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Pop culture watchers may recall David Niven as an Oscar-winning actor famous for such movies as “Around the World in 80 Days” and “The Pink Panther.” History should also remember him for his service with the military in his native England. The son of a military man, James David Graham Niven’s military career began with his admittance to the Royal Military College at Sandhurst. Niven later was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Highland Light Infantry. He was discharged in 1935 and, with little for a military man to do after World War I, went to Hollywood to work...

A good science-fiction writer will stay away from focusing on the 'shiny technology', and instead focus on how the technology would affect people. Humankind is the one constant in most science-fictin stories, and it is the one constant we can identify with. Whether carrying a sword, a flintlock, a Glock, or a proton-blaster, a human is a human, replete with human emotions, motivations, and behaviors.Larry Niven was one of the better science-fiction writers, because he would introduce a technology, then focus on how it changed society. One story becomes particularly relevant today: The Last Days of the Permanent Floating Riot...