"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.

"Habitable Planets for Man" examines and estimates the probabilities of finding planets habitable to human beings, where they might be found, and the number there may be in our own galaxy. The author presents in detail the characteristics of a planet that can provide an acceptable environment for humankind, itemizes the stars nearest the earth most likely to possess habitable planets, and discusses how to search for habitable planets. Interestingly for our time, he also gives an appraisal of the earth as a planet and describes how its habitability would be changed if some of its basic properties were altered."Habitable Planets for Man" was published 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." 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.