Dandridge M. Cole
Encyclopedia
Dandridge MacFarlan Cole was an American aerospace engineer, futurist, lecturer, and author.
to Robert MacFarlan Cole III
and Wertha Pendleton Cole
, the daughter of bishop William Frederic Pendleton
.
He attended the Academy of the New Church Secondary Schools
from 1935 to 1939 and graduated from Princeton University
with a B.S. in chemistry in 1943. This was followed by a year at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
. He received a Masters Degree in Physics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1949.
, in Exeter, New Hampshire
. He contended that his astronomy course was probably the first astronautics course in any high school, as he used Willy Ley
's Conquest of Space as a textbook.
In 1953, he took a job in the aerospace industry with the Martin Company in Baltimore, at that point settling for aircraft design. But in 1956, he moved to the Martin facility in Denver and began to work in earnest for the space program, helping to design the Titan II
, which launched the Gemini
space capsules. 1960 brought a change in both company and position, as he became a consulting engineer in advance planning at the General Electric
Missile and Space Division at Valley Forge, PA.
Cole died on October 29, 1965 at King of Prussia, Pennsylvania
.
nervous, as just such an invention was already a classified project. After some interviews, OSS concluded that he had not gotten unauthorized access to classified information, but told him to keep quiet about the idea.
As early as 1953, before the U.S. even had a space program, he predicted a manned moon landing by 1970.
Cole believed that government, industry, and education were neglecting systematic thought about the future and that it should become an academic discipline which would study the future in something of the same way that history uses its methods to study the past. With the pace of change accelerating, he argued, students should be trained in techniques for thinking about the future.
He was concerned about the trends that were becoming evident in the 1950s and 1960s, especially the rapid increase in population (which he called "bio-detonation") and the proliferation of nuclear weapons. He saw the human race as being at a turning point, corresponding to the adolescence of an individual, in which humanity would either destroy itself or come to a collective state of maturity and relative stability.
He was known especially for promoting the idea of colonizing the asteroids, or "planetoids" as he argued they should more properly be called. The planetoids could be hollowed out, or actually inflated to create a bubbleworld with habitable space on the inside. The resulting space arks could orbit within the solar system, or be sent out on interstellar expeditions.
Especially in connection with the idea of planetoid colonies, he coined the term "Macrolife
," as early as a talk for the annual meeting of The Institute of Navigation, 23 June 1960. In the published version of the paper, he notes the similarity of his idea to the "multi organismic life form" of Isaac Asimov
just then published in the July 1960 issue of Analog-Science Fact and Fiction.
Cole conceived Macrolife as a possible next step in evolution, potentially as momentous as the transition from single-celled to multicelled life. Units of Macrolife, self-contained human societies in planetoid colonies or elsewhere, would have the capacity for growth, motion, reproduction, self-repair, and response to external stimuli. He developed further details in his 1961 The Ultimate Human Society and in subsequent books.
Parents and education
Cole was born February 19, 1921 in Sandusky, OhioSandusky, Ohio
Sandusky is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Erie County. It is located in northern Ohio and is situated on the shores of Lake Erie, almost exactly half-way between Toledo to the west and Cleveland to the east....
to Robert MacFarlan Cole III
Robert MacFarlan Cole III
Robert MacFarlan Cole was an American chemical engineer, inventor, and author. He helped develop many chemicals, including freon and its use as a refrigerant and an aerosol repellent, a substance to counteract poisonous gas in World War I, synthetic rubber and pyrethrin insecticides in World War...
and Wertha Pendleton Cole
Wertha Pendleton Cole
Wertha Pendleton Cole was an American educational administrator and astronomer.-Biography:She was born on January 18, 1891 to William Frederic Pendleton. He was the founder of the General Church of the New Jerusalem. She received her Bachelor of Science degree from Columbia University in 1914...
, the daughter of bishop William Frederic Pendleton
William Frederic Pendleton
William Frederic Pendleton was the first Executive Bishop of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, in Bryn Athyn, PA.-Biography:...
.
He attended the Academy of the New Church Secondary Schools
Academy of the New Church Secondary Schools
The Academy of the New Church Secondary Schools consists of an accredited, private girls' school and boys' school providing 9th through 12th graders with an education inspired by the New Church, an international Christian faith based on the teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg.-History:The Academy began...
from 1935 to 1939 and graduated from Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
with a B.S. in chemistry in 1943. This was followed by a year at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, often known as P&S, is a graduate school of Columbia University that is located on the health sciences campus in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan...
. He received a Masters Degree in Physics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1949.
Career
From 1949 to 1953, he taught physics and astronomy at Phillips Exeter AcademyPhillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy is a private secondary school located in Exeter, New Hampshire, in the United States.Exeter is noted for its application of Harkness education, a system based on a conference format of teacher and student interaction, similar to the Socratic method of learning through asking...
, in Exeter, New Hampshire
Exeter, New Hampshire
Exeter is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The town's population was 14,306 at the 2010 census. Exeter was the county seat until 1997, when county offices were moved to neighboring Brentwood...
. He contended that his astronomy course was probably the first astronautics course in any high school, as he used Willy Ley
Willy Ley
Willy Ley was a German-American science writer and space advocate who helped popularize rocketry and spaceflight in both Germany and the United States. The crater Ley on the far side of the Moon is named in his honor.-Life:...
's Conquest of Space as a textbook.
In 1953, he took a job in the aerospace industry with the Martin Company in Baltimore, at that point settling for aircraft design. But in 1956, he moved to the Martin facility in Denver and began to work in earnest for the space program, helping to design the Titan II
Titan II GLV
The Titan II GLV or Gemini-Titan was an American expendable launch system derived from the Titan II missile, which was used to launch twelve Gemini missions for NASA between 1964 and 1966...
, which launched the Gemini
Project Gemini
Project Gemini was the second human spaceflight program of NASA, the civilian space agency of the United States government. Project Gemini was conducted between projects Mercury and Apollo, with ten manned flights occurring in 1965 and 1966....
space capsules. 1960 brought a change in both company and position, as he became a consulting engineer in advance planning at the General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
Missile and Space Division at Valley Forge, PA.
Cole died on October 29, 1965 at King of Prussia, Pennsylvania
King of Prussia, Pennsylvania
King of Prussia is a census-designated place in Upper Merion Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 19,936. The community took its name in the 18th century from a local tavern named the King of Prussia Inn, which was named after...
.
Concepts
During the Second World War, he made some specific suggestions for a practical underwater breathing apparatus. This made the Office of Strategic ServicesOffice of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
nervous, as just such an invention was already a classified project. After some interviews, OSS concluded that he had not gotten unauthorized access to classified information, but told him to keep quiet about the idea.
As early as 1953, before the U.S. even had a space program, he predicted a manned moon landing by 1970.
Cole believed that government, industry, and education were neglecting systematic thought about the future and that it should become an academic discipline which would study the future in something of the same way that history uses its methods to study the past. With the pace of change accelerating, he argued, students should be trained in techniques for thinking about the future.
He was concerned about the trends that were becoming evident in the 1950s and 1960s, especially the rapid increase in population (which he called "bio-detonation") and the proliferation of nuclear weapons. He saw the human race as being at a turning point, corresponding to the adolescence of an individual, in which humanity would either destroy itself or come to a collective state of maturity and relative stability.
He was known especially for promoting the idea of colonizing the asteroids, or "planetoids" as he argued they should more properly be called. The planetoids could be hollowed out, or actually inflated to create a bubbleworld with habitable space on the inside. The resulting space arks could orbit within the solar system, or be sent out on interstellar expeditions.
Especially in connection with the idea of planetoid colonies, he coined the term "Macrolife
Macrolife
Macrolife: A Mobile Utopia is a 1979 science fiction novel by American author George Zebrowski.-Plot introduction:By 2021, Earth's nations are at peace, and even the erstwhile poorer nations are beginning to enjoy stable political and economic regimes...
," as early as a talk for the annual meeting of The Institute of Navigation, 23 June 1960. In the published version of the paper, he notes the similarity of his idea to the "multi organismic life form" of Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
just then published in the July 1960 issue of Analog-Science Fact and Fiction.
Cole conceived Macrolife as a possible next step in evolution, potentially as momentous as the transition from single-celled to multicelled life. Units of Macrolife, self-contained human societies in planetoid colonies or elsewhere, would have the capacity for growth, motion, reproduction, self-repair, and response to external stimuli. He developed further details in his 1961 The Ultimate Human Society and in subsequent books.
Cultural references
Books- MacrolifeMacrolifeMacrolife: A Mobile Utopia is a 1979 science fiction novel by American author George Zebrowski.-Plot introduction:By 2021, Earth's nations are at peace, and even the erstwhile poorer nations are beginning to enjoy stable political and economic regimes...
, a 1979 novel by George ZebrowskiGeorge ZebrowskiGeorge Zebrowski is a science fiction author and editor who has written and edited a number of books. He lives with author Pamela Sargent, with whom he has co-written a number of novels, including Star Trek novels.Zebrowski won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award in 1999 for his novel Brute Orbits...
, explicitly takes it title and credits its inspiration from Cole's theory. - Sunspacer, a 1984 novel by George ZebrowskiGeorge ZebrowskiGeorge Zebrowski is a science fiction author and editor who has written and edited a number of books. He lives with author Pamela Sargent, with whom he has co-written a number of novels, including Star Trek novels.Zebrowski won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award in 1999 for his novel Brute Orbits...
, opens with the protagonist beginning college at Dandridge Cole University, in a space colony at Lagrangian pointLagrangian pointThe Lagrangian points are the five positions in an orbital configuration where a small object affected only by gravity can theoretically be stationary relative to two larger objects...
5. - The Romulan Prize, a 1993 Star Trek: The Next GenerationStar Trek: The Next GenerationStar Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
novel, devotes a page to having the character Data outline Cole's conception of a planetoid colony.
Books
- Songs and Poems of the Paratroops, Blaetz Brothers, Philadelphia: 1944
- Exploring the Secrets of Space, (1963 with I. M. Levitt)
- Islands in Space: The Challenge of the Planetoids, (1964 with Donald W. Cox)
- Beyond Tomorrow, (1965 illustrated with space art originated by Roy G. Scarfo)
Monographs
- Minimum Time Interplanetary Orbits, The American Astronautical Society: December 1957.
- Around the Moon in 80 Hours, (with Donald E. Muir) The American Astronautical Society: August 19, 1958.
- Lunar Colonization, American Rocket Society: March 19, 1959.
- Feasibility of Propelling Vehicles by Contained Nuclear Explosions, American Astronautical Society: January 18-21, 1960.
- Space Vehicle Evolution, The Martin Company: February 1960.
- Social and Political Implications of the Ultimate Human Society, The American Astronautical Society: January 18, 1961.
- The Space Booster Gap and the Panama Theory of Space Flight, General Electric Missile and Space Department: February 22, 1961.
- Report on the Panama Theory, The American Astronautical Society: August 1-3, 1961.
- Today is Tomorrow: Long Range Planning for the Space Age, Temple University: August 25, 1961.
- A Scientific Survey of the Cis Martian Asteroid Group, (with George M. Kohler) General Electric Missile and Space Department: October 27, 1961.
- A Possible Military Application of a Cis-Martian Asteroid, The American Astronautical Society: January 16-18, 1962.
- Strategic Areas in Space,: The Panama Theory, Institute of the Aerospace Sciences: March 15, 1962.
- Exploration of the Close-Approach Asteroids, General Electric Missile and Space Department: April 16, 1962.
- Some Scientific and Economic Aspects of Asteroid Capture, Institute of the Aerospace Sciences: July 19, 1962.
- Astronautics Applications of the Asteroids, The American Astronautical Society: January 17, 1963.
- The Next Fifty Years in Space: Man and Maturity, General Electric Missile and Space Department: 1963.
- Military Use of Space 1965 - 1975, prepared for University of Pennsylvania Foreign Policy Research Institute: June 1, 1964.
- The Next Forty Years of Exploration, The Explorers Club: September 23, 1964
- Some Uses for Planetoid Resources, General Electric Missile and Space Department: November 19, 1964.
- Beyond Apollo: Manned Interplanetary Flight in the Seventies, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics: February 11, 1965.
- Applications of Planetary Resources, (prepared as a presentation for the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers 1965 International Space Symposium, November 2-4, 1965, but not delivered)
Articles
- "Interpretation of Malina-Summerfield Criterion for Optimization of Multistage Rockets"(with L. Ivan Epstein,) Jet Propulsion, March, 1956, p. 188.
- "The Earth-Mars Constant thrust Brachistochrone," Jet Propulsion, February 1957, p. 176.
- "Times Required for Continuous Thrust Earth-Moon Trips," Jet Propulsion, April 1957, p. 416.
- "Optimization of Rockets for Maximum Payload Energy"(with Michael A. Marrese,) ARS Journal, January 1959, p. 71.
- "Commercially Feasible Spaceflight," Astronautics, September 1959, pp. 88-89.
- "Around the Moon in 80 Hours"(with Robert Granville,) Space World, Vol. 1, No. 2, July 1960, pp. 28-31, 54.
- "Extraterrestrial Colonies," Navigation, No. 7, Summer-Autumn 1960, pp. 83-98.
- "Macro-Life," Space World, Vol. 1. Nos. 10 & 11, September & October 1961, 44-46.
- "Reds May Be Using Saturn-Class Boosters," Missiles and Rockets, October 9, 1961.
- "Asteroids Stir Growing Interest," Missiles and Rockets, February 25, 1963.
- "Capturing the Asteroid," Astronautics and Aerospace Engineering, March 1963, pp. 88-93.
- "$50,000,000,000,000 from the Asteroids," Space World, Vol. 4, No. 2, February, March 1963, pp. 1-8.
- "The Asteroids," Discovery: The Magazine of Scientific Progress, Vol. XXIV, No. 11, November 1963, pp. 24-28.
- "Rocket Propellants from the Moon"(with R. Segal,) Astronautics and Aeronautics, October 1964.
- "Manned Interplanetary Flights in the Seventies with Saturn-Apollo Technology," Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences Vol. 140 December 16, 1966, pp. 451-466.
About Cole
- "Outward Bound," Time, January 27, 1961.http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,826803,00.html
- "Living in Space," The Philadelphia Inquirer, April 30, 1961.
- Alexander, Tom. "The Wild Birds Find a Corporate Roost," Fortune, August 1964, p. 130
- Benford, Gregory and Zebroski, George. Skylife: Space Habitats in Story and Science, Harcourt: 2000.
- Cox, Donald W. and Chestek, James H. Doomsday Asteroid, Prometheus Book: 1996.
- David, Leonard. "Asteroid Bombs," Omni, March 1980, p.46.
- David, Leonard. "100 Stars of Space," Ad Astra, Vol. 3, No. 6, July-August 1991, p.60.
- Frisch, Bruce H. "Dandridge Cole: G. E.'s Way-Out Man," Science Digest, Vol. 58, No. 1, July 1965, pp. 9-15.
- Raithel, W. "A Tribute to Dandridge McFarland Cole 1921-1965," in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences Vol. 140 December 16, 1966, pp. 6-9.
- Rosenberg, George J. "Space City Preview: The Moon is Blueprinted!" New York Mirror Magazine, December 31, 1961, pp. 8-9.
- Wolper, David. "The Way Out Men," ABC documentary, aired February 13, 1965.
External links
- "Islands in Space:The Challenge of the Planetoids: The Pioneering work of Dandridge M. Cole," from a Blog by Alex Michael Bonnici. http://discoveryenterprise.blogspot.com/2007/08/islands-in-space-challenge-of.html
- "Dandridge Cole: In the Words of his Best Friend Roy Scarfo," a follow-up by Bonnici.http://discoveryenterprise.blogspot.com/2007/08/dandridge-cole-in-words-of-his-best.html
- Dandridge M. Cole, by Roy Scarfo.
- Dandridge M. Cole, My Grand-hero-pa
- Scans of Beyond Tomorrow: http://web.archive.org/web/20070929081152/http://www.philosophyinc.com/beyond/index.htm