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Megastructures: The Visual Encyclopedia
In the mid 70s, inspired by the first moon landing, excitement about space travel and exploration had reached an all time high. Scientists made proposals and plans for projects such as asteroid mining, a base on the moon, and man's settlement of space in giant orbiting habitats. Sadly, these grand plans were abandoned as the world's population focused their attention elsewhere, and the spark of humanity's journey to the stars almost blew out.
But the last 10 years or so have been a rekindling of that flame, thanks to spaceships landing on comets, the flyby of Pluto, and private companies like Space X. The idea of humans moving to the stars has returned to the public discourse. High time we think to bring back some of these older projects and give them o more modern spin.
This book is an encyclopedia of sorts, describing through words and paintings the megastructures that humans could potentially build in the near future, all the way to projects that would take millennia to complete. From giant city scale projects to structures the size of solar systems. Dyson Spheres, Ringworlds, O'Neill Cylinders and Arcologies, 40 structure in all.
The hope for this book is to help inspire the current and next generation to pursue the dream. As well as taking better care of our fragile home, it's time to push out into space, and explore a brighter future for all of humanity. Let's move our species forward to achieve our greatest potential.
But the last 10 years or so have been a rekindling of that flame, thanks to spaceships landing on comets, the flyby of Pluto, and private companies like Space X. The idea of humans moving to the stars has returned to the public discourse. High time we think to bring back some of these older projects and give them o more modern spin.
This book is an encyclopedia of sorts, describing through words and paintings the megastructures that humans could potentially build in the near future, all the way to projects that would take millennia to complete. From giant city scale projects to structures the size of solar systems. Dyson Spheres, Ringworlds, O'Neill Cylinders and Arcologies, 40 structure in all.
The hope for this book is to help inspire the current and next generation to pursue the dream. As well as taking better care of our fragile home, it's time to push out into space, and explore a brighter future for all of humanity. Let's move our species forward to achieve our greatest potential.
109 pages, Hardcover
Published December 1, 2021
2 people are currently reading
106 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 12, 2022
An impulse Kickstarter pledge that actually delivered!!
Blevins assembled and illustrated a super-cool visual encyclopedia of megastructures, from 2000-km long earth-based maglev launch tracks to Dyson spheres and wormholes. The art is incredible, this would be a great companion for sci-fi reading to help visualize some of the mind-bendingly huge structures that authors dream up.
I love in the intro he talks about how he was inspired as a kid by a similar book and wants to pass the torch to the next generation. This book would be insane to read as a 10-year-old. As a grown-up you can get through it in about an hour. Happy to lend out my copy to local geeks.
My only critique: the text accompanying the images isn't as strong as the images itself.
But, five stars, because my name is printed in the back of the book as a supporter 😎
Blevins assembled and illustrated a super-cool visual encyclopedia of megastructures, from 2000-km long earth-based maglev launch tracks to Dyson spheres and wormholes. The art is incredible, this would be a great companion for sci-fi reading to help visualize some of the mind-bendingly huge structures that authors dream up.
I love in the intro he talks about how he was inspired as a kid by a similar book and wants to pass the torch to the next generation. This book would be insane to read as a 10-year-old. As a grown-up you can get through it in about an hour. Happy to lend out my copy to local geeks.
My only critique: the text accompanying the images isn't as strong as the images itself.
But, five stars, because my name is printed in the back of the book as a supporter 😎
November 3, 2022
I backed this book on Kickstarter as I've always had a love of megastructures, on Earth and in space. I was really happy to receive the ebook version on time after the Kickstarter.
The book has amazing visuals, showing off some of the megastructures I've heard about but couldn't really wrap my head around. While some of the descriptions could have been more detailed, the main point of this book is the art, which doesn't disappoint. From arcologies to ringwords, rungworlds, and underwater cities, there's a lot to enjoy in this book!
The book has amazing visuals, showing off some of the megastructures I've heard about but couldn't really wrap my head around. While some of the descriptions could have been more detailed, the main point of this book is the art, which doesn't disappoint. From arcologies to ringwords, rungworlds, and underwater cities, there's a lot to enjoy in this book!
August 31, 2022
When I backed this on Kickstarter, the thing I liked about it was that it brought a lot of cool ideas to one place and showed them off with great art.
It turned out as promised - this was a great book, with a quick look at a lot of potentially possible megastructures that could, theoretically, at one point be built. This is great for fans of sci-fi, space opera, and big ideas.
It turned out as promised - this was a great book, with a quick look at a lot of potentially possible megastructures that could, theoretically, at one point be built. This is great for fans of sci-fi, space opera, and big ideas.
October 22, 2024
A decent brief guide to some cool speculative space structures the likes of which you’re likely to find only in science fiction and Isaac Arthur’s YouTube channel; While I realize this isn’t the focus, I would’ve preferred more detail into how these structures could be built and what examples in fiction there are of these and how scientifically accurate they are. Still, solid for the imagination.
August 14, 2022
Like the Usborne Book or the Future this is a collection of theoretical megastructures that inspire the imagination. Very niché but if you’re into it you will love it.
February 25, 2024
Stunning visuals, good information that gets delivered in a way understandable for a wider audience without losing it’s value.
November 18, 2024
The only critique I have is that I wish there was more art for every concept.
September 3, 2022
Recent Reads: Megastructures - The Visual Encyclopedia. Neil Blevins' Kickstarter delivered this tour through the big dumb objects of science fiction. From arcologies to ringworlds and beyond, this is a book that shows what big can be. A companion to Niven's Bigger Than Worlds.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews