The Space Elevator: A Revolutionary Earth-to-Space Transportation System [Paperback]

Bradley C. Edwards (Author), Eric A. Westling (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0972604502 | ISBN-13: 978-0972604505 | Publication Date: January 14, 2003

The authors take the reader through the history of the concept, technical design and economic practicalities of building an elevator to space, and, ultimately, the implications of what such a low cost transportation system would mean to society. Based on three years of NASA-funded studies and written for the technically literate layperson, Edwards and Westling discuss the recent technological advances that now make the space elevator feasible. They conclude by addressing the effects that the space elevator could have on mankind's future from communications and energy to colonizing space.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bradley C. Edwards, Ph.D.

After receiving his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Wisconsin - Madison, Dr. Edwards spent ten years at Los Alamos National Laboratory. His work at Los Alamos focused on development of advanced technologies and space craft for solar system exploration and astrophysical research. In 2000 and 2001 Dr. Edwards received grants from NASA's Institute for Advanced Concepts to develop a viable space elevator. Dr. Edwards has assembled world experts in a broad array of technologies to aid in this development. The technical work has been reviewed by NASA and in an open conference by the private space sector and received high praise.

Eric A. Westling

Mr. Westling is a professional science writer with a background in engineering and technical design.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Spageo Inc (January 14, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0972604502
• ISBN-13: 978-0972604505
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,562,616 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Want a Lift?, September 7, 2003

By 

W. Cooper "Logos" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Space Elevator: A Revolutionary Earth-to-Space Transportation System (Paperback)

After the latest shuttle disaster, the challenge of obtaining cheap (and safe) access to space now occupies NASA's attention more than ever before. If humans are ever to realize the dream of space--exploration, commercialization and settlement on a massive scale--then we need to find a means to climb out of the earth's steep gravity well that is reliable and relatively inexpensive.

Dr. Bradley Edwards has studied this problem and his solution is a space elevator, an idea that until recently has attracted the attention more of science fiction writers than working scientists.

This book, while suffering in places from lapses in style and clear presentation, manages admirably to describe the basic details of Edwards's reformulation of the space elevator concept. Non-scientists will have no problem following the argument.

The key to this contemporary scientific and engineering study of the feasibility of a space elevator is the discovery in the early 1990's of carbon nanotubes. Their physical properties of extreme tensile strength and light weight make them an ideal candidate for playing the role of that elusvive material, "unobtainium". Of course it still remains to be see whether they can be formed into a composite that has the requisite characteristics that will permit the construction of a tether 100,000 kilometers long stretching from earth to well beyond geostationary orbit.

An excellent introduction to what we all hope will be the 21st century's CATS pyjamas!

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great as an introduction, August 31, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Space Elevator: A Revolutionary Earth-to-Space Transportation System (Paperback)

I was pleasantly surprised at the contents of this book. Edwards does seem to have covered most of the caveats that are almost immediately brought up when the concept of a space elevator is presented.

Since a space elevator is an engineering project, analysis of the actual feasibility will depend heavily on the planned structure, which in turn will depend heavily on the materials used. And since we're still a ways off from having the 160 Giga-Pascal material one would like to have, it is hard to say whether this still remains a total pipe-dream or is actually possible.

This book should be considered the equivalent of a back-of-the-envelope calculations showing that technically, we're not totally stumped, and pointing out the areas that really have to be worked on (nanotubes in matrix and ultra-long transmission of energy via laser beams.) I would also have liked to have seen a chapter covering the question of torsional stress on the Space Elevator.

All in all, good work.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating ideas, presentation needs work, April 10, 2003

By 

Robert G Merkel (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Space Elevator: A Revolutionary Earth-to-Space Transportation System (Paperback)

This book discusses what appears, to my inexpert eyes at least, to be a well thought-out, comprehensive, and entirely feasible (with one caveat --keep reading for more details) plan for building a space elevator, and its promise to transform escaping from Earth's gravity well from a risky and costly event to a mundane, routine, and above all affordable enterprise. It has convinced me that the idea is one well worth pursuing.

The one big caveat on the book's thesis is that nobody has, as yet, demonstrated material strong enough to build it. Whilst the carbon nanotubes the book bases its assumptions on do indeed exist, as of writing this review noone has even been able to form them into some kind of composite to achieve anything like the strength required. The authors optimistically assume such problems will be quickly overcome - perhaps a necessary assumption for their purposes but one to keep in mind.

Given the quality of the thought that has gone into the book, it is a shame that the presentation sometimes lets the book down. The prose is badly written at times, and could do with some resectioning and summaries of key points so that less technically-inclined readers can grasp the key points without getting loss in the morass of engineering detail.

However, for those interested in how space could be dramatically opened up in the medium-term future, this book is very much worth a read. With any luck, a second edition will be able to report on the progress in nanotube research as well as improve the presentation!