The Visioneers: How a Group of Elite Scientists Pursued Space Colonies, Nanotechnologies, and a Limitless Future

The term visioneer, a combination of visionary and engineer, was coined by McCray (history, Univ. of California, Santa Barbara; Keep Watching the Skies!) to describe an individual with an an inquiring mind that is not merely scientific or technical but posed imaginatively toward the future. A key component of visioneers is promoting their dream to others, not just inside but also outside the established research community, envisioning what a field of research could become with proper funding and a focused research agenda. The two primary visioneers examined by McCray are Gerard O'Neil, a prominent Princeton physicist who saw space colonization as an answer to Earth's growing population, and Eric Drexler, who was fascinated by the new field of nanotechnology. Both visioneers brought their ideas to the research community and the public in general. Ultimately, neither field developed the way these men had hoped or intended, yet their labors had a lasting effect that went far beyond their own scientific developments. Rather than covering the history of these two fascinating fields of study, McCray focuses on the public relations efforts of these scientists and how their agenda helped shape the national agenda for science and technology research and reveals how these visionaries worked tirelessly to make their dreams a reality.