I just read the book _the stars are too high_ this weekend, which we've referred to earlier in this thread here:
viewtopic.php?p=6596&highlight=bahnson#6596
The Stars Are Too High, Agnew H. Bahnson, Jr. Random House. 1959. 250 pp.
Really, really interesting to read, and I highly recommend others pick it up. I found my copy on ebay--but as Paul suggested abe.com may also prove fruitful.
WARNING that the following includes what could be termed "plot spoilers" so you may prefer to read the book first and come back later.
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In the category of time-capsules, this book certainly felt like it was written for a future audience. Whether or not that is the case, EHD was absolutely correct that the plotline is all about exploring the moral/ethical quandary of what to do with technology so advanced it would upset the global balance of power and alter every aspect of human life on the planet. For our purposes, it treats in detail the specific moral questions of the specific technological development upon which our attention is already focused.
As much as I might have wanted them to, the main characters do not seem to directly parallel any persons we would know from the TTB narrative. But they fulfill the needed narrative roles to make the technology happen on a shoestring budget and under the official radar, so that the moral/ethical questions can then be explored. This lack of direct similarity is true with one exception: the young protagonist is forced to choose between his lover and the project, and their relationship gives the arc of the story a very "human interest" in the form of their passion for each other.
I had to wonder if this book was at least partially ghost-written. It's rare that someone writes just one good novel, of any subject matter. Given Bahnson was a scientist and pilot, I expected he would cover that sort of technical content very well, as he did. But he also pulled off the romantic and political content so well that I had to wonder (no offense to Bahnson nor to his surviving family) if he didn't have some help. Not to say scientists don't have feelings or don't understand politics. Read it and let me know what you think.
Now on to the aspects of the novel that seem most relevant to the conversation we're having here:
First, the drive function of the Argonaut of the story seems to "work" from what we've already hypothesized an early such version of TTB's concept would be properly embodied. It has an "atomic" power source (a la Fusor?). It uses gravity control--emphatically not gravity neutralization, but says in several places uses gravity itself to move up or down as it wishes. Gold and other alloy coating for protection of the occupants. And it uses somewhat conventional rocket propulsion for directional changes and lateral motivation control (steering). There is NOT a gravity neutral field inside the craft--the occupants are subject to the normal G-force limitations we have come to know from conventional fighter-jets. (Absent is any discussion of a G-suit, by the way.)
Second, there is the aspect of core technology-transfer from a post-Nazi secret project. In the novel, the actual "inventor" is a German former scientist/mechanic jack of all trades who is the only surviving member of a secret project team who blew themselves up by accident while developing their technology. He is imported into the USA after WWII--so this is presented as decidedly NOT a home-grown American technology. Is this misdirection away from TTB? (The German character is stereotyped, I'm afraid to say, as are other characters in the book. But it doesn't ruin it, and as a period piece you have to expect that.) The financial muscle is provided via an American aerospace businessman (NOT a shipment of gold from UK). The young idealistic hero, and his military science-advisor friend (who is our main narrative host through most of the novel) could remind us vaguely of qualities we've seen in Morgan and TTB (or even Bahnson himself). We have no idea if Bahnson ever even met Morgan. Still, it appears Morgan has shown up in other books since then...we may never know.
Third, the scenes in the book regarding the political/military establishment make it very clear how little faith Bahnson had in their ability to take such a technology in any direction but towards immediate weaponization. So he explores several alternative scenarios of what might be done to bring the technology to the planet with beneficial as opposed to dire consequences.
Finally, not to blow the final plot resolution, part of the "answer" arrives in the form & the influence of a non-aligned, non-governmental, international group of very highly intelligent and creative advisory Committee members. People who are described as brilliant and broad-minded, morally centered, humanistically oriented, very much like the ones we have already encountered in the Caroline mold.
And, in this story, the hero guy and gal actually are able to have a life together, despite all the obstacles.