In February of 2011 we started posting free nonfiction we at Baen thought might be of interest to our readers. The first article was "The Size of it All" by Les Johnson, a Baen author and space scientist. As new nonfiction is made available, it will be posted on the main page, then added to this book (to save the Baen Barflies the trouble of doing it themselves). This is our compilation of nonfiction for 2016.
As is usual with such copyrighted material from Baen, the contents may be copied and shared but NOT sold. All commercial rights are reserved to Baen Books.
- From Corvus to Keyhole Shipyards—Past, Present, and Science Fiction
by Jim Beall - Are We Really Just Wired Differently?
by Tedd Roberts - The Near Future of Human Genome Engineering
by Dan Koboldt - Mars, Moon or Bust!
by Les Johnson - Do Dungeon Masters Roll Magic Dice? Willful Self-Deception on the Campaign Trail
by Bob Kruger - Strange Sex: Alien Reproduction Through a Biologist’s Eyes—and What This Could Mean to Science Fiction
by Dave Freer - The Science of Dr. Gribbleflotz
by Rick Boatright - A Quantum of Consciousness
by John Lambshead - Radium Girls of Science and Science Fiction
by Jim Beall - Dark Matter of the Human Genome
by Dan Kobolt - Of Dragons and Valkyries: Helicopters in Fiction
by Kacey Ezell - Homo Stellaris: Becoming the People of the Stars
by Robert E. Hampson, Ph.D.
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Eat your veggies!Nasty stuff, infrastructure. Costs too much - only winners can afford it. Or, to put the horse before the cart, only those with necessary infrastructure can prevail in the long haul. This article is a well-argued and salutary reminder that thrilling small unit tactics don't win wars all by themselves. Shipyards and logistical support are force multipliers. The article also points out the massive scale of any kind of space navy. IMHO, bootstrapping a high-volume space-based economy is the only game that counts in the very long run.
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