Planets for Man

Planets for Man was written at the height of the space race, a few years before the first moon landing, when it was assumed that in the not-too-distant future human beings will be able to travel the vast distances to other stars. The authors propose to determine - on the basis of then current biological and cosmological knowledge - whether there are other worlds where humans can survive or where human life may even now be flourishing. This volume, co-authored by RAND researcher Stephen Dole and science fiction master Isaac Asimov, certainly one of the more unusual co-authorships in RAND’s long history of research and publishing, it was based on a more technical treatise authored by Dole, Habitable Planets for Man . More than forty years after its initial publication, and to celebrate RAND’s 60th Anniversary, RAND brings this classic work back into print in paperback and digital formats.