Atmosphæra Incognita

The super-rich can be a little crazy sometimes, but it’s their money. In Atmosphæra Incognita, bestselling author Neal Stephenson presents a character who happens to be one of the richest people on the planet with possibly the craziest idea ever imagined: to make a building 20 kilometers high. Not just a skyscraper, but a spacescraper!

The idea seems insane, but if it all comes to fruition, it’ll be the greatest structure ever built. Stephenson clearly has fun, delving into the science and the engineering, and in the turn, the science fiction. New industries have to be developed to create a vast amount of raw materials needed to build the tower. Then new technologies are needed, as the building reaches new and unbelievable heights and factors like climate and wind and clouds come into play. As it nears its completion, space suits are needed.

Atmosphæra Incognita is a great example of wonderful short science fiction: a very neat idea that completely sucks in the reader as they’re along for the ride of how the author is going to pull this huge gamble off, and it’s just so fun and interesting.