Skylife: Space Habitats in Story and Science
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Will we ever colonize space, and if we do will our settlements be more like EPCOT Center or a trailer park? Skylife: Space Habitats in Story and Science takes a broad-ranging look at space colonies through the eyes of some of this century's greatest science fiction writers. Edited by Gregory Benford and George Zebrowski, the volume is largely optimistic, even given the writers' urgent need to pose problems for their characters. Arthur C. Clarke's 1957 story "The Other Side of the Sky" contains nearly every important element of today's (and tomorrow's) space program: communications satellites, space shuttles, and orbital stations. David Brin's "Tank Farm," as grim and bleak as its title, still offers hope against the technological and psychological barriers to space travel. Thirteen other pieces, including one each by the editors and nonfiction by Larry Niven and Isaac Asimov, round out a collection spanning 60 years of forward thinking. The editors' introduction is an absorbing, concise history of the collusion between scientists and authors to imagine and promote space colonization, from Jonathan Swift to Gerard O'Neill and Freeman Dyson. Seven full-color plates illustrate conceptions of our future extraterrestrial life that are alternately high-tech and idyllic. As the space program returns to public prominence, we would do well to consider the words of those who have already thought deeply about how we can best adapt to space. --Rob Lightner
Book Description
Respected science fiction author-editors Gregory Benford and George Zebrowski present an anthology, with unique color illustrations, that is filled with the excitement, poetry, and adventure awaiting us in the limitless final frontier that is the sky. For years, science fiction has portrayed humankind growing away from the cradle of Earth through spacecraft, space stations, and space homes. Skylife features stories by such masters of science fiction as Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Larry Niven, Joan Vinge, and James Blish-in addition to several essays by scientists-all of which come together in one spectacular volume to provide a picture of our possible future beyond Earth.
Skylife: Space Habitats in Story and Science,Gregory Benford,George Zebrowski,Harcourt,0151002924,Anthologies (multiple authors),Fiction,Fiction - Science Fiction,Science Fiction,Science Fiction - Anthologies,Science Fiction - General,Science Fiction And Fantasy,Science fiction, American,Science fiction, English,Space colonies,American English,Fiction / Science Fiction / General,Genre Fiction,Novels, other prose & writers
New Used Books:
Recommended Books