W. Patrick McCray on visioneers

W. Patrick McCray, author of The Visioneers: How a Group of Elite Scientists Pursued Space Colonies, Nanotechnologies, and a Limitless Future, tells the story of these modern utopians who predicted that their technologies could transform society as humans mastered the ability to create new worlds.

Believing that the term “futurist” was too broad, McCray coined the term visioneers to describe those who not only had ambitious visions for future technology, but who carried out detailed and extensive scientific and engineering work to bring those visions into fruition, and who actively worked to promote their  ideas to a wider public.

McCray focuses on the works of Gerard O’Neil and Eric Drexler, detailing their early contributions as visioneers and their continuing impact particularly in the fields of space colonization and nanotechnology. He also identifies modern-day visioneers and their work.

Download

Related Links


The Visioneers: How a Group of Elite Scientists Pursued Space Colonies, Nanotechnologies, and a Limitless Future, McCray
Keep Watching the Skies!: The Story of Operation Moonwatch and the Dawn of the Space Age, McCray
Giant Telescopes: Astronomical Ambition and the Promise of Technology, McCray
We May Not Have Flying Cars Yet, But Visioneers Are Inventing a New Future, McCray