I often read unusual books for the purpose of mining them for information I could potentially incorporate into science fiction. One book that I had picked up at a library sale several years ago and just rediscovered on my bookshelf is called The Millennial Project: Colonizing the Galaxy in Eight Easy Steps. The first chapter, titled “Aquarius”, is about learning the skills that will be needed in space colonies by practicing with sea colonies on Earth first. The colonies have the added benefits of solving world hunger and world power shortages, as well as funding space travel. With so many starry-eyed ideas and names like “Millennial” and “Aquarius”, you’re probably thinking right about now that the whole thing sounds suspiciously New Age. But hold on; this book got rave reviews from renowned science fiction authors Arthur C. Clarke and Larry Niven. I’m not qualified to evaluate the engineering ideas presented in this book, so I hope that qualified readers will not hesitate to offer their critiques. Don’t knock them ’till you know what they are. With my limited knowledge, it seems to me that there are no logical or physical barriers to accomplishing the goals outlined in this first chapter – only (“only!”) social, psychological and political barriers. continue reading »