2070

"2070" is an update of "2069" and remains an allegorical novel illustrating "how things work - and could work for a better future". Cast in the tradition of William Golding's, Lord of the Flies and Orwell's 1984 the allegory contrasts the primal drives of men and women with the inevitable progression of technology, economics, and politics. A fast paced science fiction format tells the story of one man's struggle to improve the ultimate human condition by leveraging the military/industrial complex toward the colonization of Mars as guided by our common spirit. Intrigue, tyranny, seduction, birth, rape, assassination, and ESP are used to explore the future as it relates to organizations, individuals, and biological imperatives. Each chapter explores a theme from a scientific perspective using the action / adventure story to illustrate the individual themes.
The casual reader should enjoy the action, concepts, ideas, and humor which frame the surface of the deeper allegory. Topics include: the increasing power of international corporations, aging and senescence of organizations, the development of China as a capitalist power, an increase in cooperation to fight terrorism, mechanisms for near term space travel, terraforming of Mars through establishment of "oasis craters", parallel vs. serial problem solving, deadlines in human endeavors, biological imperatives and psychological relationships among and between men and women, extra-sensory perception and its linkage to religion and physics.
In Part I, "The Nerd ", a young scientist learns to manage people and organizations. By following his inner compass using luck, persuasion, and guile he manages to help Earth avoid an asteroid strike and form a Martian crater deep enough to hold an atmosphere.
Part II "The Star" brings an atavistic indentured university student into the sophisticated ranks of the new Martian colonists as a platform for the exploration of human proclivities.
Part III, "The Race" finds three men, three women, and two babies marooned on Mars while those on earth exploit their situation. This section explores the primal drives of "the Race" in large and small group situations by contrasting the actions of the "six people in a box " with the machinations of international politics.
A scientist by training and principal author of a range of published scientific works, the writer seeks to convey a lifetime of institutional experience and study of the human condition by engaging the reader in a compelling tale of gritty survival on our next frontier.