Seen as merely a thought experiment for over a century, the space elevator is now understood to be achievable in our foreseeable future. It promises to open up the Solar System to all of humanity, and this book gives you a peek at that future. Interweaving both science fiction stories involving the space elevator along with non-fiction articles on the basic technical, financial, legal, social and political issues surrounding the space elevator, this book will give you an entertaining and.

Informative crash course in the space elevator. After reading this book, you will understand both why we want to build a space elevator as well as how it will be built.