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.