In 1995, dental surgeon-turned-planetary scientist and terraforming expert Martyn J. Fogg authored the seminal “technical-level” book on the history, science, and prospects of “engineering planetary environments.” In this book published by the Society of Automotive Engineers, Fogg categorized geoengineering as a subset of terraforming. In 2000, geoengineer David Keith noted that terraforming and geoengineering “are linked by commonality of proposed technologies, ethical concerns, and by their ambiguous position between the realms of science fiction and reasoned debate about human use of technology.” In 1997, the notorious nuclear physicist Lowell Wood co-wrote an influential geoengineering thought-piece. Recently, Wood has revealed that geoengineering Earth is simply “the first stop” in his grander ambition to terraform the Red Planet. Wood proclaimed, “It is the manifest destiny of the human race!” It is this harmony between what has been collectively referred to as “planetary engineering” that suggests the need for pursuing their roots and intersections. At present, these are what some would consider fringe sciences that are often cast at best as fantastically utopian and at worst as products of the deranged minds of mad scientists in the mold of Dr. Strangelove. By examining their shared history and overlapping research questions we can come closer to a more fruitful dialog that simultaneously takes their fictive origins seriously and emphasizes the cutting-edge science behind planetary engineering. Only then can we properly address the ethics and socio-political implications of planetary engineering.
