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Books > Science & Mathematics > Astronomy, space & time > Solar system
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Terraforming: The Creating of Habitable Worlds (Paperback, Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 2009)
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Terraforming: The Creating of Habitable Worlds (Paperback, Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 2009)
Series: Astronomers' Universe
Expected to ship within 10 - 15 working days
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The word ''terraforming'' conjures up many exotic images and p-
hapsevenwildemotions,butatitscoreitencapsulatestheideathat
worldscanbechangedbydirecthumanaction.Theultimateaimof terraforming
is to alter a hostile planetary environment into one that is
Earth-like, and eventually upon the surface of the new and vibrant
world that you or I could walk freely about and explore. It is not
entirely clear that this high goal of terraforming can ever be
achieved, however, and consequently throughout much of
thisbooktheterraformingideasthatarediscussedwillapplytothe goal of
making just some fraction of a world habitable. In other
cases,theterraformingdescribedmightbeaimedatmakingaworld
habitablenotforhumansbutforsomepotentialfoodsourcethat,of course,
could be consumed by humans. The many icy moons that reside within
the Solar System, for example, may never be ideal
locationsforhumanhabitation,buttheypresentthegreatpotential for
conversion into enormous hydroponic food-producing centers. The
idea of transforming alien worlds has long been a literary backdrop
for science fiction writers, and many a make-believe planet has
succumbed to the actions of direct manipulation and the indomitable
grinding of colossal machines. Indeed, there is something both
liberating and humbling about the notion of tra- forming another
world; it is the quintessential eucatastrophy espoused by J. R. R.
Tolkien, the catastrophe that ultimately brings about a better
world. When oxygen was first copiously produced by cyanobacterial
activity on the Earth some three billion years ago, it was an act
of extreme chemical pollution and a eucatastrophy. The original
life-nurturing atmosphere was (eventually) changed f- ever, but an
atmosphere that could support advanced life forms came about.
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