Real Space: The fate of physical presence in the digital age, on and off planet

Why do humans long to reach beyond the confines of our planet? Why, in an age when our voices routinely bounce off satellites to around the world and back, hasn't a human set foot on the moon for 30 years? A visionary work by the most provocative and original thinker on technology and human communication since Marshall McLuhan,RealSpacetraces the neat marriage of communication and transportation --talking and walking--that recently ended in a jarring separation. Throughout recent history, Levinson shows, rail lines and telegraphs, cars and radios, airplanes and television have been coupled in a synergy that allowed us to reach the places we heard about. But with the invention of the Internet and cell phones, our verbal reach has exceeded our corporeal grasp. With a lucid, reflective style that spans philosophy, science fiction, religion, and technology,RealSpacereopens the final frontier, delving into the roots of our desire to know what's out there and exploring how wemight actually make it one day. Packed with exciting, innovative, even revolutionary thinking about our future,RealSpaceis essential reading for everyone who has ever sat at a desk, gazed into the distance and imagined boarding a space shuttle.