what others say about Jane's book

"Electrifying" Booklist

“… an electrifying testament to the strength of their commitment and an indictment of the self-defeating power of ego, Poynter's explicit insider's account of the creation and completion of the controversial mission exposes both the successes that were ignored by the media and the failures that received excessive attention”
Booklist

"Fantastic" Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE Founder, the Jane Goodall Institute

“Jane Poynter's vivid prose takes us on a fantastic adventure into the heart of one of the most innovative experiments of the past 30 years. The Human Experiment is a fascinating exploration of the human psyche and reveals, in a completely new way, our relationship with our environment.”

Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE
Founder, the Jane Goodall Institute
UN Messenger of Peace
www.janegoodall.org

"Extraordinary" Dr. Jeff Hoffman Five-time U.S. Shuttle Astronaut

“When I heard… how people had turned Eden into Hell… I felt that people thinking about exploring Mars should hear their story… never assume that simply being adult, rational, educated, disciplined, and highly motivated will protect a group under extreme stress… Ms. Poynter tells both parts [of Biosphere 2], the technical and the human, and it is a fascinating, if often frustrating journey… [It’s] a story well worth telling, and in Ms. Poynter’s book it has been told well. I am delighted to know that the public will now be able to appreciate, as did we astronauts, the extraordinary experience of the biospherians.”

Dr. Jeff Hoffman
Five-time U.S. Shuttle astronaut
and MIT Professor

"Timely" David Schaller U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

“Poynter's timely account of this great experiment provides a crucial look at the challenges human society and its threatened life support system has before it. On a planet faced with increasing biological, climatic and social upheaval, we ignore the lessons of Biosphere 2 at our own peril. There is something here for everyone.”

David Schaller
Sustainable Development Coordinator
Environmental Protection Agency

"Truly inspiring" Dr. Richard Farson Western Behavioral Sciences Institute

“Amazing! Nothing in the environmental literature comes close to the gut-level lessons that issue from Jane Poynter's rich, intimate, at times amusing and always deeply engrossing account of the heroic two year struggle for survival of eight dedicated individuals sealed in Biosphere 2. Without a word of preaching or fear mongering, but in unsparingly graphic and painfully honest terms, she reveals more powerfully than anything I have read just how emotionally and intellectually challenging is our complex and fragile relationship to the earth… The Human Experiment carries the reader through serious science, unbelievable drudgery, playful theatrics, deep emotionality… all fascinating. Jane Poynter is truly amazing in her ability not only to live through that experience, but to be able to document it in such a fair and beautiful way. A truly inspiring story.”

Dr. Richard Farson
President
Western Behavioral Sciences Institute

"Grand adventure" Jim Whittaker First American to climb Mt. Everest

“What a grand adventure! Jane takes us around the globe, under the sea, and to another world… literally.”

Jim Whittaker
First American to climb Mt. Everest

"Highly recommended" Library Journal

“"This fascinating and well-written firsthand account of the joys and tribulations of being a willing guinea pig in a novel scientific experiment is highly recommended ..."

Library Journal

"She is at her best" Publishers Weekly

“In her first-hand account, Poynter describes all aspects of the much-debated project, from crew selection to life on the inside, while addressing the nature of the scientific undertaking and the politics that embroiled everyone associated with it. She is at her best recounting how the eight "biospherians" devolved into a dysfunctional family and commenting on the import such patterns will undoubtedly have on long-distance space travel.”

Publishers Weekly

"Historic" Publishers Weekly

“What happened at Biosphere 2 – personal and scientific disagreements, species extinction, and an environment seemingly hostile to human life – parallels much that is going on in the world today. Scientists and ordinary citizens need to learn the lessons Jane draws from this troubling and fascinating story.”

Thomas E. Lovejoy
President
The H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment

"Troubling" Peter Diamandis Founder, International Space University Founder, $10-million Ansari X Prize

“Biosphere 2 was a historic step towards making life on other planets not only imaginable, but feasible. The Human Experiment teaches us that, however far we travel into other worlds, we will take our flaws and our ideals along for the ride.”

Peter Diamandis
Founder, International Space University
Founder, $10-million Ansari X Prize

"Haunting, funny to the point of slapstick, horrifying, and electrifying" Jake Page Author of 43 fiction and non-fiction books

“Jane Poynter's memoir of the oddball experiment called Biosphere 2 is haunting, funny to the point of slapstick, horrifying, and electrifying… it lays bare the ultimate reality show when eight people were left on their own, sealed into a huge and, they hoped, self-sustaining greenhouse for two years – longer than anyone before or since. Talk about adventure – whew!”

Jake Page
Author of 43 fiction and non-fiction books

"A fascinating tale of a fascinating experiment" Peter Raven, Chairman Division of Earth and Life Studies, The National Academies Director, Missouri Botanical Garden

“Biosphere 2 was a miniature Garden of Eden – inspirational, beautiful, and significant – that was transformed into something entirely different. A fascinating tale of a fascinating experiment, both scientific and human.”

Peter Raven
Chairman, Division of Earth and Life Studies,
The National Academies
Director, Missouri Botanical Garden

"I couldn't put it down" Rebecca Boren Award-winning journalist

“The Human Experiment is at once a rollicking tale of international adventures, a serious consideration of the scientific importance of being able to build and study artificial worlds, and an unflinching look at how the humans inside Biosphere 2 fell apart. I couldn't put it down.”

Rebecca Boren
Award-winning journalist