Back in February of this year, in the USA, it was hot, the debate on the weather: how to explain changes, (and act upon them): like huge snow storms (in the east side) or the prolonged California droughts? Republican Marsha Blackburn had a rendezvous (Meet the Press) with Bill Nye (the renown "Science guy") to debate those issues. The latter focused on “facts” (like Antarctica’s ice getting lesser and lesser over the years) and time coming for “innovation”. The former stressing the need for “technologies” to be affordable for the American people, a pressing cost/benefit analysis to be made and (surprise!!): the latest recordings of the carbon emissions show that they are at “its lowest”; she added even a positive side to the (polemic) global warming: it may turn to be positive for the agriculture. Yes, it’s been a long debate (both on the political and scientific grounds), and sides sometimes are quite apart. This 1973 book by Cooper touches on those questions (not only) also, in a very prescient way. The story is about a grim world of the year 2077. Earth is about to die; hunger has struck the main continents; last one being India; only faring better Australia: since its deserts became fertile. It’s a time when most people on Earth never knew their planet was dying. Yet, bases on the Moon (with 2,000 people) and Mars (10,000) were viable. Mars atmosphere is now breathable. “Naturally”, the powerful ones tried escaping. The Pope requested “300 priests” to go to the New World; the black people lobby asked for a quota of 15%; China a 1/4…. . Several spaceships are meant to leave the planet; only some will be allowed in. Those left on planet earth are doomed. There’s hope elsewhere, though. As the last ship lifts off from Womera, Australia, its commander takes a look at a bleak scenario: a place where there’s no more sun, no blue skies…only gray, foggy weather,"eternal" rain and clouds, a place where crops cannot mature.43 year old Australian Idris Hamilton, born on planet Earth, plus a crew of 3 Martian born ,young people are onboard the Das Hammarskjold spaceship; plus a cargo of 20 kids and 2 female teachers in hibernation. They’re heading towards Mars. The kids are geniuses (IQ above 200). The problem is that the ship carries hidden bombs too, and though the commander finally spots them and tries to diffuse them…the ship gets blown away. Presumably, all got dead.Five thousand years later, in a planet called Minerva (yes, the 10th one of the solar system, in the vicinity of Neptune), Idris “wakes up”. He knows he’s a piece of cells inside a tank. He’s only memories and dreams and… nightmares. An old man, in fact, a psychosurgeon called De Skun (and his assistant Zylonia), is about to tell him: “you died 5,370 terrestrial years ago”…your ship was lost “beyond the Mars …and Pluto orbits”. Yet, Minervans resurrected Idris and one teacher and some of the kids. Their advanced technology allowed it.Idris will get a new body (a clone from his own cells). He’s about the meet the kids, the ones he considers “his”, since they’re terrestrials. Ah, English is a dead language in Minerva; and there's no monetary system.In Minerva, the population cannot exceed 10,000 souls. It’s a perpetual-night, icy planet; they keep the Martian time; there’s been harmony for years due to a new, strict Creed: Talbot’s. Garfield Talbot*,a kind of "Moses", who took refuge in the place some time ago.Idris has got a project: return to Earth. Will he succeed?-maybe with the help of Mary Evans...Especially for his prescient character, this so-humane,science fiction book deserves 4 stars.Immortality gets a touch too, evidently. *a utopian communist; had 14 children from 8 women.
71st Century Schizoid Man!Idris Hamilton is a weird, contradictory man. At the start of our story he understands that the only female member of his crew, the vivacious Suzy Wu, is free to sleep with all the crew of his spaceship by whim or by turns, and does so and everyone seems totally comfortable and happy with this arrangement. Late twenty first century man is, it seems, highly enlightened and beyond the reach of petty jealousies. However, when the restored-to-life Hamilton and his new squee
