"In this brilliantly speculative work of popular science, Annalee Newitz, editor of io9.com, explains that although global disaster is all but inevitable, our chances of long-term species survival are better than ever. 'Scatter, Adapt, and Remember' explores how scientific breakthroughs today will help us avoid disasters tomorrow, from simulating tsunamis or studying central Turkey's ancient underground cities, to cultivating cyanobacteria for "living cities" or designing space elevators to make space colonies cost-effective. Readers of this book will be equipped scientifically, intellectually, and emotionally to face whatever our future holds." -- from the publisher.

Introduction : Are we all going to die? -- pt. I: A history of mass extinctions. The apocalypse that brought us to life -- Two ways to go extinct -- The great dying -- What really happened to the dinosaurs -- Is a mass extinction going on right now? -- pt. II: We almost didn't make it. The African bottleneck -- Meeting the Neanderthals -- Great plagues -- The hungry generations -- pt. III: Lessons from survivors. Scatter : footprints of the diaspora -- Adapt : meet the toughest microbes in the world -- Remember : swim south -- Pragmatic optimism, or stories of survival -- pt. IV: How to build a death-proof city. The mutating metropolis -- Disaster science -- Using math to stop a pandemic -- Cities that hide -- Every surface a farm -- pt. V: The million-year view. Terraforming Earth -- Not in our planetary backyard -- Take a ride on the space elevator -- Your body is optional -- On Titan's beach.