Skylife: Space Habitats in Story and Science - Hardcover

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

Gregory Benford is a professor of physics at the University of California at Irvine as well as a critically acclaimed author of science fiction. He is also the editor of Nebula Awards Showcase 2000. He lives with his wife in Laguna Beach, California.

George Zebrowski taught one of the first full-credit courses in science fiction at SUNY Binghamton. His novel Brute Orbits won the John W. Clarke Memorial Award for best science fiction novel of 1998. He lives near Albany, New York.