What do you think?
Rate this book
Space Forces: A Critical History of Life in Outer Space
The radical history of space exploration from the Russian Cosmists to Elon Musk
Many societies have imagined going to live in space. What they want to do once they get up there—whether conquering the unknown, establishing space “colonies,” privatising the moon’s resources—reveals more than expected. In this fascinating radical history of space exploration, Fred Scharmen shows that often science and fiction have combined in the imagined dreams of life in outer space, but these visions have real implications for life back on earth.
For the Russian Cosmists of the 1890s space was a place to pursue human perfection away from the Earth. For others, such as Wernher Von Braun, it was an engineering task that combined, in the Space Race, the Cold War, and during World War II, with destructive geopolitics. Arthur C. Clarke, in his speculative books, offered an alternative vision of wonder that is indifferent to human interaction. Meanwhile NASA planned and managed the space station like an earthbound corporation. Today, the market has arrived into outer space and exploration is the plaything of superrich technology billionaires, who plan to privatise the mineral wealth for themselves. Are other worlds really possible?
Bringing these figures and ideas together reveals a completely different story of our relationship with outer space, as well as the dangers of our current direction of extractive capitalism and colonisation.
Many societies have imagined going to live in space. What they want to do once they get up there—whether conquering the unknown, establishing space “colonies,” privatising the moon’s resources—reveals more than expected. In this fascinating radical history of space exploration, Fred Scharmen shows that often science and fiction have combined in the imagined dreams of life in outer space, but these visions have real implications for life back on earth.
For the Russian Cosmists of the 1890s space was a place to pursue human perfection away from the Earth. For others, such as Wernher Von Braun, it was an engineering task that combined, in the Space Race, the Cold War, and during World War II, with destructive geopolitics. Arthur C. Clarke, in his speculative books, offered an alternative vision of wonder that is indifferent to human interaction. Meanwhile NASA planned and managed the space station like an earthbound corporation. Today, the market has arrived into outer space and exploration is the plaything of superrich technology billionaires, who plan to privatise the mineral wealth for themselves. Are other worlds really possible?
Bringing these figures and ideas together reveals a completely different story of our relationship with outer space, as well as the dangers of our current direction of extractive capitalism and colonisation.
272 pages, Hardcover
Published November 2, 2021
19 people are currently reading
582 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
January 23, 2022
A very dull book about space exploration. Many of the same points made in this book were better done by other authors.
January 8, 2022
While interesting, didn't live up to expectations and wasn't nearly as radical as I had hoped for. Excellent background into the history of the storytelling around space exploration moving into actual exploration and projecting into the future. Science fiction, early visionaries, rocket scientists, and the space race are all covered from the mid 1800s to present day.
The disappointment set in when I got to the chapter about the present and read what seems like apologia for Musk and Besos and their privatization schemes. "But their long term goal is to open up access to space for the future of humanity." Really?! Wow. I have a high opinion of Verso books, and expected a different analysis. There was even something about them wanting to mine asteroids for the benefit of humankind.
The last chapter seems to do a reversal and has some decent radical analysis, which I was grateful for. However, at that point I was just finishing the book to get through it. Worth it for the very interesting background and extraordinary cast of characters.
The disappointment set in when I got to the chapter about the present and read what seems like apologia for Musk and Besos and their privatization schemes. "But their long term goal is to open up access to space for the future of humanity." Really?! Wow. I have a high opinion of Verso books, and expected a different analysis. There was even something about them wanting to mine asteroids for the benefit of humankind.
The last chapter seems to do a reversal and has some decent radical analysis, which I was grateful for. However, at that point I was just finishing the book to get through it. Worth it for the very interesting background and extraordinary cast of characters.
October 10, 2022
I read this book because I got it through a subscription to Verso books. Every month, I get a new book, and this was one from previous months that I hadn't gotten to. So when Hurricane Ian locked me in my room for a couple of days, I picked it up. I had expectations that it would concern ethical questions related to extraterrestrial life, but I was sadly mistaken. However, the content of the book was still intriguing. It took a more historical approach to analyze why and how space travel evolved. I was already familiar with a good deal of thoughts in this book, as I have already debated about space in a previous Lincoln Douglas topic.
Scharmen thinks that right now we are in a heated era for space travel. With billionaire tech gurus launching themselves up past Earth, a new private space race is forming. Unfortunately, this is colonial. Scharmen presents that the imaginary rhetoric of space colonization is fueled by the same drives as the more Earth-based colonialism. When Elon Musk chooses to funnel billions of dollars into SpaceX instead of trying to help solve the problems back down here on Earth, he is trying to communicate that he has a backup plan. Earth is a no-risk issue if he can just get up and leave, so why should he try to do anything at all to stop Climate Change? Scharmen predicts that space travel will never truly be for the masses. A ticket to Mars will never be affordable to the middle-class American.
This thought connects quite well with the concept of Elysium in Peter Frasers's Four Futures, so I recommend reading that as well. I know that many people in my generation are ambitious about the new revival of space travel, but I urge them to read this book. It changed my perspective on the billionaire space race, and I think it can persuade others.
Scharmen thinks that right now we are in a heated era for space travel. With billionaire tech gurus launching themselves up past Earth, a new private space race is forming. Unfortunately, this is colonial. Scharmen presents that the imaginary rhetoric of space colonization is fueled by the same drives as the more Earth-based colonialism. When Elon Musk chooses to funnel billions of dollars into SpaceX instead of trying to help solve the problems back down here on Earth, he is trying to communicate that he has a backup plan. Earth is a no-risk issue if he can just get up and leave, so why should he try to do anything at all to stop Climate Change? Scharmen predicts that space travel will never truly be for the masses. A ticket to Mars will never be affordable to the middle-class American.
This thought connects quite well with the concept of Elysium in Peter Frasers's Four Futures, so I recommend reading that as well. I know that many people in my generation are ambitious about the new revival of space travel, but I urge them to read this book. It changed my perspective on the billionaire space race, and I think it can persuade others.
April 4, 2022
Excellent political history of ideas (both in fiction and in science) about our relationship to space exploration. Last couple of chapters are especially strong.
January 3, 2025
Did not finish.
July 13, 2025
Pretty much len rozobraté nosné myšlienky najväčších scifi spisovateľov a režisérov and I'm fine with it.
Read
January 30, 2025ok yeah this is a boring book but it is MY boring book!!!
Read
July 2, 2022I kept wanting Fred Scharmen to be James Gleick and his "Time Travel: A History".
But a critical review of the prospects of life in space is an important subject that should be discussed at length. At a time when climate change is threatening all life on our planet, should we be burning several lifetimes worth of carbon for the mere amusement of a billionaire's thrill ride? Unfortunately, we're already in a time when global corporations have taken the rocket and are running off planet.
Its estimated that a single New York to London round trip flight is equal to the carbon saved by living car-free for a year. So how many car-free years is a single rocket launch worth? Several lifetimes?
I appreciate that Mr. Scharmen chooses a starting point early in the 19th century. His discussion of early Russian Science Fiction is enlightening, as are all his treatments of the fictional origins of our cultural Space fantasies. But is pointing out that generations of scientists were influenced by fiction enough? Mr. Scharmen offers no deeper exploration of proposed technologies, doesn't discuss probable likelihood of actual survival in space. Instead he chides on terms of usage: "colony" has baggage. Oh my. And I saw all the films Mr. Scharmen reviews in theaters using light projected through actual celluloid film. I'm so last century.
Still, he doesn't say these authors and film makers created and sold Modernity. He barely (if even) explicates the evolution of modernity from the 19th century into the 21st. And he has no answer to current techno-optimists offering new futures. Nothing to say for example to Aaron Bastani's "Fully Automated Luxury Communism", an optimist if there ever was one! I so wanted this book to be Elizabeth Kolbert's "Under a White Sky".
But a critical review of the prospects of life in space is an important subject that should be discussed at length. At a time when climate change is threatening all life on our planet, should we be burning several lifetimes worth of carbon for the mere amusement of a billionaire's thrill ride? Unfortunately, we're already in a time when global corporations have taken the rocket and are running off planet.
Its estimated that a single New York to London round trip flight is equal to the carbon saved by living car-free for a year. So how many car-free years is a single rocket launch worth? Several lifetimes?
I appreciate that Mr. Scharmen chooses a starting point early in the 19th century. His discussion of early Russian Science Fiction is enlightening, as are all his treatments of the fictional origins of our cultural Space fantasies. But is pointing out that generations of scientists were influenced by fiction enough? Mr. Scharmen offers no deeper exploration of proposed technologies, doesn't discuss probable likelihood of actual survival in space. Instead he chides on terms of usage: "colony" has baggage. Oh my. And I saw all the films Mr. Scharmen reviews in theaters using light projected through actual celluloid film. I'm so last century.
Still, he doesn't say these authors and film makers created and sold Modernity. He barely (if even) explicates the evolution of modernity from the 19th century into the 21st. And he has no answer to current techno-optimists offering new futures. Nothing to say for example to Aaron Bastani's "Fully Automated Luxury Communism", an optimist if there ever was one! I so wanted this book to be Elizabeth Kolbert's "Under a White Sky".
February 8, 2022
Fascinating, but a bit dense. It reads like. Literature review, but rather selectively chosen examples. The author ties them up nicely at the end and weaves some of the real science with the science fiction. But, it wasn’t the entertaining read I was looking for. Still it’s interesting to read how society has looked at living in outer space since the late 1800s.
The author asks some provocative questions regarding economics and social structures of human society was we expand into the solar system. He suggests that if we assume a continuous economic growth pattern of 3.5% per year, we will only have about 500 more years before we exhaust the resources of the solar system. This is a basic steady state economics theory. Not to quibble too much, but it seems unlikely that we can predict out that far. While, there are perfectly good reasons to reconsider the economics of expansion and extraction, it seems odd to assume that humankind will not evolve as well. You can look up the economics of Star Trek to get another point of view. But it certainly makes you think, which is the author’s primary motive.
The author asks some provocative questions regarding economics and social structures of human society was we expand into the solar system. He suggests that if we assume a continuous economic growth pattern of 3.5% per year, we will only have about 500 more years before we exhaust the resources of the solar system. This is a basic steady state economics theory. Not to quibble too much, but it seems unlikely that we can predict out that far. While, there are perfectly good reasons to reconsider the economics of expansion and extraction, it seems odd to assume that humankind will not evolve as well. You can look up the economics of Star Trek to get another point of view. But it certainly makes you think, which is the author’s primary motive.
June 17, 2022
I didn't love this book, which is part of why it took me ages to read–the other part was really falling off with books in general, which maybe mad me enjoy the book less.
I think part of the reason I didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to was that it just wasn't the book that I wanted. Based on some author interviews, I was looking for something a little bit different, and I had hoped for a deeper excoriation of Musk and Bezos' warped views of sci-fi (ex. not internalizing...any...of the lessons of Star Trek), but it doesn't really go there.
The book has a clever structure that pits complementary pairs of thinkers against each other in a way that's more interesting than a straight chronology would have been. The critiques all felt quite evenhanded to me, and Scharmen's ultimate point–whatever we end up with, we can't replicate Earth's current power and economic structure in space–is true and well put.
I think part of the reason I didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to was that it just wasn't the book that I wanted. Based on some author interviews, I was looking for something a little bit different, and I had hoped for a deeper excoriation of Musk and Bezos' warped views of sci-fi (ex. not internalizing...any...of the lessons of Star Trek), but it doesn't really go there.
The book has a clever structure that pits complementary pairs of thinkers against each other in a way that's more interesting than a straight chronology would have been. The critiques all felt quite evenhanded to me, and Scharmen's ultimate point–whatever we end up with, we can't replicate Earth's current power and economic structure in space–is true and well put.
July 27, 2023
A touchstone for scifi readers. It's a critical review of a dominant form of extraplanetary imagination, which has always woven between fiction and science. Now introducing history and anthropology.
Content:
Introduces hypercolonizing exploitative thinking at the turn of the 1900s, into WWII and the viciously jaded von Braun, the cold war/space race, Clarke's internal dive to the strangeness of worlds, NASA's propaganda and disillusionment, Le Guin's broader definition of technology to as humanity's interface with the material world (narratives are also a technology that can be invented and reinvented), a steady cancerous fear of steady-state and stasis, clashes of equality and escapism, blue origin/bezos' full stack approach vs SpaceX/musks' individualistic conquests of induced demand.
And ultimately -- it remembers that earth is inseparable from the totality of space. Without being critical of our culture, we may doom the future to recursive human cruelties.
Content:
Introduces hypercolonizing exploitative thinking at the turn of the 1900s, into WWII and the viciously jaded von Braun, the cold war/space race, Clarke's internal dive to the strangeness of worlds, NASA's propaganda and disillusionment, Le Guin's broader definition of technology to as humanity's interface with the material world (narratives are also a technology that can be invented and reinvented), a steady cancerous fear of steady-state and stasis, clashes of equality and escapism, blue origin/bezos' full stack approach vs SpaceX/musks' individualistic conquests of induced demand.
And ultimately -- it remembers that earth is inseparable from the totality of space. Without being critical of our culture, we may doom the future to recursive human cruelties.
March 7, 2022
"If existing economic structures that maximize return on investment are extended into space, capitalism will need someone with desires and needs to exploit. Utopia, when it is instrumentalized to perpetuate naturalized hierarchies, often comes wrapped in the righteous flag of realism. Those already in power construct their ideal world by promoting more of the same, and calling it human nature."
December 20, 2021
Great overview of how the development of space travel has always been entwined with science fiction, image-making, and propaganda, with the overarching theme that by creating new "worlds" or environments we necessarily create new subjectivities/subjects.
July 30, 2022
Kniha Vesmírne sily (Premedia, 2022) od Freda Scharmena prichádza vo výbornom načasovaní. Médiá zaplavujú esteticky upravené fotografie z vesmírneho ďalekohľadu Jamesa Webba a všetci jasáme nad komplexnejším obrazom vesmíru, ku ktorého ilustrácii však do veľkej miery pomáha počítačová technológia v snahe podporiť fádnejšie, no vedecky autentickejšie snímky.
Je to taký zvláštny fenomén. Ľudský. Každá udalosť, ktorá nás presahuje, vyvolá v počiatkoch takmer stopercentný záujem. Pred desaťročím som sa ocitol v pomerne bizarnom kolektíve a sledovali sme spolu živé vysielanie zoskoku parašutistu Felixa Baumgartnera nadzvukovou rýchlosťou. Pár dní predtým sa špekulovalo, či je vôbec možné takýto pád prežiť. Tiež sa objavili rôzne fatálne variácie prípadného neúspechu, takže udalosť bola stimulovaná potrebným adrenalínom. Nakoniec sa rekord podaril. Zoskočil a prežil. Vybavené, pomaly zabúdame. Išlo takmer výhradne o športový akt, no v rámci neho sa čosi predsa len pohlo. Podporila sa naoko aj na počutie absurdná vízia a trochu sme s planétou Zem a jej prirodzeným „bezpečnostným systémom“ hazardovali.
Posledné dni sa nesú v znamení priekopníckeho momentu, keď sme prostredníctvom vesmírneho teleskopu Jamesa Webba uvideli miniatúrny výsek tohto záhadného prostredia v detailnejšom rozlíšení a pozreli sme sa na kus extrémnej histórie v priestore, o ktorom dodnes fyzika a matematika vedú výskumy predovšetkým v teoretickej rovine. Nepredstaviteľne staré svetlá. Keďže však nepatrím ku kompetentnej inteligencii tejto sféry, na tomto mieste postupne prehĺtam myšlienky o našej staromódnosti, malosti, ale tiež obmedzenej schopnosti fyzicky prekonať významnejšie vzdialenosti smerom von od našej materskej planéty Zem. Dobre, ešte jedna malá poznámka o dosiaľ neprekonaných raketách, ktoré mi ako laikovi taktiež pripadajú smiešne. Posúvame sa po malých kúskoch v kovových šípoch. Čisto hypoteticky, alebo zmätočne dänikenovsky — keby som sa ako iná vyspelá civilizácia kdesi v univerze prizeral týmto našim aktivitám, asi by som sa smiechom plieskal do svojich mimozemských stehien.
Vesmírny priemysel dnes definujú predovšetkým mená ako Elon Musk a Jeff Bezos. Podrobne sa tejto miliardárskej dvojici venuje publikácia Vesmírní baróni od Christiana Davenporta (Práh, 2020). Davenport vykresľuje takmer apoštolskú misiu miliardárov a ukazuje, kam siahajú snahy firiem Blue Origin a SpaceX, a tiež čo znamenajú pre americký vesmírny program. Aj nákladné operácie sú však veľmi vzdialené od smelých ambícií — rozšíriť náš pozemský vplyv a orientovať sa na vzdialenejšie komodity. Človek sa nemusí narodiť ako génius, aby ho raz jeho mozog nepostrašil brčkavou myšlienkou, že prečo si, kurník šopa, nezoberieme aj odtiaľ, keď sa k tomu nikto nehlási. Nikde nikto a my stále jeme iba z tej našej špajzy.
Ľudstvo je stále pomerne ďaleko od výraznejšieho prekonávania svojich pozemských limitov, a tak sa bezbranne prizeráme nebezpečným dôsledkom nášho správania, ktoré čoraz výraznejšie pociťujeme na vlastnej koži. Ak má niekto prostriedky na to, aby sa priblížil svojim fantáziám o vesmíre, sú to práve títo dvaja páni. Minimálne o to prejavujú záujem.
Čím sa však fantázia inšpiruje, keď sa dívame smerom hore, keď sedíme v noci na balkóne a sledujeme takmer nehybný obraz žiariacich svetiel? Kniha od Freda Scharmena sa v poctivej chronológii venuje pomerne širokému časovému horizontu, keď sa predstavy o osídľovaní iných planét nekotvili výhradne v exaktnosti akejkoľvek vedy. Dokazuje však, že aj amatérska predstava významne ovplyvnila serióznejšie výskumy a našli sa prostriedky, aby sa myšlienka priblížila k realizácii. Postupne si rozširujeme obzory s menami ako Konstantin Ciolkovskij, John Desmond Bernal, kontroverzný Wernher von Braun, Arthur C. Clarke, Gerard O’Neill, ale tiež spomenutí Elon Musk a Jeff Bezos a mnohí ďalší. Summa summarum sa dívame na prierez dvadsiatym storočím, v ktorom ešte sále rezonujú vizionárske odkazy Jula Verna, zosnulého v roku 1905.
Kniha Vesmírne sily je zmesou architektúry, techniky, vedy, ale predovšetkým sa venuje už spomínaným predstavám a nevytláča z pozornosti ani kurióznejšie figúrky týchto špekulatívnych a nedokonalých dojmov, ako sa odlepiť od Zeme a obzerať sa po nových záchytných bodoch — planétach, zdrojoch, stopách po živote. Čo by sme urobili ako prvé? Ako by sme to docielili? Kniha obsahuje aj historické návody na to, ako dať mechanicky do umelého pohybu samotnú planétu a vyraziť rovno s ňou, na takú nemotornú slimačiu púť. Zdroje vraj na to máme, takže môžeme čerpať z toho, čo drieme v podzemí. Čítanie postrehov Freda Scharmena je dokonalým doplnkom k aktuálnemu stavu našich predstáv o tom, čo všetko ešte môžeme v súvislosti s vesmírom zažiť, a nepriamo nás motivuje k tomu, aby sme poctivo fantazírovali tiež, pretože naša imaginácia je v tomto smere neškodná. Stráca sa v tom cynickom nekonečne.
Je to taký zvláštny fenomén. Ľudský. Každá udalosť, ktorá nás presahuje, vyvolá v počiatkoch takmer stopercentný záujem. Pred desaťročím som sa ocitol v pomerne bizarnom kolektíve a sledovali sme spolu živé vysielanie zoskoku parašutistu Felixa Baumgartnera nadzvukovou rýchlosťou. Pár dní predtým sa špekulovalo, či je vôbec možné takýto pád prežiť. Tiež sa objavili rôzne fatálne variácie prípadného neúspechu, takže udalosť bola stimulovaná potrebným adrenalínom. Nakoniec sa rekord podaril. Zoskočil a prežil. Vybavené, pomaly zabúdame. Išlo takmer výhradne o športový akt, no v rámci neho sa čosi predsa len pohlo. Podporila sa naoko aj na počutie absurdná vízia a trochu sme s planétou Zem a jej prirodzeným „bezpečnostným systémom“ hazardovali.
Posledné dni sa nesú v znamení priekopníckeho momentu, keď sme prostredníctvom vesmírneho teleskopu Jamesa Webba uvideli miniatúrny výsek tohto záhadného prostredia v detailnejšom rozlíšení a pozreli sme sa na kus extrémnej histórie v priestore, o ktorom dodnes fyzika a matematika vedú výskumy predovšetkým v teoretickej rovine. Nepredstaviteľne staré svetlá. Keďže však nepatrím ku kompetentnej inteligencii tejto sféry, na tomto mieste postupne prehĺtam myšlienky o našej staromódnosti, malosti, ale tiež obmedzenej schopnosti fyzicky prekonať významnejšie vzdialenosti smerom von od našej materskej planéty Zem. Dobre, ešte jedna malá poznámka o dosiaľ neprekonaných raketách, ktoré mi ako laikovi taktiež pripadajú smiešne. Posúvame sa po malých kúskoch v kovových šípoch. Čisto hypoteticky, alebo zmätočne dänikenovsky — keby som sa ako iná vyspelá civilizácia kdesi v univerze prizeral týmto našim aktivitám, asi by som sa smiechom plieskal do svojich mimozemských stehien.
Vesmírny priemysel dnes definujú predovšetkým mená ako Elon Musk a Jeff Bezos. Podrobne sa tejto miliardárskej dvojici venuje publikácia Vesmírní baróni od Christiana Davenporta (Práh, 2020). Davenport vykresľuje takmer apoštolskú misiu miliardárov a ukazuje, kam siahajú snahy firiem Blue Origin a SpaceX, a tiež čo znamenajú pre americký vesmírny program. Aj nákladné operácie sú však veľmi vzdialené od smelých ambícií — rozšíriť náš pozemský vplyv a orientovať sa na vzdialenejšie komodity. Človek sa nemusí narodiť ako génius, aby ho raz jeho mozog nepostrašil brčkavou myšlienkou, že prečo si, kurník šopa, nezoberieme aj odtiaľ, keď sa k tomu nikto nehlási. Nikde nikto a my stále jeme iba z tej našej špajzy.
Ľudstvo je stále pomerne ďaleko od výraznejšieho prekonávania svojich pozemských limitov, a tak sa bezbranne prizeráme nebezpečným dôsledkom nášho správania, ktoré čoraz výraznejšie pociťujeme na vlastnej koži. Ak má niekto prostriedky na to, aby sa priblížil svojim fantáziám o vesmíre, sú to práve títo dvaja páni. Minimálne o to prejavujú záujem.
Čím sa však fantázia inšpiruje, keď sa dívame smerom hore, keď sedíme v noci na balkóne a sledujeme takmer nehybný obraz žiariacich svetiel? Kniha od Freda Scharmena sa v poctivej chronológii venuje pomerne širokému časovému horizontu, keď sa predstavy o osídľovaní iných planét nekotvili výhradne v exaktnosti akejkoľvek vedy. Dokazuje však, že aj amatérska predstava významne ovplyvnila serióznejšie výskumy a našli sa prostriedky, aby sa myšlienka priblížila k realizácii. Postupne si rozširujeme obzory s menami ako Konstantin Ciolkovskij, John Desmond Bernal, kontroverzný Wernher von Braun, Arthur C. Clarke, Gerard O’Neill, ale tiež spomenutí Elon Musk a Jeff Bezos a mnohí ďalší. Summa summarum sa dívame na prierez dvadsiatym storočím, v ktorom ešte sále rezonujú vizionárske odkazy Jula Verna, zosnulého v roku 1905.
Kniha Vesmírne sily je zmesou architektúry, techniky, vedy, ale predovšetkým sa venuje už spomínaným predstavám a nevytláča z pozornosti ani kurióznejšie figúrky týchto špekulatívnych a nedokonalých dojmov, ako sa odlepiť od Zeme a obzerať sa po nových záchytných bodoch — planétach, zdrojoch, stopách po živote. Čo by sme urobili ako prvé? Ako by sme to docielili? Kniha obsahuje aj historické návody na to, ako dať mechanicky do umelého pohybu samotnú planétu a vyraziť rovno s ňou, na takú nemotornú slimačiu púť. Zdroje vraj na to máme, takže môžeme čerpať z toho, čo drieme v podzemí. Čítanie postrehov Freda Scharmena je dokonalým doplnkom k aktuálnemu stavu našich predstáv o tom, čo všetko ešte môžeme v súvislosti s vesmírom zažiť, a nepriamo nás motivuje k tomu, aby sme poctivo fantazírovali tiež, pretože naša imaginácia je v tomto smere neškodná. Stráca sa v tom cynickom nekonečne.
December 27, 2021
A evolução da forma como concebemos e imaginamos a possibilidade de viver no espaço é o tema central deste livro. Scharmen pega no iderário postulado por algumas das mais marcantes personalidades que ajudaram a moldar a nossa percepção de como poderíamos viver no espaço.
Começa com Tsiokolsvky, um dos pais da astronáutica, explorando a sua ligação aos cosmistas russos, e intersecções com a cultura popular do século XIX, numa visão incipiente de expansão pelo espaço com utopia para uma humanidade imortal. Passamos a J. D. Bernal, cientista pacifista ao serviço de militares, que nos legou (ou melhor, como bem mostra o livro, consolidou, porque a ideia em si já flutuava na ficção especulativa) o conceito de esfera orbital habitável. Passamos a Von Braun, num capitulo que explora quer a visão utópica do cientista alemão, com as suas ideias sobre estações espaciais e expedições a Marte, exploradas em múltiplas vertentes que vão da ficção (com Mars Project) e divulgação científica ao projeto Apollo. Mas não esquece a herança negra do nazismo, dos foguetões como mísseis dedicados à destruição, e às condições desumanas dos campos de concentração onde prisioneiros desumanizados construíam misseis com a forma ogivada que se tornou icónica. Arthur C. Clarke fala-nos dos sonhos de expansão, e de como nos transforma profundamente.
De Tsiokolvsky a Von Braun, uma das grande vertentes do ideário sobre a exploração espacial parte da expansão colonialista, do espaço, dos planetas e corpos celestes. A influência contracultural dos anos 60 c0meça a reverter essa visão em direção a vertentes mais ambientais e culturais. Algo patente na obra de Ursula LeGuin, ou em filmes como Silent Running, Soylent Green ou Logan's Run. Essas preocupações também estão patentes no trabalho de Gerard K. O'Neill, que propôs o influente conceito de vastas estações orbitais habitadas.
A NASA e os seus estudos exploratórios com as correspondentes iconografias, com destaque especial para as desenvolvidas pelo artista Rick Guidice, são analisadas sob o prisma do equilíbrio entre os sonhos de exploração espacial, e a realidade feita de colisão entre as condicionantes cientificas e a volatilidade das vontades políticas. O livro encerra com a visão hipercapitalista trazida pela privatização do espaço, confrontando a visão baseada em tecnologias específicas de Elon Musk, espalhafatosa mas muito difusa na sua visão de longo prazo, e a aproximação sistémica de Bezos, que replica no seu investimento espacial a visão infraestrutural que sustenta a Amazon.
Não temos bases lunares ou habitats orbitais que replicam a calma dos subúrbios no vazio espacial. Por enquanto temos algumas estações, frágeis artefactos de tecnologia de ponta, ao qual muitos poucos podem aceder. Mas não desistimos do sonho, e Space Forces mostra muito bem a forma como os nossos sonhos de viver no espaço surgiram e evoluíram, numa densa teia de influências filosóficas, estéticas, científicas, políticas, mas essencialmente com a continuidade da vontade de transcender os limites terrestres e, com a ciência, explorar e habitar a vastidão do espaço que nos rodeia.
Começa com Tsiokolsvky, um dos pais da astronáutica, explorando a sua ligação aos cosmistas russos, e intersecções com a cultura popular do século XIX, numa visão incipiente de expansão pelo espaço com utopia para uma humanidade imortal. Passamos a J. D. Bernal, cientista pacifista ao serviço de militares, que nos legou (ou melhor, como bem mostra o livro, consolidou, porque a ideia em si já flutuava na ficção especulativa) o conceito de esfera orbital habitável. Passamos a Von Braun, num capitulo que explora quer a visão utópica do cientista alemão, com as suas ideias sobre estações espaciais e expedições a Marte, exploradas em múltiplas vertentes que vão da ficção (com Mars Project) e divulgação científica ao projeto Apollo. Mas não esquece a herança negra do nazismo, dos foguetões como mísseis dedicados à destruição, e às condições desumanas dos campos de concentração onde prisioneiros desumanizados construíam misseis com a forma ogivada que se tornou icónica. Arthur C. Clarke fala-nos dos sonhos de expansão, e de como nos transforma profundamente.
De Tsiokolvsky a Von Braun, uma das grande vertentes do ideário sobre a exploração espacial parte da expansão colonialista, do espaço, dos planetas e corpos celestes. A influência contracultural dos anos 60 c0meça a reverter essa visão em direção a vertentes mais ambientais e culturais. Algo patente na obra de Ursula LeGuin, ou em filmes como Silent Running, Soylent Green ou Logan's Run. Essas preocupações também estão patentes no trabalho de Gerard K. O'Neill, que propôs o influente conceito de vastas estações orbitais habitadas.
A NASA e os seus estudos exploratórios com as correspondentes iconografias, com destaque especial para as desenvolvidas pelo artista Rick Guidice, são analisadas sob o prisma do equilíbrio entre os sonhos de exploração espacial, e a realidade feita de colisão entre as condicionantes cientificas e a volatilidade das vontades políticas. O livro encerra com a visão hipercapitalista trazida pela privatização do espaço, confrontando a visão baseada em tecnologias específicas de Elon Musk, espalhafatosa mas muito difusa na sua visão de longo prazo, e a aproximação sistémica de Bezos, que replica no seu investimento espacial a visão infraestrutural que sustenta a Amazon.
Não temos bases lunares ou habitats orbitais que replicam a calma dos subúrbios no vazio espacial. Por enquanto temos algumas estações, frágeis artefactos de tecnologia de ponta, ao qual muitos poucos podem aceder. Mas não desistimos do sonho, e Space Forces mostra muito bem a forma como os nossos sonhos de viver no espaço surgiram e evoluíram, numa densa teia de influências filosóficas, estéticas, científicas, políticas, mas essencialmente com a continuidade da vontade de transcender os limites terrestres e, com a ciência, explorar e habitar a vastidão do espaço que nos rodeia.
August 27, 2022
Great, although not what I expected going in (a problem I could have solved by reading the blurb I expect). Rather than a critical history of life in outer space, the book is a critical history of humanity's ideas about living in outer space. Including the Russian Cosmists, Operation paperclip, Nasa and the more recent billionaire-owned space companies ( a topic well deserving of a critical history). If you find the way science fiction fiction tends to influence and be influenced by sciene fact (and politics fact) this is a good read.
Read
May 29, 2022Ok, halfway through, and I just can't anymore. I find this rather boring. I understand the threads that the author is trying to weave together, but I don't see the point, and I can't sit through another 100 pages to get to the point. I won't officially rate this, but I consider it a 2 or 2.5 star; there were moments of interest, and I think the author is intelligent and the book well-researched, but.. this type of philosophical discourse puts me to sleep.
February 25, 2022
I admit that this book was nearly a DNF for me, but the last two thirds turned it around very strongly. Wide-spanning critical analysis of various contexts of space both speculative & real. It's an interesting angle at which to perceive the area of sci-fi and its real-world compatriots and I'd say I got a decent amount out of it
August 5, 2024
The first 180 or so pages are a great overview of the development of Space colonization in the world of fiction. The chapters focusing on the modern environment though are quite questionable, making points that would go against what I took as the authors main points in the first bit.
February 2, 2025
A fun overview. Many of the works of fiction referenced are things I read or watched as a student (and member of my university's science fiction society), so I enjoyed feeling nostalgic about that as well as learning new things :)
December 15, 2021
It's fine but I feel the actual argument of the book is not really clear until about 2/3s of the way through. Unless you already know a lot about space and Sci fi this book might be confusing.
February 15, 2024
A good general book looking at the ideas of space exploration and colonization form a leftist view.
December 28, 2022
Americký prezident Donald Trump v roku 2019 podpísal zákon o Vesmírnych silách Spojených štátov. V minulosti niečo také malo miesto len vo vedeckej fantastike, dnes je to realita.
Fred Scharmen vás v knihe Vesmírne sily vezme na fascinujúcu exkurziu tam hore a ukáže vám niekoľko pohľadov na život vo vesmíre od konca 19. storočia až po súčasnosť. Sci-fi príbehy a predstavy raných vizionárov prepletá s vedeckým výskumom a výsledok je nesmierne zaujímavý.
Vývoj ciest do vesmíru sa vždy do nejakej miery spájal so sci-fi a amatérske predstavy nadšencov dokázali významne ovplyvniť výskumy, občas načrtnúť naivné riešenie a popohnať isté myšlienky bližšie k cieľu. V knihe si prečítate o kozmických pretekoch počas studenej vojny aj o prieskumoch vesmíru miliardárov Elona Muska a Jeffa Bezosa, ktorí sa netaja komerčnými ambíciami. Veď prečo by sme si nemohli odkrojiť trošku z koláča nepredstaviteľného množstva surovín, keď doma na Zemi nám už trošku tečie do topánok…
Je správne vymeniť istotu jedného g gravitácie, dýchateľného vzduchu, teplôt, v ktorých dokážeme existovať a ochrany atmosférou a silným magnetickým poľom za lákavé, no neprebádané možnosti? Naše pozemské limity nám zatiaľ neumožňujú taký rozlet, aký sa nám odohráva v mysliach.
Ak sa ľudstvo vydá do vonkajšieho kozmického priestoru a usídli sa tam, čo nám to prinesie? Dokážeme vďaka tomu vyriešiť klimatickú krízu na Zemi alebo si vo vesmíre vybudujeme nový svet a začneme odznova?
Po prečítaní knihy vaša fantázia začne pracovať naplno a asi vás podnieti k rôznym úvahám.
Fred Scharmen vás v knihe Vesmírne sily vezme na fascinujúcu exkurziu tam hore a ukáže vám niekoľko pohľadov na život vo vesmíre od konca 19. storočia až po súčasnosť. Sci-fi príbehy a predstavy raných vizionárov prepletá s vedeckým výskumom a výsledok je nesmierne zaujímavý.
Vývoj ciest do vesmíru sa vždy do nejakej miery spájal so sci-fi a amatérske predstavy nadšencov dokázali významne ovplyvniť výskumy, občas načrtnúť naivné riešenie a popohnať isté myšlienky bližšie k cieľu. V knihe si prečítate o kozmických pretekoch počas studenej vojny aj o prieskumoch vesmíru miliardárov Elona Muska a Jeffa Bezosa, ktorí sa netaja komerčnými ambíciami. Veď prečo by sme si nemohli odkrojiť trošku z koláča nepredstaviteľného množstva surovín, keď doma na Zemi nám už trošku tečie do topánok…
Je správne vymeniť istotu jedného g gravitácie, dýchateľného vzduchu, teplôt, v ktorých dokážeme existovať a ochrany atmosférou a silným magnetickým poľom za lákavé, no neprebádané možnosti? Naše pozemské limity nám zatiaľ neumožňujú taký rozlet, aký sa nám odohráva v mysliach.
Ak sa ľudstvo vydá do vonkajšieho kozmického priestoru a usídli sa tam, čo nám to prinesie? Dokážeme vďaka tomu vyriešiť klimatickú krízu na Zemi alebo si vo vesmíre vybudujeme nový svet a začneme odznova?
Po prečítaní knihy vaša fantázia začne pracovať naplno a asi vás podnieti k rôznym úvahám.
June 10, 2025
Tra scienza, fantascienza e politica
Le "forze spaziali" del titolo originale di questo libro non sono il nuovo corpo militare statunitense creato da Trump ma quelle che portano alcune persone a cercare di pensare come gli uomini potrebbero colonizzare lo spazio. Scharmen parte da Konstantin Ciolkovskij e John Desmond Bernal, con le loro idee di fine Ottocento e metà Novecento di satelliti artificiali abitati, e continua mantenendo un interessante equilibrio tra la fantascienza (anche Arthur Clarke è trattato in un capitolo), scienza (la NASA, ma anche Werner von Braun e il suo passato nella Germania nazista) e politica (sempre la NASA e il suo modo di presentarsi, ma anche la corsa dei privati allo spazio, dove Scharmen non nasconde per nulla che tra Bezos e Musk preferisce di gran lunga il secondo e il suo punto di vista). In generale il fil rouge di Scharmen è la "tettonica", nel senso geologico traslato: ci sono forze che si muovono indipendentemente tra loro e che mandano in rotta di collisione i punti di vista della gente. Una lettura molto interessante, che permette di capire come la corsa allo spazio abbia profonde ripercussioni sulla nostra vita in questo pianeta, che almeno per il momento è l'unico posto dove possiamo stare. Buona la traduzione di Massimiliano Bonatto.
Le "forze spaziali" del titolo originale di questo libro non sono il nuovo corpo militare statunitense creato da Trump ma quelle che portano alcune persone a cercare di pensare come gli uomini potrebbero colonizzare lo spazio. Scharmen parte da Konstantin Ciolkovskij e John Desmond Bernal, con le loro idee di fine Ottocento e metà Novecento di satelliti artificiali abitati, e continua mantenendo un interessante equilibrio tra la fantascienza (anche Arthur Clarke è trattato in un capitolo), scienza (la NASA, ma anche Werner von Braun e il suo passato nella Germania nazista) e politica (sempre la NASA e il suo modo di presentarsi, ma anche la corsa dei privati allo spazio, dove Scharmen non nasconde per nulla che tra Bezos e Musk preferisce di gran lunga il secondo e il suo punto di vista). In generale il fil rouge di Scharmen è la "tettonica", nel senso geologico traslato: ci sono forze che si muovono indipendentemente tra loro e che mandano in rotta di collisione i punti di vista della gente. Una lettura molto interessante, che permette di capire come la corsa allo spazio abbia profonde ripercussioni sulla nostra vita in questo pianeta, che almeno per il momento è l'unico posto dove possiamo stare. Buona la traduzione di Massimiliano Bonatto.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews