As the parent of a fledgling middle school student, one suddenly starts to notice patterns of interests that could potentially lead to future career paths. After having worked over three decades myself in the engineering field, it still came as a bit of a surprise when our son recently mentioned that he was considering becoming an engineer. His math and science grades are impeccable and his passion for perfection is so strong, it can be downright annoying at times. Sounds like a good fit for the red-shirt field, right?
But when the true motivation behind his latest epiphany came to light, the room was admittedly filled with mixed emotions. Oh, it had nothing to do with inspiration or pride in his father’s work. No, the sole influence in the pursuit of an education in engineering lay entirely with the wonder and mystery behind the design, technology, and realistic probability of the dreaded Death Star. Galactic domination notwithstanding, his reasoning was sound.
The fact that our son not only has a curiosity about technology, but he also has a desire to accept the possibilities of sciences both existing and imagined did draw tears of pride. Dreaming and believing may be two different things, but together, they could become the most powerful force in the universe.
So when news of the upcoming release of Blueprint for a Battlestar – Serious Scientific Explanations Behind Sci-Fi’s Greatest Inventions (hardcover from Sterling Publishing by Rod Pyle) came to our attention, a young man’s silly reasoning suddenly didn’t seem so silly. Could the thought of so many fictional elements actually influencing the minds of the future be a good thing?
With what promises to include 75 “stunning images” created specifically for this edition to help illustrate a wide array of classic science fiction concepts, readers will get a better idea of what is and what isn’t within reach of humanity in the quest for space exploration. Possibly a precursor to a galactic empire, future engineers could gain a lot of insight from such a publication. Heck, we may even find a way to eliminate those pesky exhaust ports.
Referencing familiar names like Nikola Tesla, Enrico Fermi, Frank Drake, Carl Sagan, and Stephan Hawking, the storied evolution of humanity’s technological advancements over time will be explored. But the journey doesn’t have to stop there, because the purest evidence of man’s imagination relies heavily on those strange and outrageous ideas that has driven fandom crazy for decades. Science Fiction.
Author Rod Pyle already has a slew of books to his credit, including Missions to the Moon, also from Sterling Publishing and Destination Moon from Smithsonian Books. As a professional insider from NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, he certainly has the credentials to deliver not only an articulated essay on past and current developments in space travel and exploration, but Pyle also has the keen ability to explain just what it will take to make fiction become fact.
Blueprint for a Battlestar by Rod Pyle will take readers on a fact finding mission where the science is explained and the fiction just may become reality. Can it really work? For the sake of all those young engineers out there dreaming of a future filled with massive battlestars stretching far across the galaxy, we can only hope.
