This book contains papers that were presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Science symposium Boston, Massachusetts in 2002.
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"...the book does come into it's own in the second section, which deals with the human aspects of multi-generation space ships. ...I found this section interesting and insightful and it was also detailed enough to use as a base for further reading...It has done well to discuss topics not familiar to the average astronomer in such a fascinating way. ...I must admit that I felt that I had learned something, and maybe even felt a little inspired." -- Peter Grindrod, The Observatory, April 2004. Reviewed in Telescopium, Journal of the Swedish Astronomical Society, Summer 2004.
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Charles Sheffield and Robert Forward have for many years been prominent names in the "who's who" of progressive science and science fiction. Professionally, they were prime factors of Earth Satellite Corporation and Forward Unlimited respectively. Sheffield and Forward have been among the most respected names in their fields. Sadly, both passed away in 2002.
Dr. Kondo was head of the astrophysics laboratory at NASA Johnson Space Center during the Apollo and Skylab Missions, and later was director of an international geosynchronous satellite observatory for 15 years. He also served as president of two International Astronomical Union Commissions and one IAU division. He is the author of over 200 scientific papers and editor of 13 volumes. He is the recipient of the NASA Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement, the Federal Design Achievement Award (in conjunction with the U.S. Presidential Award), National Space Club Science Award, and the Isaac Asimov Memorial Award. Under the pseudonym of E. Kotani, he has published 7 science fiction novels.
Dr. Bruhweiler is Director of the Institute for Astrophysics and Computational Sciences and Professor of Physics at the Catholic University of Americ in Washington, D.C., and is author of more than 200 scientific papers and editor of 3 books in space sciences.
John Moore received his Ph.D.in Anthropology from New York University in 1974. His professional specializatons include Kinship, Demography, and Political Economy. His publications include 11 books and monographs, 41 journal articles, and 18 book chapters. Among his awards and honors are" Chair, Human Genome Diversity Project, North American Committee; Chair, Anthropology Section, Americn Association for the Advancement of Science. John Moore is currently the Professor of Anthropology, University of Florida.
Freeman J. Dyson, currently Professor Emeritus (physics) at the Institute for Advanced Study is one of the respected elder statesmen of science. Educated at the University of Cambridge, he has been honored as a Commonwealth Fellow, a Fellow of the Royal Society, and a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. He is the award winning author of a considerable number of non-fiction works and in addition has been bestowed 18 Honorary Degrees.
Joe Haldeman has been a full-time writer since 1970 and a part-time professor at MIT since 1983. He is a member of the Author's Guild, Writer's Guild, National Space Society (on Board of Advisors),Space Studies Institute, and is a former President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Joe Haldeman has published more than 15 novels, as well as short story collections and anthologies. His novel Forever Peace won the Hugo, Nebula, and John W. Campbell Awards in 1998 - the first such "triple crown" in 22 years.
Doug Beason is Deputy Associate Director (Defence Threat Reduction) at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. He has over 25 years of R&D experience. Dr. Beason previously served on the White House staff working for the President's Science Advisor (Office of Science and Technology Policy) under both the Bush and Clinton Administrations, where he was an adjunct to the National Space Council. Doug Beason is the author of more than 12 books and 50 scholarly papers, and was a Nebula Award Best Novel nominee (1993) for Assemblers of Infinity.
Geoffrey A. Landis Ph.D. is currently a Research Scientist at NASA John Glenn Research Center. His vast experience includes: Mars Pathfinder, Mars-2001 Surveyor Lander spacecraft, analysis of solar- and laser-pushed lightsails, advanced solar cell development, use of space resources, and advanced concepts for space power and propulsion. Dr. Landis is the author of more than 60 published science fiction short stories and novelettes. In 1992 his short story A Walk in the Sun won the Hugo award.
Sarah G. Thomason's professional career includes positions at Yale, University of Pittsburgh, University of Illinois, Ohio State University, University of Joensuu, University of Amsterdam and University of Melbourne in Australia. Sarah Thomason is currently a Professor of Linguistics at the University of Michigan.
Denis H. O'Rourke is a Ph.D in anthropology from the University of Kansas. He is currently a professor at the University of Utah's Laboratory of Biological Anthropology. His main areas of research are population and evolutionary genetics, genetic epidemiology, quantitative methods, Native America and Russia. He has worked on the patterns of genetic variation in ancient and contemporary populations of the Americas.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Just a Collection of Speeches,
By A Customer
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Interstellar Travel & Multi-Generational Space Ships: Apogee Books Space Series 34 (Hardcover)
Interstellar Travel and Multi-Generational Space Ships is a collection of speeches presented at some obscure symposium that lasted a single day. As a result, this book lacks the continuity one would expect from a real book and is full of repetitions. The speeches themselves are only a few pages in length so no concept is really developed. There isn't much breadth or variety either. The speeches usually are either a "motivational" sermons or a focus on a propulsion scheme. However, there is about fifteen pages devoted to necessary genetic variation in the small population of an interstellar crew. You will have plenty of back-of-the-envelope calculations involving some rather fanciful concepts. One had a 560 kiloton lens 1,000 km wide and a 43 quadrillion watt earthbound laser. Absent in these ideas were hindrances such as interstellar debris, radiation, navigation, etc. After reading this book, I have gained little sense of the feasibility of traveling to the stars.
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Symposium papers, of varying quality,
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Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Interstellar Travel & Multi-Generational Space Ships: Apogee Books Space Series 34 (Hardcover)
This book brings together papers delivered at an American Association for the Advancement of Science symposium in 2002. Several presentations address physics and engineering solutions to the problem of interstellar flight, with an emphasis on propulsion concepts. Others address social, cultural, psychological, and genetic dimensions of "generation ships" in which human societies would exist within large vehicles during voyages lasting hundreds of years. The final paper, by physicist Freeman Dyson, suggests that life and intelligence might exist on the icy bodies of the outer solar system. The quality is very uneven. The science and technology-based papers are the most useful, though many of these ideas have appeared elsewhere. The philosophical commentaries are not very original. This topic deserves a more thorough study, written as a unified whole. THIS REPLACES A TEXT THAT CONTAINED ONE WORD ERROR
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
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This review is from: Interstellar Travel & Multi-Generational Space Ships: Apogee Books Space Series 34 (Hardcover)
This book was written by key scientists at the Goddard Space Flight Center MD. It is a part of the ongoing Apogee Books Space Series.Interstellar Travel & Multi-Generational Spacecraft by Yoji Kondo and the members of the AAS Instead of blindly following popular preconceptions and biases about matters that we have not yet had the chance to test or verify, examined in this volume is our current state of knowledge, as well as our present state of ignorance, on subjects related to interstellar travel. The science and technology of the future that would be available for building interstellar space ships would indeed be quite different from those imagined from the perspectives of the early twenty-first century. Nevertheless, it is a good idea to start thinking what it will take to mount such an undertaking so that we can begin exploring various scientific and engineering possibilities now -- rather than wait endlessly for 'the right time' to come. 1. Contents 2. Dedication - The dedication to Sheffield and Bob Forward. 3. Preface - Preface by the Editors 4. Overview by Y. Kondo 5. "Fly Me to the Stars' by Sheffield 6. Acknowledgements 7. "the Ultimate Exploration.." by G. Landis 8. "Colonizing Other Worlds" by J. Haldeman 9. "Why we must go" by D. Beason 10. "Kin-based Crews.." by J. Moore 11. figure for article by Moore (in Powerpoint) 12. "Genetic Considerations..." by D. O'Rourke 13. Glossary for O'Rourke article. 14. "language Change..." by S. Thomason 15. "Looking for Life.." by F. Dyson 16. "Remembering Charles Sheffield " by Y. Kondo 17. "Reminiscences: Bob Forward" by Landis 18. Untitled Contribution by Bob Forward
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