Category: NonFiction

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The generation starship trope has provided a rich seam for science fiction writers. From Heinlein and Aldiss in the Golden Age of SF, the idea of a starship bound on course for generations, with its Noah’s ark of human cargo, has fascinated writers and readers. Yet, recent scientific advances have revealed how difficult it would be to build and sustain such a ship throughout its long voyage. More importantly, when we are eventually able to build it, will we still need it?

The generation ship is currently humanity’s only technically feasible idea for interstellar travel. Perhaps this is why, as a science fiction subgenre, it cross-pollinates to such an extent with scientific thinking around the concept. Most stories in the subgenre draw from