Published in Paperback by Bantam (October 1, 1993)
Author:John M. Ford
Average review score:
Figuring out the World, Lunar Style
The story follows Matt Ronay as he makes the transition from teenager to man. Matt dreams of leaving Earth's Moon, where he was born, and becoming a starship crewman. Along the way, he acts as a tour guide for the reader, showing off the Lunar society that Ford has created.
Ford focuses on the ability of an isolated frontier society such as his Lunar community to survive and eventually to prosper. Through the eyes of Matt and Matt's associates and relatives, he puts forth a theory of what's necessary for a colony's true independance, economic and political.
It's a fun story that reads in part as a travelogue and the rest of the time as a juvenile space adventure story. The plot and scenery are interesting and the main characters well-developed.
Some of Ford's philosophical conclusions exhibit a bias towards economics viewed as a societal whole instead of as a catalaxy of individuals. This leads him to make several mistakes in his analysis of what a Lunar colony would require to survive long-term and how best to accomplish that goal. I would recommend this book for a fun read, but not for a serious study of a Lunar economy. - Thomas Sewell
Figuring out the World, Lunar Style
The story follows Matt Ronay as he makes the transition from teenager to man. Matt dreams of leaving Earth's Moon, where he was born, and becoming a starship crewman. Along the way, he acts as a tour guide for the reader, showing off the Lunar society that Ford has created.
Ford focuses on the ability of an isolated frontier society such as his Lunar community to survive and eventually to prosper. Through the eyes of Matt and Matt's associates and relatives, he puts forth a theory of what's necessary for a colony's true independance, economic and political.
It's a fun story that reads in part as a travelogue and the rest of the time as a juvenile space adventure story. The plot and scenery are interesting and the main characters well-developed.
Some of Ford's philosophical conclusions exhibit a bias towards economics viewed as a societal whole instead of as a catalaxy of individuals. This leads him to make several mistakes in his analysis of what a Lunar colony would require to survive long-term and how best to accomplish that goal. I would recommend this book for a fun read, but not for a serious study of a Lunar economy. - Thomas Sewell