Jerry Pournelle

Dr. Jerry Pournelle received his degrees from the University of Washington in Seattle. He joined the Boeing Company as a Human Factors Engineer and Aviation Psychologist, and headed the Human Factors Laboratory, where they did pioneer work on astronaut heat tolerance in extreme environments, as well as experimental tests for certifying the passenger oxygen system for the Boeing 707. The Strategy of Technology (1970), by Stefan Possony, Jerry Pournelle, and Col. Francis X. Kane became a textbook at the USAF Academy and two national war colleges. In November 1980 following the election, he chaired the committee that wrote the Space and Defense policy papers for the incoming transition team; this committee (Citizen’s Advisory Council on National Space Policy) was continued, by White House request, after the inauguration, and with Gen. Graham developed a policy of Strategic Defense, called “Star Wars” by opponents, which became the Strategic Defense Imitative. In 1989 the committee developed the SSX concept, which became the DCX, the first successful reusable vertical landing rocket craft. Red Heroin, an action/adventure mystery (Berkeley Books), his first novel, was published in 1968. He has been a full-time writer since 1972, as well as successfully managing political campaigns; science columnist for the National Catholic Press; Analog SF Magazine columnist; and Science Editor/Columnist of Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine. After 1982 his BYTE Magazine column was one of the two best known columns in the computer industry, continuing from 1980 to 2008. He has 5 Hugo and 3 Nebula Nominations, and was the first winner of the Campbell Award (previously known as the Best New Writer Hugo). He has authored or co-authored at least seven national best-sellers, of which Lucifer’s Hammer by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle is probably the best known, having been 21 weeks on the New York Times best-selling list. He is working on at least four books now. This is my personal journal and day book. Subjects include civilization and technology, strategy, climate, energy policy, space access, and other issues that interest me. The Mail section is very wide ranging and one of the best on the Internet. For computer related reviews and mail, see Chaos Manor Reviews , which is a continuation of the old BYTE column I began in 1980 with BYTE Magazine. For the old home page (2006) click here . Extensive discussions on technology and civilization, education, the space program, the future of freedom, etc., with contributions by a lot of smart people. See Current Mail and Current View. For more on what this place is about, including permanent features, see below. For Topics of continuing interest, see below. And for more on what we are doing here, including saving the space program and desert adventures, click here. In general this site assumes interest in rational discussion of technology and civilization. For my computer columns which formerly appeared in BYTE, see Chaos Manor Reviews . And be sure to have a look at the various Reports which include trip reports, adventures, and other special topics. For Roberta Pournelle’s Reading Program, look here . I can make some claim to this being The Original Blog and Daybook. I certainly started keeping a day book well before most, and long before the term “blog” or Web Log was invented. BIX, the Byte information exchange, preceded the Web by a lot, and I also had a daily journal on GE Genie. Both of those would have been considered blogs if there had been any such term. All that was long before the World Wide Web. This Web Site supplements my column that ran in the print version of BYTE for twenty years and continues at Chaos Manor Reviews . This web page adds more, including mail to both me and the column. You’ll find: Computers, Blogs, Blogging, Operating systems, Linux, Features, Journals, Day Books, Mail, Discussions, Current Topics, Science Fact and Fiction, Space Policy, Defense Policy, Population