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The Overview Effect: Space Exploration and Human Evolution
Using interviews with and writings by 29 astronauts and cosmonauts, Frank White shows how experiences such as circling the Earth every 90 minutes and viewing it from the moon have profoundly affected our space travelers' perceptions of themselves, their world, and the future. He shows how the rest of us, who have participated imaginatively in these great adventures, have also been affected psychologically by them. He provides a powerful rationale for space exploration and settlement, describing them as the inevitable next steps in the evolution of human society and human consciousness, as the activities most likely to bring a new perspective to the problems of life on Earth.
White goes on to consider the possible consequences of a human presence in space, both for the pioneers who settle there and for those who remain on Earth. He imagines how having a permanent perspective from outer space will affect our politics, our religion, our social relations, our psychology, our economics, and our hard sciences. He confronts the possibility of rebellion by a space colony and of contact with extraterrestrial beings. And, finally, he makes it clear that our fate is in our own hands, that we will shape our future in space effectively only by fashioning a new human space program, free of excessive nationalism and dedicated to the peaceful exploration of the space frontier.
318 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 1987
62 people are currently reading
1143 people want to read
About the author
Frank White
14 books3 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
December 31, 2020
Speaking plainly, this is a wretched book. White's commentary is dull, pretentious and stupefyingly repetitious. The snippets of interviews with astronauts are short, scattershot and basically worthless. The book was inexplicably recommended by [the late] Lynn Margulis, in a great lecture she gave many years ago, which is why I tried it. Avoid, avoid!
Truth in reviewing: I didn't come close to finishing this turkey. Trust me, you don't even want to start it.
Truth in reviewing: I didn't come close to finishing this turkey. Trust me, you don't even want to start it.
August 16, 2012
Comparisons to the establishment of the American Frontier & the Founding Fathers made me a little uncomfortable while reading this, reading as over-patriotic and trite. Overall, however, I loved the idea that by continuing to employ our curiosity (pun intended), research and exploration will lead us to understand that we need not be so Earth-centric. While not a solid argument for why space exploration matters & should continue to be a priority, I did find this to set some good foundations for discussion and was pleased to read not only the authors POV, but the words from the astronauts themselves.
July 2, 2022
The first iterations of space capsules in the Mercury program did not have a window. Astronauts, at the time all pilots, demanded one be put in.
During the Apollo missions to the Moon, it was the astronauts who suggested bringing a camera on board. NASA agreed, thinking it would make sense to take pictures of potential landing spots. During the Apollo 8 mission, which orbited the Moon, astronaut Frank Borman, struck by the power of seeing Earth over the Moon’s horizon, felt compelled to take a picture of it.
Upon his return and after a bit of touch-up, the photo was released to the public. That image, and others like it, captured the world’s attention. Seeing the Earth suspended in space generated feelings of awe, wonder, appreciation, humility and a different sense of place and self than humans had ever had about our planet and ourselves.
Since then, more than 500 humans have travelled to space. “The Overview Effect” by researcher Frank White explores the feelings, thoughts, and experiences space explorers have had when looking back at Earth–and what those feelings mean for the future of space exploration and human evolution.
The book is broken into two parts. The first is White’s exposition into what the Overview Effect is, and what the implications of it are. He wonders why humans have that experience, and also delves into how it changes astronauts’ perspective of Earth, life and our place in the solar system. As he explains the varying degrees and separate intensities or varieties of the Overview Effect–based on what the astronauts did in space and how far they went and how long they were there–he extrapolates what the effects will be on humans who, eventually, go even further into space and for longer durations than has been experienced to date.
For those who rode the space shuttle for merely a week, or even some of the Mercury astronauts who spent less than a full day in space, the Overview Effect is still present, but is intuitively not as strong or overwhelming as those who lived on a space station for months at a time. Similarly, Apollo astronauts who travelled to the Moon (regardless of whether they landed or walked on it) and therefore saw the Earth from a great distance, gained a much deeper appreciation for the vastness of space, and how fragile (or strong and powerful and self-sustaining) the Blue Marble really is. And for those astronauts who went on space walks, and experienced no barrier between themselves and outer space and the Earth save for the visor on their helmet, their sense of being was altered in ways that can only truly be understood by those who have had that experience.
The second part of the book is a collection of interviews of astronauts. The book is long and repetitive, if not thorough. It drags, but at the same time, each and every interview reflects certain themes, enough to say that there is something universal and consistent about the experience of seeing Earth from space.
Almost all astronauts want to return to space. They want to experience again that sensation of seeing Earth from above, and also the feelings of weightlessness in a zero gravity environment. The experiences of weightlessness is no small matter; it’s one of the things each astronaut remarks upon about their space experience. It’s noted as the biggest difference between life up there and down here. And White parlays that into his thoughts about human evolution. What happens to the human body after years of life in zero gravity? How would a baby born in a zero gravity environment develop? Without the need for muscles to move around he supposes our bodies would evolve to look much like the way we depict aliens look like: big heads, small arms and legs, lithe torsos.
And when one considers how different the experiences of Apollo astronauts is from those who merely orbited the Earth, what would the impacts be on humans who travel to someplace like Mars, where Earth is barely visible? How would humans evolve when being and living on Earth, when being tethered to the Earth, is no longer part of their existence?
One of the ideas that White promotes, which is supported by several of the astronauts he interviews, is that if only world leaders could gather in space, and look down upon our shared home from that vantage point, together, they would see that our world is naturally a borderless one and finite. If only they could see, if only they could have that experience and vantage point, if only…
The roots of the modern environmental movement are tied back to the Blue Marble image (though not necessarily its origins). Seeing our home from the outside gives us an understanding, literally a perspective of the home we all share. Just like our own individual home, which we clean and tend to, so must we do the same, but together, for our planet.
I’ve long been captivated by the idea of going to and being in outer space. Not so much wondering what space is like, but the experience of leaving our home planet–and then, as this book shows, looking back. Is there any other experience so compelling and moving, so adventurous and historically novel, still, than leaving, if only for hours or days or months at a time, our home planet?
Yes, I’m curious about the solar system and other planets. But what this book helped crystalize for me is that my intuition about the experience of being in space is correct: that looking back at our planet is one of the most powerful, inspiring, potentially life-altering experiences a human can experience. We are a long way away, of course, from the masses being able to sense the Overview Effect.
But if there’s something to hope for in these dispiriting times, it is that there is a way to broaden our understanding and perception, something that can unify as humans, as citizens of a shared planet. Imagine starting your day by looking at that image–and attempting to carry, all day long, the emotions and wonder and awe and unifying elements of those feelings.
We’re making quite a mess of our society and our environment. If we’re looking for a way to collectively change the way we see the Earth and all its inhabitants, we might want to think about how to accomplish that, not figuratively, but literally.
During the Apollo missions to the Moon, it was the astronauts who suggested bringing a camera on board. NASA agreed, thinking it would make sense to take pictures of potential landing spots. During the Apollo 8 mission, which orbited the Moon, astronaut Frank Borman, struck by the power of seeing Earth over the Moon’s horizon, felt compelled to take a picture of it.
Upon his return and after a bit of touch-up, the photo was released to the public. That image, and others like it, captured the world’s attention. Seeing the Earth suspended in space generated feelings of awe, wonder, appreciation, humility and a different sense of place and self than humans had ever had about our planet and ourselves.
Since then, more than 500 humans have travelled to space. “The Overview Effect” by researcher Frank White explores the feelings, thoughts, and experiences space explorers have had when looking back at Earth–and what those feelings mean for the future of space exploration and human evolution.
The book is broken into two parts. The first is White’s exposition into what the Overview Effect is, and what the implications of it are. He wonders why humans have that experience, and also delves into how it changes astronauts’ perspective of Earth, life and our place in the solar system. As he explains the varying degrees and separate intensities or varieties of the Overview Effect–based on what the astronauts did in space and how far they went and how long they were there–he extrapolates what the effects will be on humans who, eventually, go even further into space and for longer durations than has been experienced to date.
For those who rode the space shuttle for merely a week, or even some of the Mercury astronauts who spent less than a full day in space, the Overview Effect is still present, but is intuitively not as strong or overwhelming as those who lived on a space station for months at a time. Similarly, Apollo astronauts who travelled to the Moon (regardless of whether they landed or walked on it) and therefore saw the Earth from a great distance, gained a much deeper appreciation for the vastness of space, and how fragile (or strong and powerful and self-sustaining) the Blue Marble really is. And for those astronauts who went on space walks, and experienced no barrier between themselves and outer space and the Earth save for the visor on their helmet, their sense of being was altered in ways that can only truly be understood by those who have had that experience.
The second part of the book is a collection of interviews of astronauts. The book is long and repetitive, if not thorough. It drags, but at the same time, each and every interview reflects certain themes, enough to say that there is something universal and consistent about the experience of seeing Earth from space.
Almost all astronauts want to return to space. They want to experience again that sensation of seeing Earth from above, and also the feelings of weightlessness in a zero gravity environment. The experiences of weightlessness is no small matter; it’s one of the things each astronaut remarks upon about their space experience. It’s noted as the biggest difference between life up there and down here. And White parlays that into his thoughts about human evolution. What happens to the human body after years of life in zero gravity? How would a baby born in a zero gravity environment develop? Without the need for muscles to move around he supposes our bodies would evolve to look much like the way we depict aliens look like: big heads, small arms and legs, lithe torsos.
And when one considers how different the experiences of Apollo astronauts is from those who merely orbited the Earth, what would the impacts be on humans who travel to someplace like Mars, where Earth is barely visible? How would humans evolve when being and living on Earth, when being tethered to the Earth, is no longer part of their existence?
One of the ideas that White promotes, which is supported by several of the astronauts he interviews, is that if only world leaders could gather in space, and look down upon our shared home from that vantage point, together, they would see that our world is naturally a borderless one and finite. If only they could see, if only they could have that experience and vantage point, if only…
The roots of the modern environmental movement are tied back to the Blue Marble image (though not necessarily its origins). Seeing our home from the outside gives us an understanding, literally a perspective of the home we all share. Just like our own individual home, which we clean and tend to, so must we do the same, but together, for our planet.
I’ve long been captivated by the idea of going to and being in outer space. Not so much wondering what space is like, but the experience of leaving our home planet–and then, as this book shows, looking back. Is there any other experience so compelling and moving, so adventurous and historically novel, still, than leaving, if only for hours or days or months at a time, our home planet?
Yes, I’m curious about the solar system and other planets. But what this book helped crystalize for me is that my intuition about the experience of being in space is correct: that looking back at our planet is one of the most powerful, inspiring, potentially life-altering experiences a human can experience. We are a long way away, of course, from the masses being able to sense the Overview Effect.
But if there’s something to hope for in these dispiriting times, it is that there is a way to broaden our understanding and perception, something that can unify as humans, as citizens of a shared planet. Imagine starting your day by looking at that image–and attempting to carry, all day long, the emotions and wonder and awe and unifying elements of those feelings.
We’re making quite a mess of our society and our environment. If we’re looking for a way to collectively change the way we see the Earth and all its inhabitants, we might want to think about how to accomplish that, not figuratively, but literally.
February 4, 2018
Really enjoyed this book and the new planetary and solar perspectives it opened before my eyes. I found these new perspectives truly valuable. Many parts of the book were also stimulating and page turning, but some were a little repetitive and procedural. All in all a very worthy read, if a little hard to finish certain chapters.
February 15, 2018
This book is good for its (currently) unique content: personal accounts from people who have gone into space of their experience. The speculative parts were somewhat interesting to chew on, but lacking. It wasn't clear how much thought really went into those speculations - that section came off more as a one-time idea than the result of careful thought.
June 1, 2023
This book inspired me and changed the course of my life long before I ever read it. I started becoming a space exploration nerd in my early college years, in large part because NASA decided it was still incredibly important to send people there despite the recent wake of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. There had been talks of cancelling human space programs as this was the third such American tragedy in several decades, yet our determination to continue peaceful scientific missions in for the benefit of humanity in spite of the risk was a truly beautiful thing that hooked me. I started off my college career as an engineering major thinking it would be cool to one day work for NASA buuuuut I didn't do so hot. Encountering and being afraid of failure I hopped around majors a bit before eventually settling on Psychology. Now this could be an example of confirmation bias, but it was through my new course of study that I learned more about how space exploration can change people. Just being aware of it makes people think more long term and make grander plans, want to take on greater challenges, co-operate with one another, and think more creatively. And of course there were discussions on "The Overview Effect", how seeing the Earth from a distance could change world views (the famous example being Apollo 8's "Earthrise" picture indirectly spurring the environmental movement). After that there was no longer a question of whether or not I was smart enough to get into and work in the space industry, but it became my responsibility to find a way to do so.
I suppose then I probably had this book built up a little too highly in my brain before finally deciding one day to sit down and read it (which happened in part because I was suddenly hearing the term mentioned more frequently - during podcasts, at work, on TV, and the author Frank White was soon going to make a cameo at the Kennedy Space Center). Coming from a psychology research and an engineering background I was perhaps hoping this book would be more concrete with facts and provide real-world examples of how the Overview Effect provides positive impacts to society. Instead it's far more philosophical, introducing the concept and why it exists but then goes on and on to talk about different things could be if the majority of the human population got to experience it.
I really liked the idea of homo-sapiens eventually becoming homo-spaciens as we begin to live more off-planet. But it made me wish I was reading a sci-fi novel inspired by that notion than the dry source material.
The author likes to talk about how important the Overview Effect is and can be and will hopefully one day be, but I don't believe there was enough setup to reach that conclusion despite the fact I whole-heartedly agree 2358.79% with him.
The best part of the book were all the interviews with astronauts after their journeys. But the discussions are all basically "What did you feel then? What do you feel now? Do you believe it changed you? Do you think more people should experience going to space?". I would love to know HOW these people changed and what they actively did on Earth after the fact. Some of them listed like Nicole Stott I know have performed plenty of humanitarian and environmental work, but you would have no idea from reading this book. If you were to try to convince someone why we should invest more in space exploration this work would only make a skeptical reader go "You mean we're spending billions of dollars to make people feel warm fuzzies semi-permanently? Ehhhhh..."
There's also a few incorrect statements throughout the book that bothered me. There's one point where they talk about the Space Shuttle Discovery tragedy, which is odd because it's happily sitting in retirement in Virginia. An accidental typo, surely, but it makes you wonder what other things are inaccurate and weren't caught by some simple proof reading.
Despite all this, I'd still love to read an updated version of this book as private space flights are becoming more of a thing. There's an interview with Richard Branson in here from 7-8 years before he actually flew and I'd love to hear if he has more insight now that he's experienced sub-orbit. It's funny though as Musk and Bezos aren't mentioned at all, though they are now far more successful with getting non-government butts up in space. William Shatner should be included as he seemed to experience a negative and depressing version of the Overview Effect and I'm curious of what the long-term effects of his thinking are.
All-in all a neat book with neat ideas that I imagine had more of an impact from its original first 1987 publication, and certainly a lot of folks point to this work as capital I "Important". But if you're not a space fan already it likely won't convince you to become one, and if you are you've already seen, read, and heard most of this stuff before.
Still, it's going up high on my bookshelf.
I suppose then I probably had this book built up a little too highly in my brain before finally deciding one day to sit down and read it (which happened in part because I was suddenly hearing the term mentioned more frequently - during podcasts, at work, on TV, and the author Frank White was soon going to make a cameo at the Kennedy Space Center). Coming from a psychology research and an engineering background I was perhaps hoping this book would be more concrete with facts and provide real-world examples of how the Overview Effect provides positive impacts to society. Instead it's far more philosophical, introducing the concept and why it exists but then goes on and on to talk about different things could be if the majority of the human population got to experience it.
I really liked the idea of homo-sapiens eventually becoming homo-spaciens as we begin to live more off-planet. But it made me wish I was reading a sci-fi novel inspired by that notion than the dry source material.
The author likes to talk about how important the Overview Effect is and can be and will hopefully one day be, but I don't believe there was enough setup to reach that conclusion despite the fact I whole-heartedly agree 2358.79% with him.
The best part of the book were all the interviews with astronauts after their journeys. But the discussions are all basically "What did you feel then? What do you feel now? Do you believe it changed you? Do you think more people should experience going to space?". I would love to know HOW these people changed and what they actively did on Earth after the fact. Some of them listed like Nicole Stott I know have performed plenty of humanitarian and environmental work, but you would have no idea from reading this book. If you were to try to convince someone why we should invest more in space exploration this work would only make a skeptical reader go "You mean we're spending billions of dollars to make people feel warm fuzzies semi-permanently? Ehhhhh..."
There's also a few incorrect statements throughout the book that bothered me. There's one point where they talk about the Space Shuttle Discovery tragedy, which is odd because it's happily sitting in retirement in Virginia. An accidental typo, surely, but it makes you wonder what other things are inaccurate and weren't caught by some simple proof reading.
Despite all this, I'd still love to read an updated version of this book as private space flights are becoming more of a thing. There's an interview with Richard Branson in here from 7-8 years before he actually flew and I'd love to hear if he has more insight now that he's experienced sub-orbit. It's funny though as Musk and Bezos aren't mentioned at all, though they are now far more successful with getting non-government butts up in space. William Shatner should be included as he seemed to experience a negative and depressing version of the Overview Effect and I'm curious of what the long-term effects of his thinking are.
All-in all a neat book with neat ideas that I imagine had more of an impact from its original first 1987 publication, and certainly a lot of folks point to this work as capital I "Important". But if you're not a space fan already it likely won't convince you to become one, and if you are you've already seen, read, and heard most of this stuff before.
Still, it's going up high on my bookshelf.
April 29, 2023
This book was mentioned in a recent article in The Atlantic and intrigued me, so I purchased a copy.
The overall topic is fascinating and I really wanted to enjoy this book, but found myself disappointed in the quality of the research design and work, it's tone, it's failure to reference or cite important related works, and the quality of the editing.
The central claim of "The Overview Effect" is the our ability to see our world from a higher perspective, e.g. in orbit, from our moon, etc. has a positive transformative effect insofar as the experience erases national borders and provides one an deep understanding that "we're all in this together." Yet, this claim is not the majority of what's analyzed, much less discussed in the text. White also repeatedly claims that the experiences of Earth's 500+ folks who've left our planet and ventured into space are our best evidence. Unfortunately the methodology employed here is merely a gander at what a handful of astronauts described to White (or in other works) "after" the fact. A before/after and comparative analysis would be more valid and reliable. We have accounts for elected officials who've been in space, do they vote differently than their peers? We also now have accounts of billionaires (whom White name drops rather frequently) who've been in the fringes of space, has their behavior changed or only their rhetoric? I suspect a large part of the overview effect in White's data is a function of selection bias--individuals with a curiosity of space and an ethic of public service prior to going into outer space, i.e. astronauts and cosmonauts.
The wonderful data that is available is used too sparingly, if one is looking for wonderful accounts by astronauts and cosmonauts, they're not at the forefront of this work. The majority of their accounts are used for quotes to introduce each chapter. White's interview transcripts are included in the text (the back half of the book), but it would have been much better to unify claims, themes, and findings across those interviews in the central portion of the text. Instead the bulk of the central portion is a lot of repetitious claims, repeated reminders to the audience about other books the author has written, conferences the author has attended, organizations the author is a member of, how many likes and views his videos have online, etc. It sometimes feels like the author is trying to sell himself to the reader at the expense of bolstering his central thesis.
Lastly, it's also disappointing that a work of this ambition cites and references so few others. An entire chapter is devoted to evolution in space, yet uses no material from Darwin or his contemporaries. Many chapters dive into international politics, and also make no reference to the body of academics working in this field. Periodically one will also find in the text something that is an idea from another, like Carl Sagan, yet a citation is absent. It's also a bit of a distraction to bump into typos like "in tum" in place of "in sum."
White has been working on this theory since the 1980s and this work is now in its fourth edition. I feel like better data, research design, research methods, a little humility, and quality editing shouldn't be much to expect.
The overall topic is fascinating and I really wanted to enjoy this book, but found myself disappointed in the quality of the research design and work, it's tone, it's failure to reference or cite important related works, and the quality of the editing.
The central claim of "The Overview Effect" is the our ability to see our world from a higher perspective, e.g. in orbit, from our moon, etc. has a positive transformative effect insofar as the experience erases national borders and provides one an deep understanding that "we're all in this together." Yet, this claim is not the majority of what's analyzed, much less discussed in the text. White also repeatedly claims that the experiences of Earth's 500+ folks who've left our planet and ventured into space are our best evidence. Unfortunately the methodology employed here is merely a gander at what a handful of astronauts described to White (or in other works) "after" the fact. A before/after and comparative analysis would be more valid and reliable. We have accounts for elected officials who've been in space, do they vote differently than their peers? We also now have accounts of billionaires (whom White name drops rather frequently) who've been in the fringes of space, has their behavior changed or only their rhetoric? I suspect a large part of the overview effect in White's data is a function of selection bias--individuals with a curiosity of space and an ethic of public service prior to going into outer space, i.e. astronauts and cosmonauts.
The wonderful data that is available is used too sparingly, if one is looking for wonderful accounts by astronauts and cosmonauts, they're not at the forefront of this work. The majority of their accounts are used for quotes to introduce each chapter. White's interview transcripts are included in the text (the back half of the book), but it would have been much better to unify claims, themes, and findings across those interviews in the central portion of the text. Instead the bulk of the central portion is a lot of repetitious claims, repeated reminders to the audience about other books the author has written, conferences the author has attended, organizations the author is a member of, how many likes and views his videos have online, etc. It sometimes feels like the author is trying to sell himself to the reader at the expense of bolstering his central thesis.
Lastly, it's also disappointing that a work of this ambition cites and references so few others. An entire chapter is devoted to evolution in space, yet uses no material from Darwin or his contemporaries. Many chapters dive into international politics, and also make no reference to the body of academics working in this field. Periodically one will also find in the text something that is an idea from another, like Carl Sagan, yet a citation is absent. It's also a bit of a distraction to bump into typos like "in tum" in place of "in sum."
White has been working on this theory since the 1980s and this work is now in its fourth edition. I feel like better data, research design, research methods, a little humility, and quality editing shouldn't be much to expect.
December 28, 2023
This is a great book for anyone aspiring to travel in space. It talks about the history of space flight and the future through the eyes of those who have been up there. Being in space is an experience that changes people deeply. Over the next 10 years, many more people will have the opportunity to go into space and their stories will inspire more. Hopefully, this will make us better human beings. This is a great read, makes you want to go to space.
August 20, 2022
The overview effect is an interesting concept but the book seems to do as much to disprove its existence as to prove it. For something that is supposed to be uniting the world, the book is staggeringly US-centric.
August 18, 2019
liked the new ideas and insights based on real accounts.
did not like the repetitive writing style
did not like the repetitive writing style
March 3, 2021
Humanity traveled into space and got perspective of what it means to live on Earth.
April 15, 2021
The definitive work of Evolutionary Humanism.
October 24, 2022
An amazing book!
October 30, 2024
A fun little intergalactic read for this spooky szn🎃
November 1, 2024
Too redundant
The entire book could have been summed up and the few unusual astronauts comments described. I ran out of patience.
The entire book could have been summed up and the few unusual astronauts comments described. I ran out of patience.
January 27, 2015
Earth is a spaceship; there are no passengers, we are all crew.
The lucky few that have seen our planet from orbit realize this deeply, their descriptions in the book convey the concept exceptionally.
The lucky few that have seen our planet from orbit realize this deeply, their descriptions in the book convey the concept exceptionally.
November 21, 2021
You can stop reading after the interviews come up. Other than that it’s a great book of philosophy that will make you want to experience it for yourself.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews