Today begins Heath Rezabek’s survey as we look at the curation of a booklist on interstellar flight, using as basis a list of books I’ve gradually accumulated over the years. Before Heath introduces the survey, a few words about my methods: Many of the books listed below are ones that I used in preparing my 2005 book Centauri Dreams: Imagining and Planning Interstellar Exploration. But in the time since, I’ve added a number of more recent titles. I’m hoping this curation project will reveal other books that may be useful as we flesh out the list. Please glance over the entire list and be thinking of additional possibilities as you engage with Heath’s survey.
As to the choices made, these are non-fiction science books, although several recent titles contain a mix of non-fiction and science fiction stories. Feel free to suggest SF titles that specifically broaden our thinking about interstellar flight — we can either integrate them into the main list or develop a second list focused on fiction. The latter may be more practicable. Also, books on SETI and exoplanetology are under-represented in favor of books on spaceflight and propulsion. Given how often we discuss these matters on Centauri Dreams. I’d like to see recommendations for more titles in both these areas.
Good resource. To read more, click here.