Heritages

It his been mentioned in the Jack Mack books that many of the original Scotian colonists hailed from English-speaking nations on Earth—‘Canadia,’ ‘Oztralia,’ ‘Jamyca.’ To be sure, many also came from other places, both among the early colonists and those who came later. Despite many sharing a language, there was genetic and cultural variety among these settlers.

In other words, they were by no means all of European appearance, nor were their descendants. Populations mixed quite a lot as humans expanded into the universe, and most worlds have a diverse heritage. Ones like Thule, which started with a small genetic pool and was somewhat isolated for a while, are not the norm.

This mixing has increased the further humans have spread out from their home world. Newer colonies tend to draw from all over, whereas the earliest ones were frequently settled—initially—by populations from one region of Earth. Scotia, being one of the older worlds, has retained a little more ethnic identity.

And forged one of their own, being a bit cut off from the inhabited universe by the ‘Wall’ dust cloud and a paucity of other star systems in some directions. Genetically, it is true that European heritage dominates, but not by much. There were plenty of colonists of African or Indian descent, and many who were of mixed heritage.

There is a strong Indian strain, culturally and genetically, in the old Corvan worlds, as there is an Hispanic core to the Aigleans. Both these trade groups expanded to include and connect a wide variety of heritages, aiding in the further melding of populations.

Training

A page (or so) from the first Jack Mack novel, 'Among the Many Worlds.'

 

Terraforming

The term ‘terraforming’ was coined in 1942 in a story by Jack Williamson. He may have also invented ‘genetic engineering’ and ‘psionics.’ (Or at least got them into print earlier than others.) I have mentioned terraforming in the Jack Mack novels, and spoken of how various planets were at different stages of becoming more Earth-like. Jack's own home, Scotia, comes about as close as any to achieving it, having a head start thanks to indigenous microscopic life that has produced oxygen and helped clear the oceans of dissolved metals.

Others are further away but in the process. Yet others are too far from having the necessary conditions to ever be truly terraformed. Too cold, too little gravity, too much radiation, etc. Our own Mars is just such a planet; it might be made suitable for human habitation but it will never be like Earth. Chances are we will visit Mars in the next Jack Mack novel. It serves now as something of a tourist center for those who wish to visit the ruins of Earth.