From the Foreword

Between the 13th and 16th of August, 1998, something special happened in Boulder Colorado. From all over the world, people came to be part of the beginning of a great enterprise - the founding of a society dedicated to opening Mars to humanity. The event was unique, everyone attending could feel it - there was something electric in the air. It was more than a turning point; it was akin to being present at the creation.

Seven hundred people came, and over 180 talks were given. Every aspect of the profoundly human endeavor of the development of a new world was discussed and debated - from engineering to economics to ethics - and from nearly every point of view, There was no consensus, nor could there be, for new life requires no consensus, but the riotous play of diversity seeking light through myriads of unexpected paths.

No proceedings could do this conference justice. The exciting debates in the halls, the breakout sessions, and the late-night bars, cannot be found in these pages. Most profoundly absent are the proceedings of the general meeting of Mars Society members, which occurred after the Saturday night banquet, during which the Founding Declaration was ratified and the Society formed. To get the full experience of the conference, you had to be there, or failing that, to speak with those who were.

Nevertheless, what paper, ink, and the best efforts of nearly 100 contributors can do to bring this conference to you and preserve it for the future, has been done. If nearly half the presentations are unrecorded, more than half are published here, as are some of the most important plenary talks. The article by Richard Wagner gives the blow-by-blow history of the convention, and accompanied by a fair number of photos, gives some feel for the actual flavor of the event.

FrontMatter.pdf (PDF document 11292Kb)

The file only contains the front matter, not the whole book.