James Oberg, a fascinating fellow I was fortunate enough to meet almost 20 years ago, has an extensive article on terraforming up at Space Daily. Rather, it appears to be either a comprehensive overview/introduction of Oberg's book New Earths, published in 1981 by Stackpole Books, or a reprint of the original book proposal/outline. In any event, it's a nifty read.
The introduction can be found here, New Earths: Transforming Other Planets for Humanity, but the really interesting bits are located in the extended essay. Unfortunately, the copyediting on the article is abyssmal--it reads badly in places, and it's obvious the editors merely scanned from Oberg's original hard copy and posted without bothering to proof read.
That's secondary, though. While Oberg begins with a rather dry recount of official, scientific appraisals of terraforming, he quickly refocuses on where the real innovation comes into play. Namely, science fiction. He properly credits the great Jack Williamson with coining "terrforming" in the first place, and references writings by Robert Heinlein and Carl Sagan on the subject. The concept of a "smoke ring" is sadly ignored by Oberg, but one 1976 NASA paper cited, "Creation of an Artificial Atmosphere on the Moon," is one I sincerely wish to get my hands on.
Oberg's article is entirely speculative in nature, and rather than pointing out any particular paths terraforming may take, serves as an effective overview of the various ambitious (and sometimes downright loopy or wrongheaded) ideas that have been proposed for Mars, Venus and practically every other body in the solar system at one time or another. I've always wanted to add New Earths to my library, and this article may just be the one to light a fire under me.
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