Customer Reviews

Prospects for Interstellar Travel (Science and Technology, Vol 80)

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This is not merely a rigorous 'nuts and bolts' engineering assessment of the realistic prospects, costs and timelines for achieving interstellar spaceflight. It is also the most condensed distillation of current knowledge in the fields of physics, atomic engineering, systems engineering, sociology and political science that you will find anywhere. I'm buying it for my kid. If they make it from cover to cover, they will be in possession of all the basic requirements for attaining a technical education in any field, and the book is not that big.

This book presents, in technical terms understandable to most any engineering or science major, the prospects and problems involved with planning an actual interstellar space mission. The bad news, for devotees of Star Trek and others who hope we can easily cross large sections of the Galaxy at will just a few centuries from now, is that the basic laws of physics and engineering as we currently understand them simply rule this out. At best, we are limited to the notion of a relatively slow, multi-generation spacecraft to reach even the closest stars. The author examines, in detail, the different options available for propelling such a ship, and the engineering and human design factors for making it functional. The writing style is a bit dry, but the technical analysis is thorough, yet not overwhelming for one who is not a specialist in the field. Perhaps the ultimate message of this book is that star flight dreamers may have to lower their expectations of "warp drives" and jumps into "hyperspace", or else hope for unexpected breakthroughs in spaceflight technology, ones that will allow us to bypass limits as we currently understand them and someday give us the capability for true, practical high speed travel to the stars.

This is a chunky trade paperback, published by Univelt in conjunction with the American Astrological Society.

370 pp; 1.75 pounds. B&w illustrations.

22 page Bibliography.

TABLE OF CONTENTS HIGHLIGHTS
Preface and Guide to Readers
Introduction to Interstellar Travel
Basics of Travel in Space

Advanced Propulsion Methods
Relativity and Interstellar Travel
Relativistic Drives and Problems

Starships as Systems
Missions
Astrogation, Observation, and Communication
Technological Requirements and Hazards
Biological Requirements

Personal, Social, and Political Considerations
Interstellar Life and Civilizations

Long-Term Prospects

Appendices
- Unit System, Powers of Ten, Conversions, and Constants
- Classical Physics
- Relativistic Travel
- Other Selected Topics
- Programs and Printout Tables of Results for Rocket Motion

Bibliography
Index