LEADER 05071nam  2200937 a 450 
001 9910462284203321
005 20200520144314.0
010   $a1-299-05117-0
010   $a1-4008-4468-1
024 7 $a10.1515/9781400844685
035   $a(CKB)2670000000276737
035   $a(EBL)1042898
035   $a(OCoLC)820009872
035   $a(SSID)ssj0000757238
035   $a(PQKBManifestationID)11966248
035   $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000757238
035   $a(PQKBWorkID)10758475
035   $a(PQKB)11267087
035   $a(MiAaPQ)EBC1042898
035   $a(DE-B1597)474142
035   $a(OCoLC)979686033
035   $a(DE-B1597)9781400844685
035   $a(PPN)199244782
035   $a(EXLCZ)992670000000276737
100   $a20120613d2013      uy             0
101 0 $aeng
135   $aur|nu---|u||u
181   $ctxt
182   $cc
183   $acr
200 14$aThe visioneers$b[electronic resource] $ehow a group of elite scientists pursued space colonies, nanotechnologies, and a limitless future /$fW. Patrick McCray
205   $aCourse Book
210   $aPrinceton $cPrinceton University Press$d2013
215   $a1 online resource (366 p.)
300   $aDescription based upon print version of record.
311   $a0-691-17629-9 
311   $a0-691-13983-0 
320   $aIncludes bibliographical references and index.
327   $tFront matter --$tContents --$tList of Illustrations --$tAcknowledgments --$tIntroduction: Visioneering Technological Futures --$tChapter 1. Utopia or Oblivion for Spaceship Earth? --$tChapter 2. The Inspiration of Limits --$tChapter 3. Building Castles in the Sky --$tChapter 4. Omnificent --$tChapter 5. Could Small Be Beautiful? --$tChapter 6. California Dreaming --$tChapter 7. Confirmation, Benediction, and Inquisition --$tChapter 8. Visioneering's Value --$tA Note on Sources --$tNotes --$tIndex
330   $a"In 1969, Princeton physicist Gerard O'Neill began looking outward to space colonies as the new frontier for humanity's expansion. A decade later, Eric Drexler, an MIT-trained engineer, turned his attention to the molecular world as the place where society's future needs could be met using self-replicating nanoscale machines. These modern utopians predicted that their technologies could transform society as humans mastered the ability to create new worlds, undertook atomic-scale engineering, and, if truly successful, overcame their own biological limits. The Visioneers tells the story of how these scientists and the communities they fostered imagined, designed, and popularized speculative technologies such as space colonies and nanotechnologies. Patrick McCray traces how these visioneers blended countercultural ideals with hard science, entrepreneurship, libertarianism, and unbridled optimism about the future. He shows how they built networks that communicated their ideas to writers, politicians, and corporate leaders. But the visioneers were not immune to failure--or to the lures of profit, celebrity, and hype. O'Neill and Drexler faced difficulty funding their work and overcoming colleagues' skepticism, and saw their ideas co-opted and transformed by Timothy Leary, the scriptwriters of Star Trek, and many others. Ultimately, both men struggled to overcome stigma and ostracism as they tried to unshackle their visioneering from pejorative labels like "fringe" and "pseudoscience." The Visioneers provides a balanced look at the successes and pitfalls they encountered. The book exposes the dangers of promotion--oversimplification, misuse, and misunderstanding--that can plague exploratory science. But above all, it highlights the importance of radical new ideas that inspire us to support cutting-edge research into tomorrow's technologies"--$cProvided by publisher.
606   $aScience$xHistory
606   $aVisionaries
608   $aElectronic books.
610   $aAmerican culture.
610   $aEric Drexler.
610   $aGerard O'Neill.
610   $aK. Eric Drexler.
610   $aOmni magazine.
610   $aasteroids.
610   $aatomic-scale engineering.
610   $abiotechnology.
610   $acountercultural ideals.
610   $acutting-edge research.
610   $aexistential crisis.
610   $aexploration.
610   $aexploratory science.
610   $afuture technology.
610   $ahuman settlement.
610   $alunar factory.
610   $amicroelectronics.
610   $ananotechnology.
610   $apseudoscience.
610   $ascience.
610   $asolar sails.
610   $aspace colonies.
610   $aspace colony.
610   $aspace settlement.
610   $aspace settlements.
610   $atechnology.
610   $avisioneering.
615  0$aScience$xHistory.
615  0$aVisionaries.
676   $a509
700   $aMcCray$b Patrick$g(W. Patrick)$01048751
801  0$bMiAaPQ
801  1$bMiAaPQ
801  2$bMiAaPQ
906   $aBOOK
912   $a9910462284203321
996   $aThe visioneers$92477219
997   $aUNINA