Featured book: Off-Earth by Erika Nesvold

In Off-Earth—now available in paperback—Erika Nesvold asks: Can we do better in space than we’ve done here on Earth?

We’ve pinpointed the destination, refined the technology, designed the habitat, and outfitted our space residents. Are we forgetting something? 

Off-Earth by astrophysicist Erika Nesvold serves as a timely reminder that it’s not just rocket science. This thought-provoking book—now available in paperback—explores the all-too-human issues raised by the prospect of settling in outer space. 

It’s worth remembering, Nesvold suggests, that in making new worlds, we don’t necessarily leave our earthly problems behind. Accordingly, her work highlights the complex ethical challenges that accompany any other-worldly venture—questions about the environment, labor rights, and medical ethics, among others.

Any such venture, Nesvold contends, must be made on behalf of all humanity, with global input and collaboration. Off-Earth thus includes historical and contemporary examples from outside the dominant Western/US, abled, and privileged narrative of the space industry. Nesvold calls on experts in ethics, sociology, history, social justice, and law to launch a hopeful conversation about the potential ethical pitfalls of becoming a multi-planet species—and, ideally, to shed light on similar problems we presently face here on Earth.

Space settlement is rapidly becoming ever more likely. Will it look like the utopian vision of Star Trek? Or the dark future of Star Wars? Nesvold challenges us to decide.

Off-Earth in the media

Nesvold was interviewed in WIRED about Off-Earth about the questions we need to ask before we consider colonizing other worlds.

Off-Earth will amaze you,” Ars Technica writes in their review. “On nearly every page, it will have your jaw dropping in response to mind-blowing revelations…. Off-Earth is really, really good.”

Nesvold spoke to the Planetary Society’s Planetary Radio podcast about the book.

Science News covered the book and wrote that it should be “required reading for anyone who dreams about living in space.”

Publishers Weekly reviewed Off-Earth and called it “a thought-provoking debut” that “raises hard questions that deserve series consideration.”

Library Journal called Off-Earth “well-researched and accessible.”

Foreword Reviews reviewed the book and wrote that it is “brilliant and thought-provoking.”

On our own MIT Press Reader, read an excerpt from the book on the thorny ethics of planetary engineering.


Learn more about Off-Earth