Page 217 - James Rodger Fleming - Fixing the sky

of the greatest natural wealth, learned not only how to use it, but how to subor-
dinate nature to his will. And now we are not surprised when we learn that a new
sea has been developed or the desert has blossomed.” 28
Referring to the macro-engineering projects discussed in their earlier book,
Rusin and Flit argued that deeper scientific insight into the laws of nature would
result in ever more “grandiose” plans for developing immense energy reserves,
controlling the flow of rivers, and subjugating permafrost, to name but a few of
the advances that they expected. Science was not just about observing and under-
standing nature; it was about exploiting and controlling it as well. They cited the
program of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union on this: “The progress of
science and technology under the conditions of the Socialist system of economy
is making it possible to most effectively utilize the wealth and forces of nature
for the interests of the people, make available new forms of energy and create
new materials, develop methods for the modification of climatic conditions and
master space” (3).
I. Adabashev reviewed many of the same projects in his book Global Engi-
neering (1966), with his utopian hopes tinged by strong ideological commit-
ments. Concerning the “second Nile” project in Africa, he wrote: “The great
new man-made inland seas would transfigure the Sahara . . . and create a new
climate in Northern Africa. . . . Millions and millions of fertile acres would be
29
made to yield two and even three crops a year for the benefit of mankind.”
This would enhance the “struggle of African peoples for national liberation”
against the vested interests of American and European capitalists seeking
to control the African economy (161). In essence, Adabashev envisioned in
the not-too-distant future a new global hydrologic era of gigantic dams and
dikes, pumping stations capable of handling entire seas, and other facilities that
would “trigger” various meteorological processes. He called it “a better heating
system for our planet, better able to serve all the five continents” (201). But
with world population and energy needs increasing, why should a visionary
engineer stop with the surface of the Earth? Adabashev concluded his book
with a fanciful account of a “Dyson sphere,” one astronomical unit in radius, a
new home for humanity roughly a trillion times greater than that of the Earth,
synthesized from the remains of the outer planets and capturing all the energy
of the Sun—solar-powered sustainable development in action—at least for
the next 300 million years! For Adabashev, however, implementation of such
projects had been delayed by the continued existence of capitalism, which he
likened to “a ball and chain hampering man in his progress towards a happier
lot” (237).

200 | fearS, fantaSieS, and PoSSibilitieS of Control