The Obligation: A Journey to Discover Human Purpose on Earth and in the Cosmos

by Steven Wolfe

The Obligation is a modern parable about a young Capitol Hill staffer who discovers that the seasoned congressman he works for is guarding an ancient secret. An obsession over a mysterious inscription launches his introduction to a worldview that will challenge everything he thought he knew about space, evolution and humanity. Under the guidance of the congressman, the young man is propelled on a journey of mind and spirit that takes him from Washington to California to Arizona and back to the floor of the House of Representatives. Along the way, he meets six extraordinary individuals who help him understand the secret of the Obligation. The journey is filled with emotions, ideas and insights that lead the young aide to not only understand the reason why we yearn to explore outer space, but also see the larger responsibility we have to each other and to the planet that gave us life. Praise for The Obligation Frank White, author of The Overview Space Exploration and Human Evolution and Co-Founder of the Overview Institute "The Obligation is an extremely important book...a must-read for anyone interested in the future of humanity and the universe." Robert Zubrin, President of the Mars Society and author of Case for Mars “The Obligation is a fascinating novel of ideas that dramatically recasts the reasons underlying humanity's need to reach for space.” William E. Burrows, a Pulitzer Prize finalist for his book This New Ocean “The Obligation is an exhilarating ride into the future.” Charles Miller, Co-Founder of Nanoracks and former NASA Senior Advisor for Commercial Space "This book will take you to a new level of thinking.” Rick N. Tumlinson, Chairman & Co-Founder, Deep Space Industries and Co-Founder, Space Frontier Foundations “Buy it. Read it. And tell your friends.” Dr. David Livingston, Host, The Space Show and Founder, One Giant Leap Foundation "This book is an important read if you care about your future, our nation's future, and future generations for it opens up possibilities for success, even greatness…” Bob Werb, Co-Founder, Space Frontier Foundation "The Obligation combines all of the varied reasons so many people want to expand our civilization into space into a complete, coherent, pluralistic, metaphysical, almost spiritual philosophy.”

232 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 13, 2012

About the author

Steven Wolfe has been a writer, speaker and advocate for the advancement of the space settlement concepts and related ideas for more than 25 years. He was a legislative aide for the late Cong. George E. Brown, Jr., where he served as executive director of Congressional Space Caucus. He served on the board of directors of the National Space Society, president of the New York Space Frontier Society and Advocate of the Space Frontier Foundation. Steve drafted the Space Settlement Act of 1988 for Cong. Brown. The bill was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan as part of the NASA Authorization bill. Steve serves on the Board of Editors for the Journal of Space Philosophy. To contact Steve Wolfe click here.

Reviews

[Bill Seitz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Could have been a 5pg article. Structuring as novel did not make it any more convincing for me.

[Patrick Ritchie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book with some interesting ideas, but the delivery as a novel didn't work for me.