Poul Anderson addresses sf ideas from every angle. In this novel:
the faster than light warp drive covers any interstellar distance in almost the same time so that distant stars are as easy to reach as nearer ones;
extra-solar planets are not easily colonized because the human race is entirely dependent on the precise set of conditions in the Terrestrial environment.
Is such a warp drive possible? A question for theoretical physicists.
Will extra-solar planets be difficult or impossible to colonize? I think that this is highly probable. In any case, such colonization would not do much to relieve population pressure on Earth - if indeed there continues to be such population pressure. All the assumptions and sf premises are up for grabs.
Anderson's ultimate speculative novel was Genesis in which only post-organic intelligences cross interstellar space and only at sub-light speeds.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
Heck, I would be delighted if we soon got something like the "slow" FTL hyperdrive of the Technic stories!
While I agree many "terrestroid" planets will necessarily be different from Earth, I think humans will be adaptable enough to colonize many planets which have at least water, a breathable atmosphere, and a not impossible gravity. Think of Aeneas, with its light gravity; Altai with its ice age; or Imhotep with a gravity 30% heavier than that of Terra. And we can expect colonists to make modifications, such introducing useful Terran plants and animals.
Other planets will be trickier, such as Unan Besar, where humans needed regular doses of an antitoxin to live there. But such planets can/will be colonized if people really want to!
And we should not think of extra-Solar colonization as a means of reducing population pressures, if any, because it can't and won't do that. Rather, invention of a FTL drive and colonization would act as outlets, relieving socio/political strains on Earth. Ambitious, restless, frustrated, or discontented people would be able to get away from an oppressive or stultifying Earth to live as they wished. And that would be good!
Ad astra! Sean
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