimensions of value which we are expected to boil down through some fabulous alchemy into a single digit.
March 18, 2023
a very fascinating insight on space exploration and the challenges it poses
September 21, 2014
Being someone who fascinate in universe and space, this book let me learn about the history and plans of mankind trying to explore the universe (and may be inhabit on some planets), including the different options (near term or future) and the associated technological challenges to deal with the different phenomenon of the universe. It explains how the various government or private projects that have succeeded, failed or currently in progress to pursue mankind's curiosity to reach other planets or stars. The primary challenges to have a space ship (with human, fuel, cargo etc.) reaching distant stars or galaxies as mentioned in the book include space ship launching (against gravitational force), human tolerance in multi-years long flight (physical and sychological), and speed of the space ship (limited by speed of light) which is the key for interstellar travel since the distance to cover is measured in light years.
Upon reading the book, one can sense that for human to reach outside our own star to the nearest one in our own solar system is surely a very very long shot, without even considering other galaxies. The book however does leaves a hope that the concept of faster-than-light travel can be achieved via wrapping of time-space using the "wrap drive" theory.
Upon reading the book, one can sense that for human to reach outside our own star to the nearest one in our own solar system is surely a very very long shot, without even considering other galaxies. The book however does leaves a hope that the concept of faster-than-light travel can be achieved via wrapping of time-space using the "wrap drive" theory.
March 29, 2015
Look, up in the sky...it's a bird, it's a plane, no it could be a space elevator! With spirited enthusiasm, physicist Brian Clegg daringly suggests how we might find and sustain life beyond our atmosphere.
From the early space speculative writings of Galileo, to state-of-the-art computer systems of NASA, we have yearned to venture out from our cozy home of Earth. But how do we achieve this? What do we do when we get out there? How do we stay alive as we search the universe? With intense chapters on the environment of Mars, asteroid mining for precious minerals, going beyond our galaxy in search of water, the future of spaceflight, (and many more related topics) the author theorizes on the best ways to answer these questions. Readers of science fiction and lovers of Star Trek should boldly enjoy this every-person's guide to space exploration for the future.
**I received an ARC in a Goodreads giveaway.***
From the early space speculative writings of Galileo, to state-of-the-art computer systems of NASA, we have yearned to venture out from our cozy home of Earth. But how do we achieve this? What do we do when we get out there? How do we stay alive as we search the universe? With intense chapters on the environment of Mars, asteroid mining for precious minerals, going beyond our galaxy in search of water, the future of spaceflight, (and many more related topics) the author theorizes on the best ways to answer these questions. Readers of science fiction and lovers of Star Trek should boldly enjoy this every-person's guide to space exploration for the future.
**I received an ARC in a Goodreads giveaway.***
October 20, 2014
I appreciate what this Cambridge author is doing - making STEM seem more accessible, at least the science and technology parts, regardless of what gender is conducting the research.
This book reminded me of why I even began to study astrophysics, and it tied in with what I know of the space race between the USA and the USSR, re: Yuri Gagarin and Vostok 1 (he was the first up in space on 12 April 1961 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuri_Gag... leading to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vostok_p...]), besides all the Apollo noise. I want to return the book fast to allow more people to appreciate it.
This book reminded me of why I even began to study astrophysics, and it tied in with what I know of the space race between the USA and the USSR, re: Yuri Gagarin and Vostok 1 (he was the first up in space on 12 April 1961 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuri_Gag... leading to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vostok_p...]), besides all the Apollo noise. I want to return the book fast to allow more people to appreciate it.
August 31, 2014
Clegg reviews and speculates about the technologies needed to enable humans to travel the stars. Usual cast of characters: nuclear fusion, space warps, wormholes, etc. While some of the writing is tedious, finding a way for humans to be in space is a worthy goal. Clegg takes NASA and politicians to task for not pursuing this goal. Clegg makes liberal use of science fiction to help illustrate some of the more arcane science. Take out "in principle" and "gravity well", this book would be one third shorter.
January 12, 2015
Space elevators, asteroid miners, mass drivers, and colonies on Mars -- oh, my! The author's enthusiasm for space exploration is wonderfully infectious. Physicist Brian Clegg discusses what mankind is currently doing to explore the final frontier, the barriers that stand in our way, and ultimately how cool it would be if and when we surpass them. For example, it could take two thousand years for us to terraform Mars enough for plant growth, if we started right now. BUT if we could, oh, if we could...
Scientific, fascinating, and extremely readable. Good Stuff.
Scientific, fascinating, and extremely readable. Good Stuff.
October 11, 2014
An entertaining, interesting, and well-written layperson's guide to the universe and our place in it. The author, Brian Clegg, has a knack for explaining complicated scientific phenomena in ways that the average interested non-scientist can grasp while not dumbing down the technical aspects.
January 15, 2015
Not bad at all. Seemed like he shared just about every idea anyone's ever had on exploring and exploiting space, no matter how serious or ridiculous they were, and subsequently shot down the ones that are farfetched or impossible.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews