Space Forces

Metadata

• Author: Fred Scharmen
• Full Title: Space Forces
• Category: #books

Highlights

• The modernist architect and urban designer Le Corbusier created a system of dimensions and proportions for spatial design, based off of his conception of ideal human dimensions. He used this system to specify everything from the depths of countertops to the heights of buildings and the width of streets, in projects around the world. To justify his choice of six feet as the base height for his reference person, he wrote, “Have you never noticed that in English detective novels, the good-looking men, such as the policemen, are always six feet tall?”4 He had made a universal constant out of a male European authority figure. (Location 110)
• Experimental musician and artist Brian Eno wrote about the concept of a “big here” and a “long now” that can change the way people think about duration and location. (Location 119)
• many take for granted that there is a “wide we”: one that collectively participates in efforts like space exploration, or collectively suffers from crises like the one happening to the climate. (Location 121)
• The planetary imagination has to do with all the ways in which humans organize their perceptions of, and relationships with, worlds. (Location 160)
• besides the displacement and subjugation of indigenous people, colonization is a matter of forcible redirection of whole systems of social life, biology, politics, and material infrastructure. (Location 170)
• colonization is another attitude about what worlds are for, and the result of that attitude is ongoing global trauma. (Location 176)
• models for living in space don’t have to be colonial. (Location 179)
• Mika McKinnon says, for human life, “Earth is easy mode.” (Location 182)
• Tsiolkovsky was the first space scientist, but besides—or as an extension of—his interest and faith in science, his work drew on a core of unique mystical materialism. In fact, his attitude toward science and space is not captured very well by the notion of “conquest” that names the Soviet monument. (Location 209)
• The sciences converge in physics, and the best place to observe physics in action is in the sky; therefore all politics, he says, is reducible to astronomy. (Location 227)
• Fedorov’s enemy here is not so much death, but the randomness of the world that leads to it. (Location 259)
• tectonics. (Location 432)
• we’re talking about the space between the actuality of how pieces come together during construction to form a complex whole object like a building, and the idea about how that object is composed as an abstraction or a concept. (Location 432)
• Like buildings, worlds have tectonics. (Location 440)
• As Easterling notes, “The citizen subjects of the plans are not the greenhouse workers, the human inhabitants of the agripole, but, rather, the tomatoes themselves.”14 The workers might live in the space, but it is made for the fruit. (Location 474)
• Both authors assume that Earth exists mostly as a stock of resources ready and waiting for human reengineering. (Location 499)
• As long you are engaged in the process of taking over the entire cosmos, and eliminating all lesser forms of life, there is a greater chance that the particles that compose you will become part of a future joyful human. (Location 549)
• “this planet is the cradle of human mind, but one cannot spend all one’s life in a cradle.” (Location 552)
• In the end, these models—Brick Moon and glass moon (and glass Earth)—are about the ends (the destruction) and the other ends (the purposes) of worlds. (Location 554)
• Everything must be made to have a purpose, for a unified human race, like all of the specialized components in Tsiolkovsky’s orbital greenhouses that float, as the title of his science fiction novel has it, Beyond the Planet Earth. But at least one other world is possible. (Location 557)
• Bernal’s new moons would resemble “an enormously complicated single-celled plant,” with several layers, each distinct in material and purpose, and each affecting the other layers in the system. (Location 631)
• The word “cyborg” was first coined to describe a human who, with the help of specialized drugs and specialized machines—both implanted inside the body—could survive without other protection in outer space. (Location 662)
• Technology would adapt the person to the world. (Location 667)
• He made maps of these past and future conditions, with recommendations based on statistics about which areas of the ground should be avoided, and which should be augmented with additional layers of mesh to support armored vehicles. (Location 750)
• the goal here was to redesign the ground for future survival. (Location 752)
• “Firstly, his researches aimed at finding a structure for an event that would include a great many accidents. But secondly, the research method itself included many happy accidents, which provided evidence for the development of particular features of the plan in the most unlikely and unexpected places.” (Location 755)

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title: Space Forces longtitle: Space Forces author: Fred Scharmen url: , source: kindle last_highlight: 2023-06-04 type: books tags:

Space Forces

Metadata

• Author: Fred Scharmen
• Full Title: Space Forces
• Category: #books

Highlights

• The modernist architect and urban designer Le Corbusier created a system of dimensions and proportions for spatial design, based off of his conception of ideal human dimensions. He used this system to specify everything from the depths of countertops to the heights of buildings and the width of streets, in projects around the world. To justify his choice of six feet as the base height for his reference person, he wrote, “Have you never noticed that in English detective novels, the good-looking men, such as the policemen, are always six feet tall?”4 He had made a universal constant out of a male European authority figure. (Location 110)
• Experimental musician and artist Brian Eno wrote about the concept of a “big here” and a “long now” that can change the way people think about duration and location. (Location 119)
• many take for granted that there is a “wide we”: one that collectively participates in efforts like space exploration, or collectively suffers from crises like the one happening to the climate. (Location 121)
• The planetary imagination has to do with all the ways in which humans organize their perceptions of, and relationships with, worlds. (Location 160)
• besides the displacement and subjugation of indigenous people, colonization is a matter of forcible redirection of whole systems of social life, biology, politics, and material infrastructure. (Location 170)
• colonization is another attitude about what worlds are for, and the result of that attitude is ongoing global trauma. (Location 176)
• models for living in space don’t have to be colonial. (Location 179)
• Mika McKinnon says, for human life, “Earth is easy mode.” (Location 182)
• Tsiolkovsky was the first space scientist, but besides—or as an extension of—his interest and faith in science, his work drew on a core of unique mystical materialism. In fact, his attitude toward science and space is not captured very well by the notion of “conquest” that names the Soviet monument. (Location 209)
• The sciences converge in physics, and the best place to observe physics in action is in the sky; therefore all politics, he says, is reducible to astronomy. (Location 227)
• Fedorov’s enemy here is not so much death, but the randomness of the world that leads to it. (Location 259)
• tectonics. (Location 432)
• we’re talking about the space between the actuality of how pieces come together during construction to form a complex whole object like a building, and the idea about how that object is composed as an abstraction or a concept. (Location 432)
• Like buildings, worlds have tectonics. (Location 440)
• As Easterling notes, “The citizen subjects of the plans are not the greenhouse workers, the human inhabitants of the agripole, but, rather, the tomatoes themselves.”14 The workers might live in the space, but it is made for the fruit. (Location 474)
• Both authors assume that Earth exists mostly as a stock of resources ready and waiting for human reengineering. (Location 499)
• As long you are engaged in the process of taking over the entire cosmos, and eliminating all lesser forms of life, there is a greater chance that the particles that compose you will become part of a future joyful human. (Location 549)
• “this planet is the cradle of human mind, but one cannot spend all one’s life in a cradle.” (Location 552)
• In the end, these models—Brick Moon and glass moon (and glass Earth)—are about the ends (the destruction) and the other ends (the purposes) of worlds. (Location 554)
• Everything must be made to have a purpose, for a unified human race, like all of the specialized components in Tsiolkovsky’s orbital greenhouses that float, as the title of his science fiction novel has it, Beyond the Planet Earth. But at least one other world is possible. (Location 557)
• Bernal’s new moons would resemble “an enormously complicated single-celled plant,” with several layers, each distinct in material and purpose, and each affecting the other layers in the system. (Location 631)
• The word “cyborg” was first coined to describe a human who, with the help of specialized drugs and specialized machines—both implanted inside the body—could survive without other protection in outer space. (Location 662)
• Technology would adapt the person to the world. (Location 667)
• He made maps of these past and future conditions, with recommendations based on statistics about which areas of the ground should be avoided, and which should be augmented with additional layers of mesh to support armored vehicles. (Location 750)
• the goal here was to redesign the ground for future survival. (Location 752)
• “Firstly, his researches aimed at finding a structure for an event that would include a great many accidents. But secondly, the research method itself included many happy accidents, which provided evidence for the development of particular features of the plan in the most unlikely and unexpected places.” (Location 755)