Dr Space Junk vs The Universe

Turns the common perception of archaeology as an exploration of the ancient on its head. Alice Gorman’s captivating inquiry into the most modern and daring of technologies spanning some 60 years takes the reader on a journey which captures the relics of space forays and uncovers the cultural value of detritus all too readily dismissed as junk.

---

Going boldly forth as a pioneer in the fledgling field of space archaeology, Dr Alice Gorman (aka Dr Space Junk) turns the common perception of archaeology as an exploration of the ancient on its head. Her captivating inquiry into the most modern and daring of technologies spanning some 60 years – a mere speck in cosmic terms – takes the reader on a journey which captures the relics of space forays and uncovers the cultural value of detritus all too readily dismissed as junk. In this book, she takes a physical journey through the solar system and beyond, and a conceptual journey into human interactions with space. Her tools are artefacts, historical explorations, the occasional cocktail recipe, and the archaeologist’s eye applied not only to the past, but the present and future as well. Erudite and playful, Dr Space Junk reveals that space is not as empty as we might think. And that by looking up and studying space artefacts, we learn an awful lot about our own culture on earth. She makes us realise that objects from the past – the material culture produced by the Space Age and beyond – are so significant to us now because they remind us of what we might want to hold onto into the future.

Sales Points:

This book profoundly changes how we look at human culture
Author is an archaeologist
A fresh and novel voice in the sometimes masculine and stolid space world
Author is an internationally recognised leader in the field of space archaeology, and a Board Director of the Space Industry Association of Australia
2017 winner of the Bragg UNSW Press Prize for Science Writing