Science Nonfiction Review: Archaeology From Space

Summary: An interesting book, but it tried to be too many different things in under 300 pages.

Archeologist Dr. Sarah Parcak specializes in satellite archeology, an approach I hadn’t heard of until I picked this book up for my science book club. Parcak has primarily worked in Egypt, so much of this book focuses on her work there. She’s also worked on sites in South America and at candidate Viking sites on several continents. In this book, the author shares her experience on these projects and gives a brief intro to how satellite archeology is done.

The main complaint my book club had about this book was the brevity of the info on satellite archeology. We learned a little about the technology used and what those images could tell you. We’re a group that would have liked a lot more detail though! (Perhaps unsurprisingly, the reviewer from the scientific journal Nature felt the same way.) What makes it possible to see vegetation differences or to see through vegetation? What types of imaging and image processing let you identify specific details? Instead of focusing in on this fascinating work, the author gives a very light intro. She then packs a lot of other things into this short book.

The primary connection between chapters was the chronology of the author’s life. As I’ve mentioned before, I like chronological stories. This can really work for me. It made for an enjoyable reading experience here. It also made sense given that a lot of the book was about the author’s experiences. However, as a science memoir, this falls far short of something like Lab Girl, which had beautiful writing; was personally moving; and went into the science in much more depth. This story also felt disjointed, as we bounced around between topics and locations.

Fictional stories made for yet another element crammed into this book . These made up stories were used to illustrate what the past was like and what archeology might look like in the future. Responses to these sections in my book club ranged from disinterested (my reaction) to infuriated. Again, this group in particular isn’t looking for fiction. We want to learn a lot about the science.

Despite the fact that my review has focused so much on the weaknesses of this book, I did enjoy reading it. What I learned about satellite archeology was fascinating and made me want to learn more. I also always enjoy getting a look at what the personal experience of doing an interesting job is like. My main reason for focusing on the negatives is that I think this book had the potential to be one really fantastic thing – a science memoir, a detailed look at satellite archeology, or a look at the daily lives of ancient Egyptians. Instead, the book tried to do all of those things in under 300 pages. Despite this being a good read, I felt like there was a lot of wasted potential here.

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