TC Boyle: The Terranauts

TC Boyle's The Terranauts centers around eight earth explorers who lock themselves up in E2, a biodome created to mimic earth and test the viability of a self-sustained environment. While the primary objective is to take scientific stock of the functionality of the simulated eco-systems, what happens between the eight terranauts and their mission control has a bigger impact on sustainability than science had counted on. Boyle talks about basing his book on the real-life Biosphere using its records, incident reports, and journalistic coverage. The Terranauts ends up becoming as much an exploration into human relationships as it is a meditation on eco-science.