How to Live on Mars: A Trusty Guidebook to Surviving and Thriving on the Red Planet
Robert Zubrin
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March 13, 2018

I wanted to enjoy this book as a bit of fun reading, but was left wondering what the point of it was. On the surface it does sound well researched and impressive, with occasional humour at the expense of NASA and 'loonies' on their moon bases - but there were a few occasions where I was left a bit bewildered by the tone, intentions and reliability of the writer.

For example, in the relationship section there is an introduction that basically says that the institution of marriage is alive and well on Mars, and that kids on Mars ACTUALLY KNOW WHO THEIR PARENTS ARE, yay!!! It also says that the lack of a nanny state worrying about domestic violence etc means that divorce isn't common - double yay!! Also that unlike in the 'olden days' a woman can't just take a man to the cleaners just by calling 911 on him.

Yes, those are actual things noted as positives in this book.

I was trying to find any irony there or an attempt at satire, but it comes off deadly serious. Not sure if the writer intended that or if they're just not that good at conveying nuance. But basically, that whole section of the book reads as 'No children on mars are born out of wedlock and this is THE BEST AND ONLY WAY unlike all those women on earth having babies by accident and not being married - for shame'.

Also, and quite weirdly for a book that is supposedly set about 100 years in the future - there is no mention of gay people. The entire relationship section is littered with 'to attract a member of the opposite sex' etc etc.

There's also no mention of contraception - given that the rest of the book quite seriously tells you how to make oxygen, grow food and other 'practical advice' - including how to make plastic - something used in birth control devices, you'd think it would keep up the illusion of showing how not to create unwanted babies in the harsh frontier environment of Mars. But it does not.

At this point I went to check when this book was published and the copyright page says 2008. It reads more like 1958.

That section aside I was troubled at an early stage when, under 'radiation protection' it stipulates that men have a higher threshold for exposure because unlike women they don't have a risk of developing breast cancer?? Although rare, men DO get breast cancer https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/breast-... - and that's not hard to work out when you realise that men also have breast tissue. Quite a blatant error of fact that made me view all subsequent science in the book with a wary eye.

The book also claims that global warming doesn't exist and that in combating it by reducing CO2 emissions we are actually stunting the growth of our plants, which need CO2. Again, not sure if this was meant to be tongue in cheek, but if so, it doesn't really come across that way.

A mention is given to the composition of the workforce in American Pioneer days as well - but slaves are referred to as 'involuntary workers' - not slaves. Which seems a needless way to pretty up the forcible collection and exploitation of African people.

This may seem nit picky and to be honest it is a bit, but this is a book imagining a future on Mars, and a human society able to do such amazing things as make building materials and clothing out of minerals and elements taken directly from the martian landscape. It seems incredibly bizarre to me that in a book that imagines these advances in technology the writer has limited children to being born in wedlock and only straight people being on Mars.

The science here may be futuristic but the 'morality' is straight out of the 50s.

July 28, 2011

Good science and an interesting format, but the tone....zeesh. It was reviewed on the cover as "irreverent", I found it more to be snide. It presumes a Martian libertarian "paradise" combined with the corruption endemic to a 3rd world banana republic. Pretty depressing, if that is indeed the future.

December 29, 2011

How to Live on Mars is a hilarious guidebook catering to anyone interested in the scientific side of things who also harbors a sense of humor. Quirky and entertaining this fascinating book by Robert Zubrin gives a step-by-step explanation of how to move to, and survive on Mars. A book that caters both to the Scientifically inclined and the common folk this book is a great read for any I.Q. level.

In the book Zubrin thoroughly and humorously explains exactly what it would take to survive and thrive on the Red Planet. Covering everything from getting there, to growing your own food, to what to do if you get stranded in the desert, this book is a go-to guide for living on Mars.

Initially, when I unwrapped this book for my 19th birthday, I thought it was a joke. How to Live on Mars, seriously? Funny, yes, but not something I would expect from my oh-so-practical grandmother who only gifts things that will further the education of her grand kids. Not that I'm complaining. However, upon sitting down later that day and cracking open the book for myself I was introduced to just how entertaining knowledge could be. this book is a veritable treasure chest of information. Nestled among the jokes and sarcastic remarks Zubrin managed to compile a 197 page comprehensive guide of how to legitimately live on Mars. I mean, this book is the real deal. Not that I'm endorsing it but I'm pretty sure, if you wanted too and had we the technology and resources to make it happen, you could take this book and move to Mars, and you would do just fine. I'm not kidding.

Upon reading the back of the book and Zubrin's bio I realized why of course, the guy's a freaking Genius!!! He has a doctorate in Nuclear Engineering and a master's in both Aeronautics and Astronautics. The guys a walking powerhouse of Awesome. This book is a textbook hidden in humor, I learned so much I actually considered going into Astrophysics for my major. (this was before I realized how much I sucked at math) And furthermore, on top of being enormously informative, It was also entertaining. i couldn't put it down!

I recommend this book to anyone interested in Mars, Astronomy, or just Humorous information, this book hosts a wealth of knowledge and it would be a shame to miss out on such an educational experience, especially when it is no chore to sit through. I do concede to say there are big words in here and some parts are perhaps above general thinking level. So, it is not the easiest read in the world. But, if you take the time to open the book and get through it, you won't be disappointed. I can almost promise you that. =)

December 18, 2016

After the first 30 pages, I was excited to give this 5 stars, for delivering physics and chemistry in an adventurous fictional format (like the far superior book The Martian) and I was impressed by the author's scientific credentials.

Gradually, I clearly discovered why Mars Direct and the Mars Society have failed to create any successes: he misunderstands so many practical human topics, and doesn't realize it. Global warming would be good from the Earth (too). Getting rich is the most important factor in finding a great wife. Iran will nuke Moscow. Prospecting (by human hands and eyes) for minerals will be the most lucrative job on mars (aside of prostitution), and stealing is completely normal and ethical, though property rights are sacrosanct. Gun ownership would be okay in a world of pressurized domes. Homeschooling is best and govt schools suck? Makes me wonder how many mistakes he makes in his chemistry and industrial engineering claims!

The last 50 pages are almost unreadable -- a silly farce for anyone who understands human society -- and including them is actually a real hindrance for Humanity's progress toward Mars. His persistent disrespectful ribbing of governments and NASA and (even) scientists in general is so constant that it becomes annoying.

Really, Mars profitably exports its shit to the lunar base? and deuterium (as an industrial by product) is massively valuable? and a viable 350mb atmosphere can be terraformed in under a century? Again, these destroy the credibility of everything else.

Most egregiously, he distrusts software, broadly. And sees humans sweeping PV cells, not robots. He was <60 when he wrote this in 2008, but he can't see computer technology progressing... unbelievable.

March 25, 2018

Loved the science and speculation about Mars, but ruined by the author's libertarian schtick and his backfiring sense of humour. (Though I laughed at his suggestion that the Johnson Space Center was renamed the Bush ibn Saud Space Center sometime after 2008.)

The last two chapters about the social life on Mars were a bit much: he 'humorously' suggests that the institution of marriage ended on Earth because of too many domestic violence laws, and then has two pages full of lame Martian pick-up lines. The final chapter is called 'How to Avoid Bureaucratic Persecution', so you can guess where that goes.

It's a real shame, too, because I think the goal of settling Mars is a worthy one.

October 27, 2009

Mildly entertaining, as far as it went. Alas, the 'science' quotient was pretty much nonexistent. Definite nods to Heinlen in the writing style and predictions of the future, which help explain, if not justify, some of the sexist/reactionary remarks others noted. Certainly the hard-bitten, enterprising, and scarcely legit colonist narrator could have come straight out of Farmer in the Sky or Have Space Suit-Will Travel--except that there might have been more hard science worked in. However, I still enjoy reading Heinlen, who projected the dogmas of his day--Zubrin has no such excuse. I did appreciate the point that Mars is not the Moon, and I did like that Zubrin at least assumes that various government/private organizations will be lobbying well into the future, but suspect I'd be one of the chumps still stuck on earth.

February 14, 2016

A great read, and more than I expected in a couple of ways. First, it's often very funny - as noted in "About the Author", it's supposedly written by "a man born in New Plymouth (on Mars) in 2071" who is "no (proven) relation whatsoever to his twentieth-century namesake, a humorless astronautical engineer" - and second, it covers a broad range of social, economic, and philosophical subjects beyond what an individual would need to know to live in a colony on Mars.

The tone is light and often snarky (he is definitely not a fan of NASA or bureaucracies in general) but Zubrin's real passion about the possibility, practicality, and necessity of exploring and colonizing Mars shows through. Near the end he writes about the range of civil liberties people would have in the Martian society he envisions, and he closes with the Founding Declaration of the Mars Society, a real organization he helped create, and that is truly eloquent and moving.

Strongly recommended for anyone interested in space exploration, civics, and the possible future of humanity.

December 10, 2014

First let me say Zubrin's science is first rate. But Jesus is Mars really going to be settled by crooks, con-men, swindlers and odor-challenged losers? Okay, it's tongue firmly in cheek, I get that. But I feel Zubrin's true opinions lurk beneath the surface. NASA is populated by blithering morons who can't find their asses with both hands? Except for, you know, the putting men on the moon, the Hubble and exploring the solar system thing. I frankly got tired and then finally a little pissed off with the bankrupt twaddle of the Tea Party Libertarian philosophy that Zubrin bludegeons the hapless reader with at every turn.

March 19, 2012

This is a truly amusing little book that provides much of the science for getting to Mars and for terraforming it as well as riffing on Frederick Jackson Turner’s Frontier Thesis and the writings of Science Fiction author Robert Heinlein. The author is a former NASA engineer and founder of the Mars Society who put forward a comprehensive plan for getting to Mars with technology we have now. While the author’s libertarianism can get to be a bit much, it was worth the read for the information it gave.

April 12, 2014

He's a brilliant scientist, and I highly respect his objectives, but his bitterness in this book is palpable. His attempts at humor come across as sneering rather than jest. He has contempt for NASA and humanity at large-- which doesn't make for compelling reading. After about half the book, I was so put off by his negativity I just put it down and forgot about it.

February 25, 2019

Premise: we've started to settle the planet Mars. This is a guidebook in English for settlers coming in to join the settling, a fictional setting for a non-fantastic speculation on how the problems of settlement will be overcome. Zubrin is a visionary, bold, and learned engineer who led the founding of the Mars Society. The guide is punctuated by meaty little bits of science. And it is a shower of engineering cheerfulness. No problem exists that cannot be solved by alertness, energy, enterprise and maybe some fast talking. He is also a funny guy with a wide anarchic streak.

The Case for Mars is the more straightforward scientific-proposal-type book-- all scientific meaty bits. Entering Space: Creating a Spacefaring Civilization is his more general space-exploration book, probably my favorite of his. Still, he's not the novelist Kim Stanley Robinson is

July 18, 2020

Written as if it were a travel guide by a 22nd century Martian native, this tiny tome has interesting information about Mars and offers suggestions for how to survive and thrive...in a combative "pioneer" manner.

The tone of the book is fairly snarky and sarcastic, and while at times it's humorous, the endless attacks on NASA quickly become tiresome. The ultra-libertarian nature of the author - and his personal prejudices, outdated misogynistic views on the value of women, and his comparison of new Martians to American "pioneers" -- pervade the book and detract from the scientific information (which is the only reason I bought it).

Even then, I still have to double-check the data; he writes that the body needs "1 kg of water a day" (I have never seen this information given as a measure of weight -- 1 kg is about 1 liter, which is nowhere near the typical guideline for about 3.7 liters for men and 2.7L for women) is followed by "with some water ingested at least every other day." Perhaps this needed more editing.

At any rate, it serves its purpose as background information for my own novels, which is why I'm giving it 2 stars. But if you already know this information, then skip this.

January 17, 2020

This guidebook was an excellent read! The humor made it accessible and readable in a way any similar "reference guide" to living on Mars would not be.

The only reason I rate this 4 stars instead of a full 5 is because of the extremely unnecessary chapter 15. There are a number of issues which I have with this chapter.

While Zubrin gives token acknowledgement to addressing female readers, it is clear through much of this chapter (especially in the horrible pickup-line section) that he mainly expects exclusively male readers. Examples of this (from this aforementioned pickup section):

"You look like the nurse who debriefed me when I had my debarkation medical inspection. No? Well, it's not too late..."

"Want to see my rock collection?"

"Excuse me, but didn't you used to be a swimsuit model?"

I think these should speak for themselves. This chapter leaves a rather distasteful mark in an otherwise excellent read. I don't anyone was hoping to find sexist pickup lines in reading this book.

February 14, 2018

The book places the current (as of 2008) known science of Mars and proposed colonization ideas into the framework of a guidebook for someone interested in immigrating to a frontier settlement on Mars in the 22nd century.

In straight forward order, Zubrin starts with the logistics of getting to Mars, followed by supplies needed, housing, employment, government structures, social activities, and financial investing, mixing the known math and science with the speculated social and economic ideas with a deft hand.

Zubrin has a political/social ax to grind and doesn’t hold back in using the future to make some scathing commentary about the present - which means part of this book are already getting dated.

Be warned: if you find Libertarians annoying at parties, you won’t like this book.

Still, it’s an overall hopeful book imagining a possible future of exploration and freedom for those with the courage to leap into the unknown.

September 11, 2017

At first I was not really into this book. It starts off with a lot of (lame) jokes and not much science. Towards the middle of the book you start to dig in and get into the heavy material. The lighthearted advice becomes a welcome break from the chemistry and orbital logistics.

November 25, 2019

Never before has the mind proven more productive

Great and creative blend of science fiction, science reality, compelling facts, compelling imagination, political satire, political wisdom. Entertaining, irreverent, and Serious.

April 17, 2022

Life on Mars will be very interesting. This book details things for an aspiring Martian Colonist to look for as well as what to look out for. The tone is light, in spite of the dangers involved. I would recommend this book for anyone interested in Martian exploration.

March 25, 2021

It was good in the beginning it explained it very well but then I started losing interest it started getting complex and confusing how to live on Mars.

June 19, 2023

One of the blurbs called it Heinlein on helium. I'll simply say, ditto.

May 15, 2015

How to Live on Mars: A Trusty Guidebook to Surviving and Thriving on the Red Planet

By: Robert Zubrin

Published in 2008

Have you ever thought about what will happen when the human race reaches the carrying capacity of Earth? Will we just have a dieback and then rebuild back up and repeat the process? Well if you're one for not wanting to have to watch your friends and family die then maybe this book is the one for you to read.

Robert Zubrin makes a magnificent guidebook on how to survive on mars, with a step-by-step how to live and this massive red planet. Starting off with the cover you think it's going to be a silly and unreal book. As soon as you start reading Robert throws some of the most crazy scientific terms at you. If you are interested in science and the ways our solar system works then maybe you would be attracted to this book.

If you ever thought about other planets, or did any study, then you would know about Mars. It has the closest survival environment for the human race to travel to at the moment. You may be asking yourself how do we know this is the closest planet to survive on? Well the author explains just how we know all about the attruibutes the life saving planet holds.

Robert explains that we have and still send space rovers that can be controlled by remote on Earth that can drive around and explore the massive rock.

Things we have found about it include the desert like climate, possible hidden water reservoirs, and the geothermal energy use from the core of the planet.

Robert even gets down to the very detail of what vehicle you should drive, what suit you should get, what houses you should build, and what to do if you happen to get stuck in an accident and have to live by yourself exposed to the harsh climate for a few days.

This book even teaches you the way to even get there, and even pay for the 10 month long journey. He explains so many more terms and it opens your mind to new ideas and new ways of thinking if your happen to be the chosen person of multiple to go to mars to live for the human race.

One thing to think about is what if you're actually chosen to be sent? Will you be ready to survive?

July 14, 2013

This book was written by a Martian. He was considerate in pointing out that he has no relationship with an individual with the same name living on Earth, and who happens to work at NASA. The book was written with a dry sense of humor but filled with actual facts and points about living on Mars. I have a science background and found the information factual and fascinating. It is presented in such a humorous manner that it blends in and you find yourself learning about the true challenges of a MARS exploration and colonization. The Martian author is explaining how a brave Earthling can not only survive on Mars, but also make a killing in the booming real estate and resource development markets. For example, the temperatures are so cold that you could build your house using mud bricks that freeze solid in the low temperatures, thereby saving you a bundle in building costs. But he finishes that explanation by noting that one such homeowners made the unfortunate mistake of trying to heat his house, which resulted in converting the whole structure back to mud. He gives real examples of how element abundance and energy production affect the quality of living. His solution to the high cost of metal production on the planet is to use a metal detector downrange from the NASA launch pad, where you'll find plenty of metal from failed launches.

Great fun, technically informative, and well written for dry humor. The author reminds me of Scott Adams, the Dilbert cartoonist who gets his ideas from his own work experience.

May 15, 2021

This was a very different take on what would ordinarily be a very dry subject rife with scientific jargon. He discusses viable means of traveling to, surviving, and prospering on Mars, along with the myriad of ways that a Martian colony could benefit mankind. The book is written in the guise of a primer for a future Martian immigrant in order to allow them to better integrate into the dangerous but lucrative society that they're about to enter.

For anyone who takes issue with the viewpoints of staunch libertarians, the narrator's tone will sound like nails scratching across a chalkboard. The narrator is a sketchy entrepreneur with a strong aversion to centralized authority and a belief in the power of unconstrained ingenuity. He kind of reminds me of Datak Tarr from 'Defiance.'

Problems with the narrator seem to be the gist of many of the less positive reviews. The narrator does take a few breaks to launch into social commentary about 'ancient earth,' which is tolerable only because I sympathize with many of his views. I'd be lying if I said that I could have sat through a bunch of lectures I disagreed with with much more grace than the reviewers who took issue with the narrator's political views.

November 3, 2020

I've read a few books written by expats, telling others how to live successfully in a foreign land, so I can be pretty sure that it's true that this is the most useless book for expats I've ever seen. Not because it contains inaccurate information. No, quite the contrary. It's perfectly accurate, but it's Mars! You can try to be a stranger in a strange land if you like, but it will be a very long time before you can book passage there.

Like most attempts at humor, I think Zubrin finds it difficult to maintain the level of levity past the few chapters, and the book devolves into a much more serious discussion of how to obtain oxygen, water and other resources from the Martian environment, the most versatile type of transportation, habitat, and power supply, and other survival issues.

He draws on a wealth of knowledge which I believe he has obtained as a scientist working for NASA, and pokes a bit of sarcastic fun at bureaucracies along the way. I'll probably pick up one of his more serious works about space faring and planet settling one of these days before the Martian cruise lines start running.

January 27, 2018

The writing is workable and the humor is mostly of the "look how stupid people are" sort (which according to research is the most common in American humor, but here it's a blunt instrument) in this scientific, pragmatic, and playful look at the reality of colonizing and terraforming Mars. If you warm up to the author's quirks, you'll find him very knowledgeable and the scenarios wonderful to imagine, and you may laugh in a blue moon - or often, if you're getting jokes I missed. However, I'd say the humor is off-tempo even when I get it, and Zubrin seems self-aware when he calls himself "a humorless astronautical engineer" in his About the Author. The pretense of a native Martian writing from the future runs a little thin sometimes, especially in the penultimate chapter, "How to Avoid Bureaucratic Persecution," which is plainly aimed at today from today. The science once or twice is not clearly presented, but usually it's vivid and thought-inducing, as I've already mentioned. If you have the right combination of curiosity and ignorance and patience, you'll feel indebted to this book.

July 21, 2011

If you’ve read Zubrin’s The Case for Mars, you’re aware of his rigorous science and compelling arguments for how and why we should pursue a Mars mission, followed by colonization. This book is meant, I assume, as an attempt at a slightly more popular, narrative means of presenting much of the same information. I just didn’t find the book that interesting and I’m concerned the disdainful, laze-faire attitude of the narrator makes Zubrin’s arguments and information seems untrustworthy (one needs only look at a handful of the reviews listed for this book for proof at that), while if you look at reviews of The Case for Mars, it’s smothered in positive reviews about his insight, argument and science.

If you’re a Mars nut, read this book, but please please read The Case for Mars.

August 21, 2009

Conceived as a satire written as a guidebook to future settlers, this book is interesting but frustrating. Probably because Zubrin is so wacked that I can't tell the difference between his tongue-in-cheek jabs at modern American society and his earnest blueprint for the Martian future. Which, as far as I can tell, seems to be a radical libertarian free-for-all zone filled with rampant corruption, government by graft and croneyism, and rule by crime syndicate, all for a disgustingly value-free--and insanely unstable--form of capitalism touted as "freedom." He could just be joking, but honestly I think that this is what he imagines as the ideal, and I find that both sad and worrisome.