Editing Jerry Pournelle (section)

==Career==
Pournelle was an intellectual protégé of [[Russell Kirk]] and [[Stefan Thomas Possony|Stefan T. Possony]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bradbirzer.com/2017/09/10/jerry-pournelle-on-russell-kirk/|title=Jerry Pournelle on Russell Kirk|date=September 10, 2017|access-date=September 1, 2019}}</ref> Pournelle wrote numerous publications with Possony, including ''[[The Strategy of Technology]]'' (1970).  ''The Strategy'' has been used as a textbook at the [[United States Military Academy]] (West Point), the [[United States Air Force Academy]] (Colorado Springs), the [[Air War College]], and the [[National War College]].<ref>"The First Essential of Airpower: The Case for Air Force Laboratories", ''Air & Space Power Journal'', Major Daniel E. Bullock, September 29, 1999.</ref>

He told fellow author [[Robert Heinlein]], Pournelle recalled, "that once I got into advance plans at [[Boeing]] I probably wrote more science fiction than he did, and I didn't have to put characters in mine".{{r|NYTobit}} In the late 1950s, while conducting operations research at the company, he envisioned a weapon consisting of massive tungsten rods dropped from high above the Earth. These super-dense, super-fast kinetic energy projectiles delivered enormous destructive force to the target without contaminating the environs with radioactive isotopes, as would occur with a nuclear bomb. Pournelle named his superweapon “Project Thor”. Others called it "[[Rods from God]]".<ref name=NYT-2006-12-10>{{cite news|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/10/magazine/10section3a.t-9.html|title=Rods From God|author=Jonathan Shainin|date=10 December 2006|url-access=limited}}</ref> Pournelle headed the Human Factors Laboratory at Boeing, where his group did pioneering work on astronaut heat tolerance in extreme environments. His group also did experimental work that resulted in certification of the passenger oxygen system for the Boeing 707 airplane. He later worked as a Systems Analyst in a design and analysis group at the company, where he did strategic analysis of proposed new weapons systems.

In 1964, Pournelle joined the Aerospace Corporation in San Bernardino, California where he was Editor of ''Project 75'', a major study of all ballistic missile technology for the purpose of making recommendations to the US Air Force on investment in technologies required to build the missile force to be deployed in 1975.<ref>{{cite book | last = Seed | first = David | title = Future wars : the anticipations and the fears | chapter=The Strategic Defense Initiative:A Utopian Fantasy | pages=181–200 | publisher = Liverpool University Press | location = Liverpool | year = 2012 | isbn = 978-1846317552 }}</ref> After Project 75 was completed Pournelle became manager of several advanced concept studies.

At North American Rockwell’s Space Division, Pournelle was associate director of operations research, where he took part in the Apollo program and general operations.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/x-33/nasm.htm|title=NASM Talk|website=www.hq.nasa.gov|access-date=September 1, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://space.nss.org/the-spaceship-that-came-in-from-the-cold-war-the-untold-story-of-the-dc-x/|title=The Spaceship that Came in From the Cold War: The Untold Story of the DC-X&#124;National Space Society|date=August 3, 2017|access-date=September 1, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jerrypournelle.com/chaosmanor/about/|title=About – Chaos Manor – Jerry Pournelle|website=www.jerrypournelle.com|access-date=September 1, 2019}}</ref><ref>[http://www.drdobbs.com/windows/184406294 "Deep Impact"], JERRY POURNELLE, ''Dr. Dobb's Journal'', October 1, 2005. <!--I'm reluctant to use Pournelle himself as a source, but--> Pournelle goes into some detail; the study was classified.</ref>

He was founding President of the Pepperdine Research Institute. In 1989, Pournelle, [[Maxwell Hunter|Max Hunter]], and retired Army Lieutenant General [[Daniel O. Graham]] made a presentation to then Vice President [[Dan Quayle]] promoting development of the [[DC-X]] rocket.<ref>"Test of Tail-First Landing: Science Fiction Gives Rocket a Boost", CHARLES PETIT, ''San Francisco Chronicle'', June 17, 1993.</ref>

Pournelle was among those who in 1968 signed a pro-[[Vietnam War]] advertisement in ''Galaxy Science Fiction''.<ref name="vietnamads">{{Cite magazine |date=June 1968 |title=Paid Advertisement |magazine=Galaxy Science Fiction |pages=4–11}}</ref> During the 1970s and 1980s, he also published articles on military tactics and war gaming in the [[military simulation]]s industry in [[Avalon Hill]]'s magazine ''The General''. That led him into correspondences with some of the early figures in ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' and other fantasy role-playing games.<ref>''The General'', Vol. 7, No. 6.</ref>

Two of his collaborations with [[Larry Niven]] reached the top rankings in the [[New York Times Best Seller List]]. In 1977, ''[[Lucifer's Hammer]]'' reached number two.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}} ''[[Footfall]]'' — wherein Heinlein was a thinly veiled minor character — reached the number one spot in 1986.{{r|NYTobit}}

Pournelle served as President of the [[Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America]] in 1973.<ref name="SWFA_GM_1">''The SFWA Grand Masters, Vol. One'' edited by Frederik Pohl, 1999, NY, NY, pg. 12</ref>

In 1994, Pournelle's friendly relationship with [[Newt Gingrich]] led to Gingrich securing a government job for Pournelle's son, Richard.<ref name="HOT TOPICS 1995">"Hot Topics", JON BREAM, ''[[Star Tribune]]'' (Minneapolis–Saint Paul), May 2, 1995.</ref> At the time, Pournelle and Gingrich were reported to be collaborating on "a science fiction political thriller."<ref name="HOT TOPICS 1995"/> Pournelle's relationship with Gingrich was long established even then, as Pournelle had written the preface to Gingrich's book, ''Window of Opportunity'' (1985).<ref>"The Truth Is Out There", ALEXANDER STARR, ''The New York Times'', August 9, 1998.</ref>

Years after ''Byte'' shuttered, Pournelle wrote his Chaos Manor column online. He reprised it at Byte.com, which he helped launch with journalist [[Gina Smith (author)|Gina Smith]], [[John C. Dvorak]], and others. However, after a shakeup, he announced that rather than stay at United Business Media, he would follow Smith, Dvorak, and 14 other news journalists to start an independent tech and politics site called anewdomain.net. As an active director of that site and others it launched, Pournelle wrote, edited, and worked with young writers and journalists on the craft of writing about science and tech.