The murky views which some scientists advocate as to the inevitable end of every living thing on Earth . . . should not be regarded as axiomatic. The finer part of mankind will, in all likelihood, never perish—they will migrate from sun to sun as they go out. And so there is no end to life, to intellect and the perfection of humanity. Its progress is everlasting.

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky

The perspective in this illustration of a space elevator concept is from the geostationary transfer station looking down along the length of the elevator structure towards Earth.

Tsiolkovsky made that statement as a rebuttal to the dark future predicted for humankind by Thomas Malthus, a British clergyman who believed humankind was doomed to a future of misery because of overpopulation and the inadequacy of the food supply. The year was 1895, and Tsiolkovsky, considered by many the father of the...