I’m going to start by asking that this thread be stickied, because if it takes off, not only will a lot of people want to find it, but it will also provide good references for when people do calculations for various debates in this forum.
This is a list for realistic books you recommend. NOT FICTION. What books do you recommend to people to expand their understanding of the possibilities that await us in the future?
Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology
By Eric Drexler
ISBN-10: 0385199732
Amazon
Thoughts: Nanotech is coming, and while it may not be here for a while yet, and it won't be as wanked out as some think it will be, it is still going to be as revolutionary as the internet was when it sees its full potential. This is the book that spelt it all out in the first place, so it makes a good starting point for someone who wants a general idea of the possibilities and limitations nanotech has.
The Millennial Project: Colonizing the Galaxy in Eight Easy Steps
By Marshall Savage
ISBN-10: 0316771635
Amazon
Thoughts: Equal parts brilliance and madness, this book lays out a series of steps to create a robust Type II civilization, ranging from ways to better exploit Earth to feed us and get a handle on things like climate change and practice small scale terraforming, to developing the basic units that would make up a Dyson swarm. The author lays it out with a tone that would make a religious zealot pause, but the depth of thought and detail are breathtaking.
Islands in the Sky: Bold New Ideas for Colonizing Space
By Stanley Schmidt and Robert Zubrin (Editors)
ISBN-10: 0471135615
Amazon
Thoughts: A collection of essays that appeared in Analog, it is a nice collection of some valuable ideas, condensed down into one book. The contents range from the probability of habitable planets, to heavy lift launchers to colonizing the Oort cloud to a negative matter drive. The entries by Zubrin also appear in The Case for Mars and Entering Space, but these are the reader's digest version. Really, Reader's Digest version sums this up pretty well - it covers a useful range of topics, but not in a lot of depth.
High Frontier: Human Colonies in Space
By Gerard K. O'Neill
ISBN-10: 189652267X
Amazon
Thoughts: This book is the granddaddy of space colonization. O'Neill is the man who designed the infamous cylinder style space station, but this book covers more then that. It deals with the 3 main types of artificial gravity equipped space stations that you will see out there, in a realistic breakdown of how to build them, the required steps, and justification for each design and its limits. The fact that we have had fully designed space stations that we had the technology to construct since the 1970s will leave you wondering why we haven't done it already.
Mining the Sky: Untold Riches from the Asteroids, Comets, and Planets
By John S Lewis
ISBN-10: 0201328194
Amazon
Thoughts: Want to know what you can get from the asteroid belt, how you can get it, and what you need to do so? Here is the book for you. While it touches on things like colonizing Mars, rock rats are the all-stars here. Read this, and you will be amazed that so much sci-fi focuses on alien planets when the real riches lie between them.
The Starflight Handbook: A Pioneer's Guide to Interstellar Travel
By Eugene F Mallove and Gregory L Matloff
ISBN-10: 0471619124
Amazon
Thoughts: A good beginner's guide to the realistic possibilities and limitations of star flight. It covers all the basic science and engineering, with handy sidebars and appendix. I found Atomic Rocket a bit easier to understand, but this is a good hardcopy to have around.
Space Settlements: A Design Study
By Richard D. Johnson (Editor)
ISBN-10: 1410218228
Amazon
Thoughts: This is the NASA report that grew out of the Stanford study, O'Neill's investigations, and the Ames Research Center. It covers most of what you find in the High Frontier, but in more technical terms, and is much more exhaustive in terms of human requirements. Personally, I find the High Frontier better for learning about space stations, and this more useful for evaluating sci-fi city-planets. But if you want a good technical guide for how to sustain human life in space, here is your book.
Entering Space: Creating a Spacefaring Civilization
By Robert Zubrin
ISBN-10: 1585420360
Amazon
Thoughts: Though not as in depth as The Millennial Project, this book lacks the fanatical approach of TMP. Zubrin focuses on the rocketry side of it rather then attempting to be a polymath, with the concession of applying the work done for his prior book The Case For Mars to the topic of terraforming and colonizing other bodies in the solar system. A good read to understand where we stand now and where we can go, rather then just the possibilities space has.
The Case for Mars
By Robert Zubrin
ISBN-10: 0684835509
Amazon
Thoughts: The title says it all. This book changed how we looked at space exploration, taking us from the idea of a massive Battlestar Galactica style convoy of colony ships importing infrastructure and supplies to the idea of living off the land and making use of the resources available. Read it and you will wonder why we haven't gone to Mars already.
That is my list so far. Obviously it is light on robotics, computers, AI, bioengineering and what have you, but it reflects my personal bias for focusing on energy and propulsion like I do in real life. Hopefully others can contribute more to it on all kinds of topics. If you do so, please follow the above format. That way anyone who wants to find your recommendations can do so easily.
Non-Fiction Reccomended Book List
Moderator: NecronLord
Non-Fiction Reccomended Book List
بيرني كان سيفوز
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Nuclear Navy Warwolf
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in omnibus requiem quaesivi, et nusquam inveni nisi in angulo cum libro
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ipsa scientia potestas est
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Nuclear Navy Warwolf
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in omnibus requiem quaesivi, et nusquam inveni nisi in angulo cum libro
*
ipsa scientia potestas est
Understanding Space: An Introduction to Astronautics
Amazon
A good introduction to basic orbital mechanics, as well as some basics of modern spacecraft engienering.
Nanofuture: What's Next For Nanotechnology
Amazon
Another good nanotech book. Contains some discussion of the post-scarsity implications of mature nanotechnology.
Amazon
A good introduction to basic orbital mechanics, as well as some basics of modern spacecraft engienering.
Nanofuture: What's Next For Nanotechnology
Amazon
Another good nanotech book. Contains some discussion of the post-scarsity implications of mature nanotechnology.
I wish to propose for the reader's favorable consideration a doctrine which may, I fear, appear wildly paradoxical and subversive. The doctrine in question is this: that it is undesirable to believe a proposition when there is no ground whatever for supposing it true. I must, of course, admit that if such an opinion became common it would completely transform our social life and our political system; since both are at present faultless, this must weigh against it.
-Bertrand Russell
-"Too low they build, who build beneath the stars."
-Bertrand Russell
-"Too low they build, who build beneath the stars."
Damn. The ISBN-10s are 0073407755 and 1591022878, respectivly. Could a mod edit them into my previous post, and delete this one?
I wish to propose for the reader's favorable consideration a doctrine which may, I fear, appear wildly paradoxical and subversive. The doctrine in question is this: that it is undesirable to believe a proposition when there is no ground whatever for supposing it true. I must, of course, admit that if such an opinion became common it would completely transform our social life and our political system; since both are at present faultless, this must weigh against it.
-Bertrand Russell
-"Too low they build, who build beneath the stars."
-Bertrand Russell
-"Too low they build, who build beneath the stars."
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Ford Prefect
- Emperor's Hand
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- Joined: 2005-05-16 04:08am
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Another one you might consider is Wil McCarthy's http://www.amazon.com/Hacking-Matter-Le ... ing Matter. An interesting treatise on 'smart matter.'
trey DOT palmer AT Golf Mike Alpha India Lima DOT Charlie Oscar Mike[/SIZE]
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