I have been too busy with my rotation duties, getting the first step in the SC05 proposal up and running, my family, and other work duties to blog much. The proposal was well recieved in that they let me go ahead with it. They're a bit skeptical that it will work, but they gave me the go ahead to try. heh. ]:)
I finished Centauri Dreams a little while ago. With the lack of blogging, I've not stopped reading. I have to say taht the book has some interesting comments and ideas that are worth looking at: the combination Orion and M2P2 seems rather fascinating, but as a whole it doesn't really come across as worth as much as I paid for it (~$17). The writing itself wasn't bad, just not as tight as I would like. There have been a slew of popular science books as of recent that have been obcessing more about the people involved than about the concepts being explored. I noted this with Snowball Earth and now with Centauri Dreams. It's annoying. If you want to capture my attention by humanizing the situation or writing something other than a dry, technical tome extrapolate! This is SFnal already. Spin a fictionalized scenario and its consequences! You can write. Right? I'd rather read about that thought experiment than hearing about riding around in a convertable with Geoffrey Landis and *mumble* (Sorry Geoff). There were a few times I'd have liked to know why some people were quoted. A short blurb wasn't sufficient for me. I'd like to know why this person was being used to belittle or raise up some concept. There was one in particular that I can't remember his name at all that (a former colonel in the air force, iirc) that was being used to comment on stuff when his background in the blue beanies wasn't propulsion, iirc, and he was now working on some concepts post retirement, but I hadn't heard of him before (where as I had for most of the others or the institutions that they are working for). If he'd done a bunch of good work and cranked some papers that people thought very high of, then by all means include him (or her), but if he's just some individual playing with ideas and they've not been put out for everyone else...well, let's just say I can be just as good a source for, oh, say, running a naval ship, as that.
At any rate, get it at the bargain table or used. It's a nice addition to library...at a cheap cost. I've started The Pentagon's New Map. Interesting, but underwhelming so far.
I finished Centauri Dreams a little while ago. With the lack of blogging, I've not stopped reading. I have to say taht the book has some interesting comments and ideas that are worth looking at: the combination Orion and M2P2 seems rather fascinating, but as a whole it doesn't really come across as worth as much as I paid for it (~$17). The writing itself wasn't bad, just not as tight as I would like. There have been a slew of popular science books as of recent that have been obcessing more about the people involved than about the concepts being explored. I noted this with Snowball Earth and now with Centauri Dreams. It's annoying. If you want to capture my attention by humanizing the situation or writing something other than a dry, technical tome extrapolate! This is SFnal already. Spin a fictionalized scenario and its consequences! You can write. Right? I'd rather read about that thought experiment than hearing about riding around in a convertable with Geoffrey Landis and *mumble* (Sorry Geoff). There were a few times I'd have liked to know why some people were quoted. A short blurb wasn't sufficient for me. I'd like to know why this person was being used to belittle or raise up some concept. There was one in particular that I can't remember his name at all that (a former colonel in the air force, iirc) that was being used to comment on stuff when his background in the blue beanies wasn't propulsion, iirc, and he was now working on some concepts post retirement, but I hadn't heard of him before (where as I had for most of the others or the institutions that they are working for). If he'd done a bunch of good work and cranked some papers that people thought very high of, then by all means include him (or her), but if he's just some individual playing with ideas and they've not been put out for everyone else...well, let's just say I can be just as good a source for, oh, say, running a naval ship, as that.
At any rate, get it at the bargain table or used. It's a nice addition to library...at a cheap cost. I've started The Pentagon's New Map. Interesting, but underwhelming so far.
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