The Rolling Stones
by Robert A. Heinlein · first published 1952
7mentions
3recommended by
7HN commenters
2008–2026first – last mentioned
43% recommend57% neutral
SciFi YA - The rollicking adventures of the Stone Family on a tour of the Solar System. It all started when the twins, Castor and Pollux Stone, decided that life on the Lunar colony was too dull and decided to buy their own spaceship and go into business for themselves. Their father thought that was a fine idea, except that he and Grandma Hazel bought the spaceship and the whole Stone Family were on their way out into the far reaches of the Solar System, with stops on Mars (where the twins got a lesson in the interplanetary economics of bicycles and the adorable little critters called flatcats
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
…highly recommended) Robert A. Heinlein, "Methuselah's Children" (pretty good, required to understand "Time Enough for Love") Richard K. Morgan, "Altered Carbon" (very good) Robert A. Heinlein, "The Rolling Stones" (young adult, but good all the same) Robert A. Heinlein, "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" (very good) Piers Anthony, "On A Pale Horse" (very good, never got very far into the series though) Lincoln…
on “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?” ↗"Have Spacesuit, Will Travel", Robert A. Heinlein. "Citizen of the Galaxy", Robert A. Heinlein. "The Rolling Stones", Robert A. Heinlein. "A Wrinkle in Time", Madeleine L'Engle. Any of the ones skmurphy recommended.
on “Science fiction for the young” ↗Hah! Found it! This discussion reminded me of Robert Heinlein's rant against the automobile. Turns out it is from the YA novel "The Rolling Stones"[1]: "Despite the name 'automobile' these vehicles had no autocontrol circuits; control, such as it was, was exercised second by second for hours on end by a human being peering out through a small…
on “Three-quarters of drivers don't want to own an autonomous car” ↗…this had started 40 years ago rather than a bit less than 20 Absolutely agree. I bought an 8-pack of used Heinlein paperbacks the other day that I hadn't read since I was a wee lad, which included 'The Rolling Stones' -- a slim volume about a family that live in comfort on the moon, but who get the itch and buy a used spaceship and head off for more exciting parts of the Solar System. In a paragraph or two it explained…
on “Crew Dragon launch escape demonstration” ↗…with very large dynamic ranges in the receive signal processing." - https://www.eetimes.com/radar-basics-part-1/ I would also call it a classic as I learned it from this scene in Robert Heinlein's book "Rolling Stones": "The result was eight shiny right-angled corners facing among them in all possible directions —a radar reflector. ... The final result was to step up the effectiveness of radar from an inverse fourth-power…
on “UK electric car drivers should be charged per mile, say campaigners” ↗Early Heinlein e.g. Have Spacesuit - Will Travel, Farmer In The Sky, The Rolling Stones or for non-juveniles, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress have lots of science. Later works, less so.
on “Isaac Asimov: The Last Question” ↗…care that there is a robot in the big box they bought -- they want to see results (even if the robot is essential right now to delivering the results). Maybe like with all technology, as in Heinlein's "Rolling Stones" novel's discussion of advanced in propulsion from complex IC engine to simpler nuclear rocket, one can wonder how any system using a robot might be simplified to remove the robot entirely to reduce costs…
on “Do You Love Me? [video]” ↗