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The High Frontier: Human Colonies in Space: Apogee Books Space Series 12 Paperback – December 1, 2000

by Gerard K. O'Neill (Author), Freeman Dyson (Introduction)

376 ratings

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This expanded third edition features a new preface, introduction, and collection of essays by space researchers.

Editorial Reviews

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Rocket man, I think it's going to be a long, long time. When Princeton physicist Gerard K. O'Neill published the first edition of High Frontier back in the mid 1970s (just four years after "Rocket Man," to be exact), he just assumed that some of us would be living in orbit by now. Or as the Space Studies Institute's George Friedman puts it in a new essay for this third edition of O'Neill's pioneering work, the L5 society's slogan "L5 in '95!" certainly wasn't referring to 2095.

In High Frontier, O'Neill had mapped out a straightforward, manifestly doable path to putting humans into space permanently and sustainably, using 1970s materiel and current-day Zubrin-style know-how. But O'Neill died in 1992 seeing humanity no closer to fulfilling his bold vision. Freeman Dyson points out in a new introduction to this edition that in many ways we've actually backslided, that the International Space Station (and the current role of NASA) is "not a step forward on the road to the High Frontier. It's a big step backward, a setback that will take decades to overcome."

But O'Neill's idea of pursuing an inexhaustible energy supply (solar power in space) and endless room to expand remains tantalizingly attractive. The science has only gotten easier, and the moral imperative has only become more pronounced, with the planet's resources ever steadily squeezed and the recent knowledge that a mass-extinction event on Earth is nearly inevitable. (O'Neill calls the High Frontier the only chance to make human life--perhaps all life in the universe--"unkillable.") The High Frontier is as exciting a read as it ever was, and six new chapters provide context for the advances made in the 25 years since O'Neill's original manifesto. But perhaps the best addition to this printing is the chance to see and hear the soft-spoken physicist himself, in more than an hour of MPEG video included on the CD-ROM. --Paul Hughes

About the Author

Gerard K. O’Neill, PhD, was a faculty member of the physics department at Princeton University. He founded the Space Studies Institute and invented the storange ring technique for colliding particle beams.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Collector's Guide Publishing, Inc.
Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 1, 2000
Edition ‏ : ‎ 3rd
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 184 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 189652267X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1896522678
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.6 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7 x 0.47 x 10 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,443,149 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #969 in Astrophysics & Space Science (Books)
- #3,176 in Astronomy (Books)
- #6,032 in Foreign Language Instruction (Books)

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Customers find this book to be a must-have, appreciating its pioneering approach to space colonization and the ingenious designs of the stations. Moreover, the visual elements receive positive feedback for their detailed look and diagrams, and one customer notes it was originally published in 1977. However, the economic aspects receive mixed reviews, with several customers finding them problematic.

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Value for money Inspiration Visual style Age Imagination Economics

35 customers mention "Value for money"35 positive0 negative

Customers find the book to be amazing and consider it a must-have for every reader.

"Great book. I read this years ago --- and it is still relevant today. Buy it...." Read more

"I think the Hard cover have more information and illustrations. Good book if you like Gundam" Read more

"...I wouldn't suggest paying a lot for it, but it's definitely worth a read." Read more

"THE HIGH FRONTIER is an excellent book on the practicality andeconomics of the human colonization of space -- very entertaining toread and full of..." Read more

20 customers mention "Inspiration"20 positive0 negative

Customers find the book inspiring, with several noting it is a pioneering work for its time. One customer describes it as a classic work on the subject, while another highlights its practical approach to space colonization.

"A pioneer work for its time. Worth the read for a practical vision of a human future off the surface of the planet." Read more

"...It focuses on the economic and practical application of creating cities in space. What I liked: Incredibly thorough...." Read more

"...original text by the late Gerard O'Neil, one of the great visionaries of the 20th century...." Read more

"A great work by a great visionary. A must-read for everyone out there who looks up at the stars and believes it’s where humanity’s future lies." Read more

16 customers mention "Visual style"16 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the visual style of the book, noting its detailed look and ingenious station designs, with one customer highlighting the remarkable renderings of the communities.

"An amazing and detailed look at what space colonies could be like in the hopefully not-too distant future. Well worth a read." Read more

"...The diagrams and drawings are a treat, and while some are hard to understand it is fun to puzzle over them until you understand...." Read more

"...In this book, a complete architecture is laid out, starting with initial settlements of “only” 10,000 people in a sphere about half a kilometre in..." Read more

"I think the Hard cover have more information and illustrations. Good book if you like Gundam" Read more

5 customers mention "Age"5 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's age, with one noting it was originally published in 1977, while another mentions it was written over 30 years ago.

"...This book was originally published in 1977. There is an addendum dated 1988 that was interesting...." Read more

"...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...." Read more

"This is an older book, but while some of it is dated, the concept is still good and may come to fruition during your lifetime if things go right...." Read more

"...In 2013, most of O'Neill's plans are still in the future. The book has aged well...." Read more

3 customers mention "Imagination"3 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the book's imaginative content, with one mentioning it's fun to puzzle over the concepts, while another describes it as a great adventure.

"...are a treat, and while some are hard to understand it is fun to puzzle over them until you understand...." Read more

"...America and the world stood on the edge of a great opportunity, a great adventure, the edge of the ultimate New Frontier... space...." Read more

"An older book but it will still excite your imagination for what we could do with space!" Read more

6 customers mention "Economics"3 positive3 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the book's economic content, with several finding it problematic.

"...This book posits what it would take to humanize space. It focuses on the economic and practical application of creating cities in space...." Read more

"...However, O'Neil's economics is partly just wrong, and also obsolete. 1. He says that steel from the moon or asteroids will be nearly free...." Read more

"...is an excellent book on the practicality andeconomics of the human colonization of space -- very entertaining toread and full of interesting..." Read more

"...Solar power satellites are just barely economically viable if the material from which they are made must be launched from the Earth, and many design..." Read more

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Eme Savage
Very informative
Reviewed in the United States on September 18, 2023
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4.5 out of 5

This book posits what it would take to humanize space. It focuses on the economic and practical application of creating cities in space.

What I liked:
Incredibly thorough. I picked up this book to augment my knowledge of space communities for novels I am writing. It confirmed a lot of what I already knew and had me considering aspects that I had not anticipated. This book was originally published in 1977. There is an addendum dated 1988 that was interesting. It gave a snapshot of what has changed since the original publication which I found interesting.

What I didn't like:
The hypothetical letters from future residents were a bit meh. I skimmed through those because it doesn't really reflect current values.

Overall:
I think it is a good reference book for anyone wanting to have a practical blueprint for space communities.

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Jay
An interesting mid century take on the future
Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2021
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This book was written by someone who grew up with NASA. Grew up in the age of boomers developing the space industry, the hopefulness of the future and endless possibility not marred by politics as it is now, or lack of funding.
It shows, and it makes this book SEEM like bullshit and then you realize humanity now just has different priorities sadly. It is an incredible take on what life would be like if the space race never ended, or if there was just "humanity" in the race all working together to make incredible space wonders possible. The diagrams and drawings are a treat, and while some are hard to understand it is fun to puzzle over them until you understand.

One of the most unique books I've ever read. A real treat.

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rgvandewalker
A path-breaking book, but the engineering and economics are 50 years out of date.
Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2021
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
The idea of very large space stations can only make more sense as time passes. However, O'Neil's economics is partly just wrong, and also obsolete. 1. He says that steel from the moon or asteroids will be nearly free. However, in reality, it will be in a market. Prices will be lower, perhaps, but never "nearly free." So, most of these will not be huge cylinders filled with air. The hoop stresses are too large. I think large cylinders made from much smaller cylinders or spheres will be the final design. 2. His proposed launch costs and orbits are obsolete. In particular, the orbit with the lowest-known radiation is a low altitude equatorial Earth orbit. A radiation shield is most of the required mass, thus most of the cost, so the cost reduction is significant. This won't work for all or even most applications, but certainly the first one is likely to be there. 3. A normal population is less prone to motion sickness than was known in the 1970s. So, the rotation radius can be much smaller, as small as 150 meters. Again, far less expensive. 4. There are major problems with the economics of SPSs, even if the launch costs are zero. Nuclear and other renewable power is available more cheaply with much less program risk.

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Kindle Customer
What would you say the world will look like in 40 years?
Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2013
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
This is a worthwhile book for a least two reasons. First, it's interesting to see what the world of 2010 looked like from the 1970's. I'm a relative youngster, but everything I've seen and read seems to show that it was a rough time for politics, culture, and especially fashion. This pessimistic age led to pessimistic views of how the future might play out. It's nice to be thankful for how things have turned out, rather than disappointed.

The second reason is that the author shows, in broad strokes, how life in space could be accomplished and made a normal, everyday thing. He discusses what life could be like in a space habitat, how space manufacturing could be made profitable, and some issues that would be faced by space colonists.

I liked it, and would recommend. I wouldn't suggest paying a lot for it, but it's definitely worth a read.

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John Walker
Classic case for space settlements and solar power satellites still makes sense today
Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2019
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
In the tumultuous year of 1969, Prof. Gerard K. O'Neill of Princeton University was tapped to teach the large freshman physics course at that institution. To motivate talented students who might find the pace of the course tedious, he organised an informal seminar which would explore challenging topics to which the basic physics taught in the main course could be applied. For the first topic of the seminar he posed the question, “Is a planetary surface the right place for an expanding technological civilisation?”. So fascinating were the results of investigating this question that the seminar never made it to the next topic, and working out its ramifications would occupy the rest of O'Neill's life.

By 1974, O'Neill and his growing group of informal collaborators had come to believe not only that the answer to that 1969 question was a definitive “no”, but that a large-scale expansion of the human presence into space, using the abundant energy and material resources available outside the Earth's gravity well was not a goal for the distant future but rather something which could be accomplished using only technologies already proved or expected in the next few years (such as the NASA's space shuttle, then under development). Further, the budget to bootstrap the settlement of space until the point at which the space settlements were self-sustaining and able to expand without further support was on the order of magnitude of the Apollo project and, unlike Apollo, would have an economic pay-off which would grow exponentially as space settlements proliferated.

As O'Neill wrote, the world economy had just been hit by the first of what would be a series of “oil shocks”, which would lead to a massive transfer of wealth from productive, developed economies to desert despotisms whose significance to the world economy and geopolitics would be precisely zero did they not happen to sit atop a pool of fuel (which they lacked the ability to discover and produce). He soon realised that the key to economic feasibility of space settlements was using them to construct solar power satellites to beam energy back to Earth.

Solar power satellites are just barely economically viable if the material from which they are made must be launched from the Earth, and many design concepts assume a dramatic reduction in launch costs and super-lightweight structure and high efficiency solar cells for the satellites, which adds to their capital cost. O'Neill realised that the materials which make up around 99% of the mass of a solar power satellite are available on the Moon, and a space settlement, with access to lunar material at a small fraction of the cost of launching from Earth and the ability to fabricate the very large power satellite structures in weightlessness would reduce the cost of space solar power to well below electricity prices of the mid-1970s (which were much lower than those of today).

In this book, a complete architecture is laid out, starting with initial settlements of “only” 10,000 people in a sphere about half a kilometre in diameter, rotating to provide Earth-normal gravity at the equator. This would be nothing like what one thinks of as a “space station”: people would live in apartments at a density comparable to small towns on Earth, surrounded by vegetation and with a stream running around the equator of the sphere. Lunar material would provide radiation shielding and mirrors would provide sunlight and a normal cycle of day and night.

This would be just a first step, with subsequent settlements much larger and with amenities equal to or exceeding those of Earth. Once access to the resources of asteroids (initially those in near-Earth or Earth-crossing orbits, and eventually the main belt) was opened, the space economy's reliance on the Earth would be only for settlers and lightweight, labour-intensive goods which made more sense to import. (For example, it might be some time before a space settlement built its own semiconductor fabrication facility rather than importing chips from those on Earth.)

This is the future we could be living in today, but turned our backs upon. Having read this book shortly after it first came out, it is difficult to describe just how bracing this optimistic, expansive view of the future was in the 1970s, when everything was brown and the human prospect suddenly seemed constrained by limited resources, faltering prosperity, and shrinking personal liberty. The curious thing about re-reading it today is that almost nothing has changed. Forty years later, O'Neill's roadmap for the future is just as viable an option for a visionary society as it was when initially proposed, and technological progress and understanding of the space environment has only improved its plausibility. The International Space Station, although a multi-decade detour from true space settlements, provides a testbed where technologies for those settlements can be explored (for example, solar powered closed-cycle Brayton engines as an alternative to photovoltaics for power generation, and high-yield agricultural techniques in a closed-loop ecosystem).

The re-appearance of this book in an electronic edition is timely, as O'Neill's ideas and the optimism for a better future they inspired seem almost forgotten today. Many people assume there was some technological flaw in his argument or that an economic show-stopper was discovered, yet none was. It was more like the reaction O'Neill encountered when he first tried to get his ideas into print in 1972. One reviewer, recommending against publication, wrote, “No one else is thinking in these terms, therefore the ideas must be wrong.” Today, even space “visionaries” imagine establishing human settlements on the Moon, Mars, and among the asteroids, with space travel seen as a way to get to these destinations and sustain pioneer communities there. This is a vision akin to long sea voyages to settle distant lands. O'Neill's High Frontier is something very different and epochal: the expansion of a species which evolved on the surface of a planet into the space around it and eventually throughout the solar system, using the abundant solar energy and material resources available there. This is like life expanding from the sea where it originated onto the land. It is the next step in the human adventure, and it can begin, just as it could have in 1976, within a decade of a developed society committing to make it so.

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Pawel
Visionary look on what could have been our present
Reviewed in Germany on August 13, 2020
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For a scientist Gerard had a really nice flowing style. Book is thoughtfully counstructed and even contains some novel-like fictional portions which portray how it would all look from settlers/turists perspective. It isn't too technical, although it's recommended that the reader is familiar with basic orbital mechanics concepts and knows a thing or two about space flight in general. Nice followup and summary of NASA/Ames space settlement research study. Highly recommended for everybody who would like to know how our presence in the solar system would, and still someday will, look like.

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John Smith
Gerard O'Neill
Reviewed in Canada on August 31, 2022
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Gerard O'Neill was a great pioneer in space exploration and extraterrestrial habitats. His book has inspired me greatly in my work.

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GaP
Un ricordo
Reviewed in Italy on June 4, 2016
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Ho acquistato questo libro perchè molto affezionato alla versione che acquistai da ragazzino tanto, tanto tempo fa. Oggi è purtroppo superato dalla storia ma rappresenta comunque una pietra miliare nell'ingegneria spaziale poichè O'Neill ha saputo immaginare un modo nuovo ed intelligente di colonizzare le orbite intorno alla terra non con poche decine di persone ma con milioni. Immaginò un uso intensivo dello shuttle, allora speranza dell'uomo di portare grandi carichi in orbita a costi molto contenuti, speranza rivelatasi sbagliata ma comunque è un libro straordinario, ricco di descrizioni di mondi artificiali incredibili ma non impossibili, dove soprattutto aleggia dalla prima all'ultima pagina l'idea di un sogno meraviglioso: affrancare l'uomo dal suo pianeta e spingerlo verso le stelle. Ho voluto questa versione originale proprio in ricordo di uno scienziato ed ingegnere straordinario di cui avremmo ancora tanto bisogno. Il libro è usato ma ben conservato. Spedizione ottima nei tempi annunciati senza alcun intoppo.

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matt
A vision so important today
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 27, 2022
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
Both an amazing vision and a practical blueprint. The key driving forces for space industry offered in this book are even more important today than they were back in the 1970's. A viable alternative to fossil (and nuclear) fuels for worldwide energy use and the expansion of human life outside Earth in increasingly uncertain times. The Gerard O'Neill's desire to improve Earth's environment, start to level the inequalities in worldwide resource availability and uplift the human condition itself shines through. We're finally getting there with the rockets and launch costs from Earth. The next missing link is launching moon material for in-orbit manufacturing. Come on Humanity - let's get there! I honestly wish everyone could read this book to see the potential in space.

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Muy satisfecha con la compra.
perfecto
Reviewed in Spain on February 23, 2025
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perfecto estado

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5.0 out of 5 stars Very informative

5.0 out of 5 stars An interesting mid century take on the future

5.0 out of 5 stars A path-breaking book, but the engineering and economics are 50 years out of date.

4.0 out of 5 stars What would you say the world will look like in 40 years?

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic case for space settlements and solar power satellites still makes sense today

Top reviews from other countries

5.0 out of 5 stars Visionary look on what could have been our present

5.0 out of 5 stars Gerard O'Neill

5.0 out of 5 stars Un ricordo

5.0 out of 5 stars A vision so important today

5.0 out of 5 stars perfecto

Very informative

An interesting mid century take on the future

A path-breaking book, but the engineering and economics are 50 years out of date.

What would you say the world will look like in 40 years?

Classic case for space settlements and solar power satellites still makes sense today

Visionary look on what could have been our present

Gerard O'Neill

Un ricordo

A vision so important today

perfecto