The starship Starfarer is based on the work of Dr. Gerard K. O’Neill, the founder of the Space Studies Institute. His speculations on the ways human beings might live and work and thrive in space added immeasurably to the background of my novel and to the structure of Starfarer.
Dr. John G. Cramer, nuclear physicist and sf novelist in his own right, the author of Twistor and Einstein’s Bridge, once again offered his expertise and advice. I’m grateful for his help with Starfarer’s propulsion systems, among other things, and glad that he is still willing to speak to me despite my fascination with faster-than-light starship drives.
A conversation with Howard Davidson gave me the idea for sensory artists.
The organizers of Orycon, Portland’s sf convention, gave Starfarers programming time for several years running, until the members of the starship’s alien contact department took over and demanded that I write their story.
Only I can be held responsible for the wilder social, political, or biological speculations of Starfarer.