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New Title: Deep Space Propulsion
by Kelvin F. Long
Interstellar studies is a wide and varied subject. For a newcomer to the field, where do you start to learn? there is propulsion and all its various forms, interstellar communications, materials and structures, the search for extraterrestrial life. One of the reasons for creating Project Icarus with its specific terms of reference (i.e. fusion and Daedalus) was simply to provide a ‘vehicle’ for people to learn interstellar studies by jumping into the deep end of a design problem. The US physicist John Wheeler used to say that the first best way to learn is to teach and the second best way to learn is to write. I have been a College teacher for two years and I was also a part-time University lecturer for three years. This gave me important skills in how to communicate technical information in a popular manner. I have published many papers and magazine articles in my time, but it is a very different challenge trying to write your own book. So, a few years ago I set about doing just that, purely for the purposes of teaching myself the subject. My recent Springer publication is the result of two years of effort. My attempt throughout the book was to present the information in a form that anyone could understand, including laying out some mathematical problems. This is because I believe there is a fundamental barrier to participation in the exploration of space, and it is a knowledge barrier. People cannot participate if they can’t even speak the same language as the academic or seasoned spacecraft designer. I hope that by reading my book, people will be empowered to do just that. I don’t claim it is the best thing since sliced bread, and I would even say its a bit rough in places, but its my first attempt at a book and I very much hope that readers enjoy it and perhaps become as inspired as I am about the possibilities of space exploration.
The book can be purchased from Amazon at the following link:
Kelvin Long
