Editing Dyson sphere (section)

==Origins==
{{See also|Energy development}}
Inspired by the 1937 [[science fiction]] novel ''[[Star Maker]]'' by [[Olaf Stapledon]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Dyson |first=Freeman |title=Disturbing the Universe |publisher=Basic Books |year=1979 |isbn=978-0-465-01677-8 |page=211 |quote=Some science fiction writers have wrongly given me the credit of inventing the artificial biosphere. In fact, I took the idea from Olaf Stapledon, one of their own colleagues}}</ref> the physicist and mathematician [[Freeman Dyson]] was the first to formalize the concept of what became known as the "Dyson sphere" in his 1960 ''[[Science (journal)|Science]]'' paper "Search for Artificial Stellar Sources of Infra-Red Radiation". Dyson theorized that as the energy requirements of an advanced technological civilization increased, there would come a time when it would need to systematically harvest the energy from its local star on a large scale. He speculated that this could be done via a system of structures orbiting the star, designed to intercept and collect its energy. He argued that as the structure would result in the large-scale conversion of starlight into [[Far infrared|far-infrared]] radiation, an earth-based search for sources of infrared radiation could identify stars supporting intelligent life.<ref name="search" />

Dyson did not detail how such a system could be constructed, simply referring to it in the paper as a "shell" or "[[biosphere]]". He later clarified that he did not have in mind a solid structure, saying: "A solid shell or ring surrounding a star is mechanically impossible. The form of 'biosphere' which I envisaged consists of a loose collection or swarm of objects traveling on independent orbits around the star."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dyson |first1=F. J. |last2=Maddox |first2=J. |last3=Anderson |first3=P |last4=Sloane |first4=E. A. |year=1960 |title=Letters and Response, Search for Artificial Stellar Sources of Infrared Radiation |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=132 |issue=3421 |pages=250–253 |doi=10.1126/science.132.3421.252-a |pmid=17748945}}</ref> Such a concept has often been referred to as a '''Dyson swarm''';<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Jack |year=2020 |title=Review and viability of a Dyson Swarm as a form of Dyson Sphere |journal=[[Physica Scripta]] |volume=97 |number=12 |page=122001 |doi=10.1088/1402-4896/ac9e78|s2cid=237605010 |doi-access=free |arxiv=2109.11443 }}</ref> however, in 2013, Dyson said he had come to regret that the concept had been named after him.<ref>{{cite web |date=7 July 2013 |title=STARSHIP CENTURY SYMPOSIUM, MAY 21–22, 2013 |url=http://starshipconf.ucsd.edu/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130707123030/http://starshipconf.ucsd.edu/ |archive-date=7 July 2013 |access-date=31 August 2017}}</ref>