``This is Adrian Berry at his best,
partly because he writes so well and partly because he has a
fascinating theme. I hope this book will be republished in the year
2099, since by then we ought to have gained a much better idea of what
lies ahead, and be able to gauge the extent to which his forecasts
have been accurate. The Giant Leap is a great read, and I am
confident that you will enjoy it immensely - I certainly did.''
Patrick Moore, Literary
Review
``From Outrageous to awe-inspiring, The
Giant Leap takes you on a wild ride into the biggest frontier - a
quirky, optimistic call to the stars.''
David Brin
``The best available guide for
futurists, space advocates, SF writers and readers, and anybody else
even modestly interested in space travel beyond the solar system.
Veteran British science writer Berry is eloquent and elegant on
propulsion, navigation, time dilation, computers, suspended animation,
and the sociology of long-duration space flight. Abetted by plenty of
well-organised, scholarly appendices, this is a superior book on a
topic not now of compelling interest but which may become so within
the lifetime of a currently youthful reader. Literally far out and
highly recommended.''
[US]Booklist
``Berry's lively prose and
accessible arguments for `innumerable Earths' will appeal to
pop-science and sci-fi fans as well as professionals, even if they
disagree.''
[US] Publishers Weekly
``What fun this book is, and how
cheerful. I have not read anything as exciting since the editorials in
Amazing Tales magazine, back in the Fifties, when the idea of
human explosion into space stirred all of us.''
Fay Weldon, Daily
Telegraph
``Adrian Berry is an engagingly
enthusiastic guide to the issues that we must address if we to reach
successfully for the stars. His patrician style, along with optimism
and his gung-ho belief in scientific progress, make for lively
reading.''
Graham Farmelo, Sunday
Telegraph
``[I would praise] Berry's clear,
good-humoured writing and the honest way in which he brings out the
difficulties as well as the potentialities in human colonisation of
space. I enjoyed reading this book.''
John Michell, Spectator
``The Giant Leap is a book
for both beach and bedside, providing an unlimited supply of pleasant
dreams.''
Reginald Turnill, former BBC Space
Correspondent
``I very much enjoyed The Next
500 Years, and I think Adrian Berry has relieved me of a
responsibility that has been nagging me: it will soon be a quarter of
a century since I updated my book Profiles of the Future. But
now I don't think I'll bother.''
Arthur C. Clarke
``Adrian Berry is as perceptive as
Arthur C. Clarke, as entertaining as Alan Clark and as logical as
Marcia Clark.''
Tim Rice
``Comprehensive and convincing.''
New Scientist.
``This is not a Nostradamus book of
predictions but an extrapolation of scientific fact. Stimulating and
thought-provoking, it is divided into two sections: the future on
Earth and the future in space. Perhaps Berry's most unsettling
prediction is the storage of human personalities on computer disk for
retrieval after death. He also firmly believes that space, the Moon
and Mars will be settled by private industry and not by
government-sponsored programs. Judging by the number of people who
have inquired about my review copy, there is considerable interest in
the future, a future that many of us will not live long enough to see.
Four appendixes, a glossary, informative footnotes, and substantial
notes and references round out this well-written tome.
[US] Library
Journal
``If the coming millennium conjures
up visions of a time warp future, imagine 500 years from now! And if
your imagination isn't up to the task, Berry is willing to pilot the
ship toward a time when robots might replace human beings,
personalities will be stored on computer disk, and newlyweds will have
their choice of the Moon or Mars for a honeymoon. To make matters
really scary, the predictions are based on current research
information technology, agriculture, economics, and science studies
which the author describes and documents in wry, witty, and persuasive
prose.''
[US] Book
News
``Refreshingly optimistic.''
Sunday Telegraph
``It swoops across the long future
of human beings with swashbuckling relish. Poetic and profound.''
Maggie Gee, Daily
Telegraph
