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105-401: Tramp Royale is a nonfiction travelogue by science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein , describing how he and his wife, Ginny , went around the world by ship and plane between 1953 and 1954. It was published posthumously in 1992, and subsequently went out of print. Much of the book is devoted to social and political commentary and observation, including two lengthy but half-hearted defenses of

210-637: A negative sense, liberty is "the revolt of the individual against all divine, collective, and individual authority." "This also is remarkable in India , that all Indians are free, and no Indian at all is a slave. In this the Indians agree with the Lacedaemonians . Yet the Lacedaemonians have Helots for slaves, who perform the duties of slaves; but the Indians have no slaves at all, much less

315-470: A Harsh Mistress as "unquestionably one of the three or four most influential libertarian novels of the last century". Heinlein did not publish Stranger in a Strange Land until some time after it was written, and the themes of free love and radical individualism are prominently featured in his long-unpublished first novel, For Us, the Living: A Comedy of Customs . The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress tells of

420-565: A Strange Land ) to 1973 ( Time Enough for Love ), Heinlein explored some of his most important themes, such as individualism , libertarianism , and free expression of physical and emotional love. Three novels from this period, Stranger in a Strange Land , The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress , and Time Enough for Love , won the Libertarian Futurist Society 's Prometheus Hall of Fame Award , designed to honor classic libertarian fiction. Jeff Riggenbach described The Moon Is

525-669: A Strange Land ) to write and publish a book exploring ideas of civic virtue, initially serialized as Starship Soldiers . In 1959, his novel (now entitled Starship Troopers ) was considered by the editors and owners of Scribner's to be too controversial for one of its prestige lines, and it was rejected. Heinlein found another publisher ( Putnam ), feeling himself released from the constraints of writing novels for children. He had told an interviewer that he did not want to do stories that merely added to categories defined by other works. Rather he wanted to do his own work, stating that: "I want to do my own stuff, my own way". He would go on to write

630-571: A Strange Land , Starship Troopers (which helped mold the space marine and mecha archetypes) and The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress . His work sometimes had controversial aspects, such as plural marriage in The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress , militarism in Starship Troopers and technologically competent women characters who were formidable, yet often stereotypically feminine—such as Friday . Heinlein used his science fiction as

735-412: A controversial work and his personal riposte to leftists calling for President Dwight D. Eisenhower to stop nuclear testing in 1958. "The 'Patrick Henry' ad shocked 'em", he wrote many years later of the campaign. " Starship Troopers outraged 'em." Starship Troopers is a coming-of-age story about duty, citizenship, and the role of the military in society. The book portrays a society in which suffrage

840-642: A few weeks of graduate classes in mathematics and physics at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), but he soon quit, either because of his ill-health or because of a desire to enter politics. Heinlein supported himself at several occupations, including real estate sales and silver mining , but for some years found money in short supply. Heinlein was active in Upton Sinclair 's socialist End Poverty in California movement (EPIC) in

945-444: A given social system. Freedom thus requires both the material economic conditions that make freedom possible alongside social relationships and institutions conducive to freedom. The socialist conception of freedom is closely related to the socialist view of creativity and individuality. Influenced by Karl Marx 's concept of alienated labor, socialists understand freedom to be the ability for an individual to engage in creative work in

1050-406: A life-threatening attack of peritonitis , recovery from which required more than two years, and treatment of which required multiple transfusions of Heinlein's rare blood type, A2 negative . As soon as he was well enough to write again, he began work on Time Enough for Love (1973), which introduced many of the themes found in his later fiction. In the mid-1970s, Heinlein wrote two articles for

1155-480: A matter of principle. The novels that Heinlein wrote for a young audience are commonly called "the Heinlein juveniles", and they feature a mixture of adolescent and adult themes. Many of the issues that he takes on in these books have to do with the kinds of problems that adolescents experience. His protagonists are usually intelligent teenagers who have to make their way in the adult society they see around them. On

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1260-568: A military academy. When Heinlein graduated from Kansas City Central High School in 1924, he was initially prevented from attending the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis because his older brother Rex was a student there, and at the time, regulations discouraged multiple family members from attending the academy simultaneously. He instead matriculated at Kansas City Community College and began vigorously petitioning Missouri Senator James A. Reed for an appointment to

1365-799: A modern version of a waterbed in his novel Stranger in a Strange Land . Heinlein, born on July 7, 1907, to Rex Ivar Heinlein (an accountant) and Bam Lyle Heinlein, in Butler, Missouri , was the third of seven children. He was a sixth-generation German-American ; a family tradition had it that Heinleins fought in every American war, starting with the War of Independence . He spent his childhood in Kansas City, Missouri . The outlook and values of this time and place (in his own words, "The Bible Belt ") had an influence on his fiction, especially in his later works, as he drew heavily upon his childhood in establishing

1470-401: A polity in which there is the same law for all, a polity administered with regard to equal rights and equal freedom of speech, and the idea of a kingly government which respects most of all the freedom of the governed. According to compatibilist Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679): a free man is he that in those things which by his strength and wit he is able to do is not hindered to do what he hath

1575-538: A publisher, Scribner's , that began publishing a Heinlein juvenile once a year for the Christmas season. Eight of these books were illustrated by Clifford Geary in a distinctive white-on-black scratchboard style. Some representative novels of this type are Have Space Suit—Will Travel , Farmer in the Sky , and Starman Jones . Many of these were first published in serial form under other titles, e.g., Farmer in

1680-435: A radio series, and a board game have been derived more or less directly from his work. He wrote a screenplay for one of the films. Heinlein edited an anthology of other writers' SF short stories. Three nonfiction books and two poems have been published posthumously. For Us, the Living: A Comedy of Customs was published posthumously in 2003; Variable Star , written by Spider Robinson based on an extensive outline by Heinlein,

1785-410: A relationship between individuals, rather than families, came to the fore, and with it the increasing focus on individual liberty as a fundamental reality, given by " Nature and Nature's God ," which, in the ideal state , would be as universal as possible. In On Liberty , John Stuart Mill sought to define the "...nature and limits of the power which can be legitimately exercised by society over

1890-607: A revolution in which young students are involved; his editor demanded substantial changes in this book's discussion of topics such as the use of weapons by children and the misidentified sex of the Martian character. Heinlein was always aware of the editorial limitations put in place by the editors of his novels and stories, and while he observed those restrictions on the surface, was often successful in introducing ideas not often seen in other authors' juvenile SF. In 1957, James Blish wrote that one reason for Heinlein's success "has been

1995-426: A series of challenging books that redrew the boundaries of science fiction, including Stranger in a Strange Land (1961) and The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (1966). Beginning in 1970, Heinlein had a series of health crises, broken by strenuous periods of activity in his hobby of stonemasonry : in a private correspondence, he referred to that as his "usual and favorite occupation between books". The decade began with

2100-726: A seven-year hiatus brought on by poor health, Heinlein produced five new novels in the period from 1980 ( The Number of the Beast ) to 1987 ( To Sail Beyond the Sunset ). These books have a thread of common characters and time and place. They most explicitly communicated Heinlein's philosophies and beliefs, and many long, didactic passages of dialog and exposition deal with government, sex, and religion. These novels are controversial among his readers and one critic, David Langford , has written about them very negatively. Heinlein's four Hugo awards were all for books written before this period. Most of

2205-579: A strong influence on his character and writing. In 1929, he graduated from the Naval Academy with the equivalent of a bachelor of arts in engineering. (At that time, the Academy did not confer degrees.) He ranked fifth in his class academically but with a class standing of 20th of 243 due to disciplinary demerits. The U.S. Navy commissioned him as an ensign shortly after his graduation. He advanced to lieutenant junior grade in 1931 while serving aboard

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2310-407: A travelogue of their first around-the-world tour in 1954, Tramp Royale . The novel Podkayne of Mars, which had been edited against Heinlein's wishes in their original release, was reissued with the original ending. Stranger In a Strange Land was originally published in a shorter form, but both the long and short versions are now simultaneously available in print. Heinlein's archive is housed by

2415-618: A war of independence waged by the Lunar penal colonies, with significant comments from a major character, Professor La Paz, regarding the threat posed by government to individual freedom. Although Heinlein had previously written a few short stories in the fantasy genre, during this period he wrote his first fantasy novel, Glory Road . In Stranger in a Strange Land and I Will Fear No Evil , he began to mix hard science with fantasy, mysticism, and satire of organized religion. Critics William H. Patterson, Jr., and Andrew Thornton believe that this

2520-426: A way to explore provocative social and political ideas and to speculate how progress in science and engineering might shape the future of politics, race, religion, and sex. Within the framework of his science-fiction stories, Heinlein repeatedly addressed certain social themes: the importance of individual liberty and self-reliance , the nature of sexual relationships, the obligation individuals owe to their societies,

2625-403: A writer, and finds love with a female character. The 1982 novel Friday , a more conventional adventure story (borrowing a character and backstory from the earlier short story Gulf , also containing suggestions of connection to The Puppet Masters ) continued a Heinlein theme of expecting what he saw as the continued disintegration of Earth's society, to the point where the title character

2730-518: Is 2,430 km (1,510 mi) from St. Helena. This trip, along with Heinlein's experiences as a naval officer, appears to have provided a great deal of the background material for some of Heinlein's science fiction novels, such as passenger liners used in Podkayne of Mars (in space) and in Job: A Comedy of Justice (on the oceans). Much of the humor in the book consists of riffs on the idea that Ginny

2835-526: Is always an immoral violation of one's life, liberty, and property rights. Utilizing deceit instead of consent to achieve ends is also a violation of the Non-Aggression principle. Therefore, under the framework of the Non-Aggression principle, rape, murder, deception, involuntary taxation, government regulation, and other behaviors that initiate aggression against otherwise peaceful individuals are considered violations of this principle. This principle

2940-486: Is at sea level . Robert and Virginia designed and built a new residence, circular in shape, in the adjacent village of Bonny Doon . Ginny undoubtedly served as a model for many of his intelligent, fiercely independent female characters. She was a chemist and rocket test engineer , and held a higher rank in the Navy than Heinlein himself. She was also an accomplished college athlete , earning four letters. In 1953–1954,

3045-530: Is earned by demonstrated willingness to place society's interests before one's own, at least for a short time and often under onerous circumstances, in government service; in the case of the protagonist, this was military service. Later, in Expanded Universe , Heinlein said that it was his intention in the novel that service could include positions outside strictly military functions such as teachers, police officers, and other government positions. This

3150-458: Is most commonly adhered to by libertarians . A common elevator pitch for this principle is, "Good ideas don't require force." According to republican theorists of freedom, like the historian Quentin Skinner or the philosopher Philip Pettit , one's liberty should not be viewed as the absence of interference in one's actions, but as non-domination. According to this view, which originates in

3255-419: Is presented in the novel as an outgrowth of the failure of unearned suffrage government and as a very successful arrangement. In addition, the franchise was only awarded after leaving the assigned service; thus those serving their terms—in the military, or any other service—were excluded from exercising any franchise. Career military were completely disenfranchised until retirement. From about 1961 ( Stranger in

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3360-534: Is protected from tyranny and the arbitrary exercise of authority , while the former refers to the liberty that comes from self-mastery, the freedom from inner compulsions such as weakness and fear. The modern day concept of political liberty has its origins in the Greek concepts of freedom and slavery. To be free, to the Greeks, was not to have a master, to be independent from a master (to live as one likes). That

3465-436: Is simply an expression of Heinlein's longstanding philosophical opposition to positivism . Heinlein stated that he was influenced by James Branch Cabell in taking this new literary direction. The penultimate novel of this period, I Will Fear No Evil , is according to critic James Gifford "almost universally regarded as a literary failure" and he attributes its shortcomings to Heinlein's near-death from peritonitis . After

3570-420: Is strongly encouraged to seek a new life off-planet. It concludes with a traditional Heinlein note, as in The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress or Time Enough for Love , that freedom is to be found on the frontiers. Liberty Sometimes liberty is differentiated from freedom by using the word "freedom" primarily, if not exclusively, to mean the ability to do as one wills and what one has the power to do; and using

3675-508: Is the hothead, while Robert is the easygoing one. For example, in a shipboard incident at the captain's table, Robert continues eating his dessert after being doused in salad during a food fight started by Ginny. Robert A. Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein ( / ˈ h aɪ n l aɪ n / ; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer , and naval officer . Sometimes called

3780-506: Is to be under no other restraint but the law of nature. Freedom of people under government is to be under no restraint apart from standing rules to live by that are common to everyone in the society and made by the lawmaking power established in it. Persons have a right or liberty to (1) follow their own will in all things that the law has not prohibited and (2) not be subject to the inconstant, uncertain, unknown, and arbitrary wills of others. John Stuart Mill , in his 1859 work, On Liberty ,

3885-558: The Britannica Compton Yearbook . He and Ginny crisscrossed the country helping to reorganize blood donation in the United States in an effort to assist the system which had saved his life. At science fiction conventions to receive his autograph, fans would be asked to co-sign with Heinlein a beautifully embellished pledge form he supplied stating that the recipient agrees that they will donate blood . He

3990-652: The Edicts of Ashoka the Great , which emphasize the importance of tolerance in public policy by the government. The slaughter or capture of prisoners of war also appears to have been condemned by Ashoka. Slavery also appears to have been non-existent in the Maurya Empire. However, according to Hermann Kulke and Dietmar Rothermund, "Ashoka's orders seem to have been resisted right from the beginning." Roman law also embraced certain limited forms of liberty, even under

4095-576: The McCarthy hearings , about which the Heinleins were interrogated repeatedly in the countries they visited. Although Heinlein has been adopted as somewhat of a posterboy by the libertarian movement, the political commentary reveals that Heinlein was far from being a doctrinaire adherent of any particular political philosophy. For example, he compares the social welfare state of New Zealand unfavorably to that of Uruguay and says that he cannot explain why

4200-574: The Mises Institute . France supported the Americans in their revolt against English rule and, in 1789, overthrew their own monarchy, with the cry of "Liberté, égalité, fraternité". The bloodbath that followed, known as the reign of terror , soured many people on the idea of liberty. Edmund Burke, considered one of the fathers of conservatism , wrote "The French had shewn themselves the ablest architects of ruin that had hitherto existed in

4305-518: The Russian revolutionary anarchist Mikhail Bakunin , liberty did not mean an abstract ideal but a concrete reality based on the equal liberty of others. In a positive sense, liberty consists of "the fullest development of all the faculties and powers of every human being, by education, by scientific training, and by material prosperity." Such a conception of liberty is " eminently social , because it can only be realized in society," not in isolation. In

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4410-446: The "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accuracy in his fiction, and was thus a pioneer of the subgenre of hard science fiction . His published works, both fiction and non-fiction, express admiration for competence and emphasize the value of critical thinking . His plots often posed provocative situations which challenged conventional social mores . His work continues to have an influence on

4515-854: The 1941 Worldcon , held in Denver. During World War II , Heinlein was employed by the Navy as a civilian aeronautical engineer at the Navy Aircraft Materials Center at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Pennsylvania . Heinlein recruited Isaac Asimov and L. Sprague de Camp to also work there. While at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyards, Asimov, Heinlein, and de Camp brainstormed unconventional approaches to kamikaze attacks, such as using sound to detect approaching planes. As

4620-521: The Future History on some points, while maintaining consistency in some other areas. The Future History was eventually overtaken by actual events. These discrepancies were explained, after a fashion, in his later World as Myth stories. Heinlein's first novel published as a book, Rocket Ship Galileo , was initially rejected because going to the Moon was considered too far-fetched, but he soon found

4725-478: The Heinlein mythos where unrepentant law-breakers are exiled). It appears that Heinlein at least attempted to live in a manner consistent with these ideals, even in the 1930s, and had an open relationship in his marriage to his second wife, Leslyn. He was also a nudist ; nudism and body taboos are frequently discussed in his work. At the height of the Cold War , he built a bomb shelter under his house, like

4830-556: The Heinleins voyaged around the world (mostly via ocean liners and cargo liners , as Ginny detested flying), which Heinlein described in Tramp Royale , and which also provided background material for science fiction novels set aboard spaceships on long voyages, such as Podkayne of Mars , Friday and Job: A Comedy of Justice , the latter initially being set on a cruise much as detailed in Tramp Royale . Ginny acted as

4935-499: The Latin word liber , from Proto-Italic * louðeros , from Proto-Indo-European * h₁léwdʰeros , from * h₁lewdʰ- ("people"). The word "liberty" is commonly used in slogans or quotes, such as in " Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness " and " Liberté, égalité, fraternité ". Philosophers from the earliest times have considered the question of liberty. Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (121–180 AD) wrote:

5040-460: The Living: A Comedy of Customs (1939), did not see print during his lifetime, but Robert James tracked down the manuscript and it was published in 2003. Though some regard it as a failure as a novel, considering it little more than a disguised lecture on Heinlein's social theories , some readers took a very different view. In a review of it, John Clute wrote: I'm not about to suggest that if Heinlein had been able to publish [such works] openly in

5145-603: The Naval Academy. In part due to the influence of the Pendergast machine , the Naval Academy admitted him in June 1925. Heinlein received his discharge from the Missouri National Guard as a staff sergeant. Reed later told Heinlein that he had received 100 letters of recommendation for nomination to the Naval Academy, 50 for other candidates and 50 for Heinlein. Heinlein's experience in the U.S. Navy exerted

5250-564: The Reagan SDI spring 1983 speech. Asked to appear before a Joint Committee of the United States Congress that year, he testified on his belief that spin-offs from space technology were benefiting the infirm and the elderly. Heinlein's surgical treatment re-energized him, and he wrote five novels from 1980 until he died in his sleep from emphysema and heart failure on May 8, 1988. In 1995, Spider Robinson wrote

5355-546: The Roman Digest , to be a liber homo , a free man, means not being subject to another's arbitrary will, that is to say, dominated by another. They also cite Machiavelli who asserted that you must be a member of a free self-governing civil association, a republic, if you are to enjoy individual liberty. The predominance of this view of liberty among parliamentarians during the English Civil War resulted in

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5460-529: The Sky was published as Satellite Scout in the Boy Scout magazine Boys' Life . There has been speculation that Heinlein's intense obsession with his privacy was due at least in part to the apparent contradiction between his unconventional private life and his career as an author of books for children. However, For Us, the Living explicitly discusses the political importance Heinlein attached to privacy as

5565-649: The Special Collections department of McHenry Library at the University of California at Santa Cruz . The collection includes manuscript drafts, correspondence, photographs and artifacts. A substantial portion of the archive has been digitized and it is available online through the Robert A. and Virginia Heinlein Archives. Heinlein published 32 novels, 59 short stories, and 16 collections during his life. Nine films, two television series, several episodes of

5670-429: The ability of socialism and communism progressively reducing the average length of the workday to expand the "realm of freedom", or discretionary free time, for each person. Marx's notion of communist society and human freedom is thus radically individualistic. While many anarchists see freedom slightly differently, all oppose authority, including the authority of the state, of capitalism , and of nationalism . For

5775-544: The absence of alienation, where "alienated labor" refers to work people are forced to perform and un-alienated work refers to individuals pursuing their own creative interests. For Karl Marx, meaningful freedom is only attainable in a communist society characterized by superabundance and free access. Such a social arrangement would eliminate the need for alienated labor and enable individuals to pursue their own creative interests, leaving them to develop and maximize their full potentialities. This goes alongside Marx's emphasis on

5880-727: The commander of the U.S. Navy's first modern aircraft carrier. Heinlein also served as gunnery officer aboard the destroyer USS  Roper in 1933 and 1934, reaching the rank of lieutenant. His brother, Lawrence Heinlein, served in the U.S. Army, the U.S. Air Force, and the Missouri National Guard , reaching the rank of major general in the National Guard. In 1929, Heinlein married Elinor Curry of Kansas City. However, their marriage lasted only about one year. His second marriage, to Leslyn MacDonald (1904–1981) in 1932, lasted 15 years. MacDonald was, according to

5985-436: The commonwealth. People are free from the dominion of any will or legal restraint apart from that enacted by their own constituted lawmaking power according to the trust put in it. Thus, freedom is not as Sir Robert Filmer defines it: 'A liberty for everyone to do what he likes, to live as he pleases, and not to be tied by any laws.' Freedom is constrained by laws in both the state of nature and political society. Freedom of nature

6090-543: The contest's first-prize payoff. Another Future History story, "Misfit", followed in November. Some saw Heinlein's talent and stardom from his first story, and he was quickly acknowledged as a leader of the new movement toward "social" science fiction . In California he hosted the Mañana Literary Society , a 1940–41 series of informal gatherings of new authors. He was the guest of honor at Denvention,

6195-580: The core belief of liberalism is toleration. Liberals allow others freedom to do what they want, in exchange for having the same freedom in return. This idea of freedom is personal rather than political. William Safire points out that liberalism is attacked by both the Right and the Left: by the Right for defending such practices as abortion, homosexuality, and atheism, and by the Left for defending free enterprise and

6300-472: The creation of the liberal concept of freedom as non-interference in Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan . Socialists view freedom as a concrete situation as opposed to a purely abstract ideal. Freedom is a state of being where individuals have agency to pursue their creative interests unhindered by coercive social relationships, specifically those they are forced to engage in as a requisite for survival under

6405-420: The development of Heinlein's radical ideas about man as a social animal , including his interest in free love . The root of many themes found in his later stories can be found in this book. It also contained a large amount of material that could be considered background for his other novels. This included a detailed description of the protagonist's treatment to avoid being banished to Coventry (a lawless land in

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6510-598: The early 1930s. He was deputy publisher of the EPIC News , which Heinlein noted "recalled a mayor, kicked out a district attorney, replaced the governor with one of our choice." When Sinclair gained the Democratic nomination for Governor of California in 1934, Heinlein worked actively in the campaign. Heinlein himself ran for the California State Assembly in 1938, but was unsuccessful. Heinlein

6615-448: The first few years of his career." Alexei expresses awe in Heinlein's ability to show readers a world so drastically different from the one we live in now, yet have so many similarities. He says that "We find ourselves not only in a world other than our own, but identifying with a living, breathing individual who is operating within its context, and thinking and acting according to its terms." The first novel that Heinlein wrote, For Us,

6720-403: The first reader of his manuscripts . Isaac Asimov believed that Heinlein made a swing to the right politically at the same time he married Ginny. In 1934, Heinlein was discharged from the Navy, owing to pulmonary tuberculosis . During a lengthy hospitalization, and inspired by his own experience while bed-ridden, he developed a design for a waterbed . After his discharge, Heinlein attended

6825-415: The first science fiction writer to break out of the " pulp ghetto ". In 1950, the movie Destination Moon —the documentary-like film for which he had written the story and scenario, co-written the script, and invented many of the effects—won an Academy Award for special effects . Heinlein created SF stories with social commentary about relationships. In The Puppet Masters , a 1951 alien invasion novel,

6930-446: The high grade of machinery which goes, today as always, into his story-telling. Heinlein seems to have known from the beginning, as if instinctively, technical lessons about fiction which other writers must learn the hard way (or often enough, never learn). He does not always operate the machinery to the best advantage, but he always seems to be aware of it." Heinlein decisively ended his juvenile novels with Starship Troopers (1959),

7035-616: The incoming Reagan administration . Members included such aerospace industry leaders as former astronaut Buzz Aldrin , General Daniel O. Graham , aerospace engineer Max Hunter and North American Rockwell VP for Space Shuttle development George Merrick. Policy recommendations from the Council included ballistic missile defense concepts which were later transformed into what was called the Strategic Defense Initiative . Heinlein assisted with Council contribution to

7140-542: The individual," and as such, he describes an inherent and continuous antagonism between liberty and authority and thus, the prevailing question becomes "how to make the fitting adjustment between individual independence and social control". According to a 2024 study, a global conception of liberty took form during the late Middle Ages (circa 1000–1600), as "emic terms used across Afro-Eurasia to denote liberty were interconnected through various translingual practices resulting from multilingual governance, courtly encounters, and

7245-467: The influence of organized religion on culture and government, and the tendency of society to repress nonconformist thought. He also speculated on the influence of space travel on human cultural practices. Heinlein was heavily influenced by the visionary writers and philosophers of his day. William H. Patterson Jr, writing in Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with his Century, states that by 1930, Heinlein

7350-526: The new aircraft carrier USS  Lexington , where he worked in radio communications —a technology then still in its earlier stages. The captain of this carrier, Ernest J. King , later served as the Chief of Naval Operations and Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Fleet during World War II . Military historians frequently interviewed Heinlein during his later years and asked him about Captain King and his service as

7455-501: The next few months, he became more and more exhausted, and his health again began to decline. The problem was determined to be a blocked carotid artery , and he had one of the earliest known carotid bypass operations to correct it. In 1980, Robert Heinlein was a member of the Citizen's Advisory Council on National Space Policy , chaired by Jerry Pournelle , which met at the home of SF writer Larry Niven to write space policy papers for

7560-484: The novel Variable Star based on an outline and notes created by Heinlein. Heinlein's posthumously published nonfiction includes a selection of correspondence and notes edited into a somewhat autobiographical examination of his career, published in 1989 under the title Grumbles from the Grave by his wife, Virginia; his book on practical politics written in 1946 and published as Take Back Your Government in 1992; and

7665-477: The novels from this period are recognized by critics as forming an offshoot from the Future History series and are referred to by the term World as Myth . The tendency toward authorial self-reference begun in Stranger in a Strange Land and Time Enough for Love becomes even more evident in novels such as The Cat Who Walks Through Walls , whose first-person protagonist is a disabled military veteran who becomes

7770-529: The one featured in Farnham's Freehold . After For Us, the Living , Heinlein began selling (to magazines) first short stories, then novels, set in a Future History , complete with a time line of significant political, cultural, and technological changes. A chart of the future history was published in the May 1941 issue of Astounding . Over time, Heinlein wrote many novels and short stories that deviated freely from

7875-458: The one was so much more successful than the other. Heinlein devoted an entire chapter to his (almost) visit to Tristan da Cunha , arguably the most remote human settlement on Earth. He described the islands as being so far from the rest of human civilization that the next closest human settlement, St. Helena , "[is] itself so remote that it was picked as a safe prison for Napoleon Bonaparte after he crushed his way out of Elba ". Tristan da Cunha

7980-466: The pages of Astounding in 1939, SF would have gotten the future right; I would suggest, however, that if Heinlein, and his colleagues, had been able to publish adult SF in Astounding and its fellow journals, then SF might not have done such a grotesquely poor job of prefiguring something of the flavor of actually living here at the onset of 2004. For Us, the Living was intriguing as a window into

8085-746: The point of view character Sam persuades fellow operative Mary to marry him. When they go to the county clerk, they are offered a variety of marriage possibilities; “Term, renewable or lifetime”, as short as six months or as long as forever. Also, he embarked on a series of juvenile novels for the Charles Scribner's Sons publishing company that went from 1947 through 1959, at the rate of one book each autumn, in time for Christmas presents to teenagers. He also wrote for Boys' Life in 1952. Heinlein used topical materials throughout his juvenile series beginning in 1947, but in 1958 he interrupted work on The Heretic (the working title of Stranger in

8190-418: The proverbial public square – but, as a practical matter, my most cherished rights are those that I possess in my bedroom and hospital room and death chamber. Most people are far more concerned that they can control their own bodies than they are about petitioning Congress. In modern America, various competing ideologies have divergent views about how best to promote liberty. Liberals in the original sense of

8295-682: The rights of the individual over the collective. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica , libertarians hold liberty as their primary political value. Their approach to implementing liberty involves opposing any governmental coercion, aside from that which is necessary to prevent individuals from coercing each other. Libertarianism is guided by the principle commonly known as the Non-Aggression Principle (NAP). The Non-Aggression Principle asserts that aggression against an individual or an individual's property

8400-729: The rule of the Roman Emperors. However, these liberties were accorded only to Roman citizens . Many of the liberties enjoyed under Roman law endured through the Middle Ages, but were enjoyed solely by the nobility , rarely by the common man. The idea of inalienable and universal liberties had to wait until the Age of Enlightenment . The social contract theory, most influentially formulated by Hobbes , John Locke and Rousseau (though first suggested by Plato in The Republic ),

8505-516: The same rights and had the same freedom of religion , women had the same rights as men, and slavery was abolished (550 BC). All the palaces of the kings of Persia were built by paid workers in an era when slaves typically did such work. In the Maurya Empire of ancient India , citizens of all religions and ethnic groups had some rights to freedom , tolerance , and equality . The need for tolerance on an egalitarian basis can be found in

8610-478: The science-fiction genre, and on modern culture more generally. Heinlein became one of the first American science-fiction writers to break into mainstream magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post in the late 1940s. He was one of the best-selling science-fiction novelists for many decades, and he, Isaac Asimov , and Arthur C. Clarke are often considered the "Big Three" of English-language science fiction authors. Notable Heinlein works include Stranger in

8715-583: The setting and cultural atmosphere in works like Time Enough for Love and To Sail Beyond the Sunset . The 1910 appearance of Halley's Comet inspired the young child's life-long interest in astronomy. In January 1924, the sixteen year old Heinlein lied about his age to enlist in Company C, 110th Engineer Regiment , of the Missouri National Guard , in Kansas City. His family could not afford to send Heinlein to college, so he sought an appointment to

8820-488: The spread of religions. Words for liberty in different languages paralleled each other in bilingual legal documents, resonated with each other in different translations of religious texts, and stood next to each other in bureaucratic glossaries and dictionaries." The study concludes, "thus, the concept(s) of liberty, instead of being a product of the West, is more accurately seen as a result of interactions among different parts of

8925-445: The surface, they are simple tales of adventure, achievement, and dealing with stupid teachers and jealous peers. Heinlein was a vocal proponent of the notion that juvenile readers were far more sophisticated and able to handle more complex or difficult themes than most people realized. His juvenile stories often had a maturity to them that made them readable for adults. Red Planet , for example, portrays some subversive themes, including

9030-441: The testimony of Heinlein's Navy friend, Rear Admiral Cal Laning , "astonishingly intelligent, widely read, and extremely liberal, though a registered Republican ", while Isaac Asimov later recalled that Heinlein was, at the time, "a flaming liberal ". (See section: Politics of Robert Heinlein .) At the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard , Heinlein met and befriended a chemical engineer named Virginia "Ginny" Gerstenfeld . After

9135-667: The town of Raton, New Mexico . Soon thereafter, they set up housekeeping in the Broadmoor district of Colorado Springs, Colorado , in a house that Heinlein and his wife designed. As the area was newly developed, they were allowed to choose their own house number, 1776 Mesa Avenue. The design of the house was featured in Popular Mechanics . They remained married until Heinlein's death. In 1965, after various chronic health problems of Virginia's were traced back to altitude sickness , they moved to Santa Cruz, California , which

9240-501: The war wound down in 1945, Heinlein began to re-evaluate his career. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki , along with the outbreak of the Cold War , galvanized him to write nonfiction on political topics. In addition, he wanted to break into better-paying markets. He published four influential short stories for The Saturday Evening Post magazine, leading off, in February 1947, with " The Green Hills of Earth ". That made him

9345-415: The war, her engagement having fallen through, she attended UCLA for doctoral studies in chemistry , and while there reconnected with Heinlein. As his second wife's alcoholism gradually spun out of control, Heinlein moved out and the couple filed for divorce . Heinlein's friendship with Virginia turned into a relationship and on October 21, 1948—shortly after the decree nisi came through—they married in

9450-517: The will to do. John Locke (1632–1704) rejected that definition of liberty. While not specifically mentioning Hobbes, he attacks Sir Robert Filmer who had the same definition. According to Locke: In the state of nature, liberty consists of being free from any superior power on Earth. People are not under the will or lawmaking authority of others but have only the law of nature for their rule. In political society, liberty consists of being under no other lawmaking power except that established by consent in

9555-514: The word "liberty" to mean the absence of arbitrary restraints, taking into account the rights of all involved. In this sense, the exercise of liberty is subject to capability and limited by the rights of others. Thus liberty entails the responsible use of freedom under the rule of law without depriving anyone else of their freedom. Liberty can be taken away as a form of punishment. In many countries, people can be deprived of their liberty if they are convicted of criminal acts. Liberty originates from

9660-543: The word see equality as a necessary component of freedom. Progressives stress freedom from business monopoly as essential. Libertarians disagree, and see economic and individual freedom as best. The Tea Party movement sees "big government" as an enemy of freedom. Other major participants in the modern American libertarian movement include the Libertarian Party , the Free State Project , and

9765-532: The world." According to the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics , liberalism is "the belief that it is the aim of politics to preserve individual rights and to maximize freedom of choice ". But they point out that there is considerable discussion about how to achieve those goals. Every discussion of freedom depends on three key components: who is free, what they are free to do, and what forces restrict their freedom. John Gray argues that

9870-557: The world; the globalization of liberty did not start with the global expansion of the Euro-American empires but has a rich and complex history that predates them." Timeline: According to the 1776 United States Declaration of Independence , all people have a natural right to " Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness ". This declaration of liberty was troubled for 90 years by the continued institutionalization of legalized Black slavery, as slave owners argued that their liberty

9975-475: Was a progressive liberal who had spent some time in the open sexuality climate of New York’s Jazz Age Greenwich Village . Heinlein believed that some level of socialism was inevitable and was already occurring in America. He was absorbing the social concepts of writers such as H.G. Wells and Upton Sinclair . He adopted many of the progressive social beliefs of his day and projected them forward. Heinlein

10080-503: Was among the first to provide a political classification of rights , in particular through the notion of sovereignty and of natural rights . The thinkers of the Enlightenment reasoned that law governed both heavenly and human affairs, and that law gave the king his power, rather than the king's power giving force to law. This conception of law would find its culmination in the ideas of Montesquieu . The conception of law as

10185-409: Was expanded further to prohibit government interference with personal choices. In the 1965 United States Supreme Court decision Griswold v. Connecticut , Justice William O. Douglas argued that liberties relating to personal relationships, such as marriage, have a unique primacy of place in the hierarchy of freedoms. Jacob M. Appel has summarized this principle: I am grateful that I have rights in

10290-783: Was named the first Science Fiction Writers Grand Master in 1974. Four of his novels won Hugo Awards . In addition, fifty years after publication, seven of his works were awarded " Retro Hugos "—awards given retrospectively for works that were published before the Hugo Awards came into existence. In his fiction, Heinlein coined terms that have become part of the English language, including grok , waldo and speculative fiction , as well as popularizing existing terms like " TANSTAAFL ", " pay it forward ", and " space marine ". He also anticipated mechanical computer-aided design with "Drafting Dan" in his novel The Door into Summer and described

10395-551: Was paramount since it involved property, their slaves, and that Blacks had no rights that any White man was obliged to recognize. The Supreme Court, in the 1857 Dred Scott decision, upheld this principle. In 1866, after the American Civil War , the US Constitution was amended to extend rights to persons of color, and in 1920 voting rights were extended to women. By the later half of the 20th century, liberty

10500-491: Was published in September 2006. Four collections have been published posthumously. Heinlein began his career as a writer of stories for Astounding Science Fiction magazine, which was edited by John Campbell. The science fiction writer Frederik Pohl has described Heinlein as "that greatest of Campbell-era sf writers". Isaac Asimov said that, from the time of his first story, the science fiction world accepted that Heinlein

10605-624: Was running as a left-wing Democrat in a conservative district, and he never made it past the Democratic primary. While not destitute after the campaign—he had a small disability pension from the Navy—Heinlein turned to writing to pay off his mortgage. His first published story, " Life-Line ", was printed in the August 1939 issue of Astounding Science Fiction . Originally written for a contest, it sold to Astounding for significantly more than

10710-402: Was the best science fiction writer in existence, adding that he would hold this title through his lifetime. Alexei and Cory Panshin noted that Heinlein's impact was immediately felt. In 1940, the year after selling 'Life-Line' to Campbell, he wrote three short novels, four novelettes, and seven short stories. They went on to say that "No one ever dominated the science fiction field as Bob did in

10815-414: Was the first to recognize the difference between liberty as the freedom to act and liberty as the absence of coercion. In his 1958 lecture " Two Concepts of Liberty ", Isaiah Berlin formally framed the differences between two perspectives as the distinction between two opposite concepts of liberty: positive liberty and negative liberty . The latter designates a negative condition in which an individual

10920-521: Was the guest of honor at the Worldcon in 1976 for the third time at MidAmeriCon in Kansas City, Missouri . At that Worldcon, Heinlein hosted a blood drive and donors' reception to thank all those who had helped save lives. Beginning in 1977, and including an episode while vacationing in Tahiti in early 1978, he had episodes of reversible neurologic dysfunction due to transient ischemic attacks . Over

11025-468: Was the original Greek concept of freedom. It is closely linked with the concept of democracy, as Aristotle put it : This applied only to free men. In Athens, for instance, women could not vote or hold office and were legally and socially dependent on a male relative. The populations of the Persian Empire enjoyed some degree of freedom. Citizens of all religions and ethnic groups were given

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