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The High Frontier: Human Colonies in Space: Apogee Books Space Series 12

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THE HIGH FRONTIER is an excellent book on the practicality andeconomics of the human colonization of space -- very entertaining toread and full of interesting technical information. It is the classic work on the subject -- highly regarded by folks such as Carl Sagan, Isaac Asimov, and Thomas Paine (former administrator of NASA). When this influential book was first published, it changed a lot of minds throughout the world. Is human colonization of space achievable even with 1970's-1980's technology? Could it be profitable on a global-economic scale? The author thinks so and tells us why and how; and his credentials are impressive. The author, Dr. Gerard K. O'Neill, was a tenured professor of physics at Princeton and one of the founders of the Geostar Satellite Corporation (a company that worked on implementing GPS satellites). Many of the conclusions in the book are backed up by actual experiment and by numerous studies done both within and without NASA. This is one of the handful of books that have helped to shape my outlook on the future of mankind -- a strong statement reserved for an excellent and influential work. -- Brooke P. Anderson

This book is amazing. This 3rd edition has two parts: the first is the original text by the late Gerard O'Neil, one of the great visionaries of the 20th century. Though things did not develop in the time scale he hoped for, his message is as valid today as it was in 1980 -- or even more so. The second part of the book is a series of chapters by contemporary leaders in the aerospace industry, and provide a fresh, modern perspective on where we've come since O'Neil's day, where we need to go, and how to get there.

The emphasis of this book is more on what we need to do, why we need to do it, and what that would be like, than on the details of "how." Other books cover the "how" in more detail. But because of the focus of this one, it is easily read by anyone; no special technical or math skills are required.

After reading only part of this book, I did some web searches and found that the concept of space solar power (which is central to O'Neil's thesis) is still very much alive today. NASA did a new study on it just a couple years ago, and it has been discussed in Congress increasingly often since then. It is a very real concept, very nearly ready for implementation. Read this book to find out why it's so very important.

O'Niell's writings (the first 12 chapters) are as well written and exciting as ever. His vision of how humanity should enter space is unsurpassed, despite now being some 25 years old.

The additional chapters don't seem to add too much. I was hoping for a good description of where we've got to, and how things have changed. For example, in O'Niell's time, the richness, number and accessibility of Near Earth Asteroids was not known, but there is little in the book on the how these could be used to make O'Niell's original vision easier to fulfill. Likewise, Tether technology could reduce Earth launch costs and bring the vision closer to reality. None of this is covered.

John Lewis has a good section on Space Law, but to see new ideas from him, you have to read "Mining the Sky"

Overall, if you've never read The High Frontier, this book is an excellent buy. If you've already got the previous edition at home, the six chapters don't add too much, and there's better information on the internet.

Written in the 1970s, this book details O'Neill's vision of space colonies - huge space stations built from lunar material, selling solar power beamed to earth. Although his timetable of such colonies by the 1990s turned out to be too optimistic, this book is very much worth a look, both for historical reasons, and also to see what will happen once the price of access to space drops.

Packed with technical detail, O'Neill's plan is based on two assumptions - that the price of access to space would drop, and that the price of energy would rise. Neither came true in the early 1980s. The Space Shuttle did not make space flight cheap as promised, and low energy costs did not make space based solar power economical. In the near future though the space frontier may very well develop just as he foresaw.

For those who dream of colonising Mars a hundred years from now, and the far stars in the distance, a thousand years from now, this book is a must read. For this is a world among the stars achievalble today. A land oif endless resources and land available for all to live well, and start over.

And should be required reading for all High School science students.

This is not Star Trek or Mobile Suit Gundam, this is for real.

I first came upon the first edition of this book back duirng my high school days in the public library. Everyone needs a good dream every now and then to rest their souls upon should they choose to study a nightmare.

And though I was not able to comprehend the vision, in the beginning, the dream did take root. And I firmly do wish for more books on this subject to be written. COLONIES IN SPACE by T.A. Heppenheimer being the only one I have found so far.

Dr. O'Neill envisions a world of endless resources built from the moon. And it can be achieved.

My stomach flips and I feel my fists clench each time I hear "how close we are to going into space". No Western politician can afford to have a view long range enough, or bold enough, to make this a reality. No Eastern nations have the money. This will take a private person or consortium with a long-range view to execute.

If you are a pessimist, this book will frustrate and anger you. Knowing where we could be, based on work done in the early 1970's will cause you untold mental anguish. If you are an optimist, this book will dig new ditches in your mind - allowing you to dream the impossible. The Intuitive will find food for vision; the Aristotlian will find meat and reality for implementation.

If you must read only one book that discusses the reality of humans living and working in space - make it this one.

The events of September 11th, 2001 taught us two lessons: (a) the Western World has to get rid of its dependence of oil and (b) a closed world with limited resources inevitably leads to conflict.

So, it is interesting to read "The High Frontier" and see that reasonable people - like the author, Gerard O'Neil - already knew those lessons about a quarter of century ago. And it is even more fascinating to see how those challenges can be overcome by simply expanding into a world where there are no limits: the Space.

O'Neil and his followers convincingly explain how profitable economic exploration of the inexhaustible energy and mineral resources of space is possible and how that will help to solve the problems on Earth itself - and, as a side effect, lead to space colonization.

Indeed, "The High Frontier" is not just a book for space enthusiasts: I would also recommend it for businessmen who want new ideas for tech ventures with *real* prospects for long-term profit - not the trendy fairy tales of Internet and biotech businesses that are quickly consumed in their own self-generated enthusiasm.

I'm writing this review of the review dated September 8th 2001, wherein the reviewer challenges us readers to implement the ideas of O'Neill's book RIGHT NOW.

I wonder if anyone took that challenge, or if we were all distracted by what happened 3 days later?

Looking back over the past 4 years, I think, like the other reviewers who have written since that fateful day, that those events and their consequences show us that getting off this planet, and what we will learn from the effort, is an idea that becomes more imperative day after day.

If anyone is involved in a "mini-biosphere" project called for in the September 8th, 2001 review, or knows of such, please e-mail me with contact info.

Congratulations to all who can see beyong the curve of our Earth, to the endless horizons of space.

This book paints a fascinating and telling picture of the future of mankind as the author sees it. In explaining how humans will consume the Earth and eventually spread out into space, he also provides compelling evidence for Fermi's paradox: If alien civilizations exist, where are they? I recommend this book for those who are interested in the potential course of human civilization, especially those wondering where overpopulation is going to drive technology.

I read this wonderful book as an undergrad in the seventies. I found out about O'Neill from Stewart Brand's journal of the time, "The Coevolution Quarterly". O'Neill was the outer space guru of the age, just as John Lilly was the inner space pioneer. I assumed, as an enthusiastic youngster, that there would be millions of humans living at L5 by now. Unfortunately, we have a government run space program that, like any government bureaucracy, is inefficient and at the mercy of inferior minds (Congress and the White House). Nevertheless, this book is a good read and shows what one professor and a handful of grad students can come up with. For present day forward thinkers, review the ideas of Bill Stone (Stone Aerospace).