Product Description OFFICIAL USE ONLY MARK R5PC STARFLEET COMMAND STARFLEET HEADQUARTERS UNITED FEDERATION OF PLANETS
FRANZ JOSEPH UNITED FEDERATION REPRESENTATIVE STARDATE 7512.02
To: Ballantine Books Planetary Agents, NA, USA, 10019
1. A printed Terran version of the Starfleet Technical Manual was approved by the Federation Council for release to civilians and civilian auxiliaries on your planet. We have reviewed copies of this version as printed by you, and wish to assure you and the others that these copies are precisely correct and complete as authorized. We believe some of your civilians are confused because they are unfamiliar with the system and arrangement of Technical Orders, therefore, we offer the following by way of clarification.
2. The print-out version of the Starfleet Technical Manual, as used by the Starfleet Academy, is a collection of only those Technical Orders necessary to the indoctrination of new cadets until such time as they become experienced in the use of the data read-out stations of Mastercom/SFHQ. Further, the Terran version contains even fewer Technical Orders because of the prohibition of the Prime Directive. Neither version is a book of pages as the questioners seem to think–nor do they contain all of the technical information stored in the data banks of Mastercom/SFHQ. Your civilians must understand these technical data banks contain all the knowledge presently known to the United Federation of Planets from all the member planets. If it were to be published in book form, the sum total would amount to more books than you now have stored in your libraries. Obviously, this cannot be done. It is equally obvious that you cannot have the galactic knowledge of future centuries given to your planet as a gift; you must earn it by your own efforts just as others have done.
3. In the Terran version, the General Index summarizes the subject area groupings by Technical Order number blocks as a part of the total system of classification. It does not give the total classification system, nor does it indicate whether or not such subject matter is available. The Introduction (T.0:00:00:06) for instance, is not included because it has not been authorized for release at this time. Each Section Index lists the Technical Orders currently approved for each section, and shows the correct issue by authentication date (and amendment code–if required). Thus a Section Index shows whether or not a particular manual contains the correct issues. Those listed with an asterisk may become available in a future print-out from Mastercom/SFHQ. Other Technical Order numbers that are missing do not appear by reason of the prohibition of the Prime Directive, or they have not been approved for release at this time.
4. In as gentle and as diplomatic a manner as we may, we would like to point out that this confusion is just another example of the many primitive attributes of your planet that prevents its acceptance into the United Federation of Planets at this time in your current calendar. But be patient, the day will come when your planet will have finally overcome these obstacles, and take its place in the intergalactic community of intelligent life forms.
Standard FareNovember 13, 2008 Joseph Meyer(Antelope, CA) 0 out of 3 found this review helpful
When this work first came out it was a gift for Star Trek fans, but it has grown considerably longer in tooth since that time.
Reprint of a seminal work in Trek loreFebruary 20, 2008 DesiluTrek(Sterling, Va. USA) 2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Yes, this is definitely a paperback reprint of that legendary Tech Manual (note the "Star Trek 40" anniversary logo.) About the copy you own, I know you really don't mean "hard cover" as it was in a leatherette binder that, behind the sales rack card on the front, had STAR FLEET TECHNICAL MANUAL stamped in gold in that Microgramma font Franz Joseph established as part of the Trek universe to this day.
The binder and the red paper-bound manual inside were meant to simulate that this was a partial document that the Omaha Air Force base discovered it had intercepted in a data stream from the Enterprise when it slingshotted to 1969 Earth in "Tomorrow Is Yesterday." That also explains the very irksome tables of contents that refer to pages that aren't in the manual. Your vintage copy may have a letter Ballantine Books slipped into later printings to explain why there was this discrepancy. (I always assumed there would be a follow-up volume to fill in those gaps. As a kid I did a couple of pages of my own, such as a transporter control schematic.)
The Tech Manual takes me back to getting it new when I was 12 and eating it up. What it does -- and all good tech manuals since for any genre -- is adds to the appeal of wanting that universe to feel so real you'd step right into it if you could. It's not perfect -- the biggest for me being the communicator dimensions -- but for its day, long before CGI, when all Franz Joseph had was a draft pen, Zipatone screens, and rub-on lettering, plus a few stills and publicity photos, you have to admire the effort he put into making Trek more believable.
Older version of thisDecember 4, 2007 cc(Albuquerque, NM United States) 0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I'm confused. This say the book was published in 2006. Is this for the Next Generation? I have a hard cover Star Trek Starfleet Academy Manual from the original Star Trek, publishes in the 70's I think. Is this one on Amazon now a reprint?
For original series loversJune 27, 2007 Roque Maria Neto(Santo Andre, Sao Paulo Brazil) This book is good only if you love the original series. It is an extrapolation of the original concepts and it is very unique. I already knew this book in a very previous edition and this one lets nothing in debt for the late one. I recommend.
They don't make futures like they used toFebruary 3, 2007 Don Lee(Sandusky, OH United States) 2 out of 4 found this review helpful
I had one of these when I was a kid and remember my Mom, seeing my 11-year-old delight at receiving the book, urging my Dad to build me an engineering section (I don't think she realized what it was) ... Dad and I looked at each other and laughed. Sure the book has its "inaccuracies" and sure you can argue about whether it's canon and if so, which parts (and how'd you like to try to dock a starship in one of those spheres at the edge of the spinning Starfleet HQ?) ... but c'mon, it's FUN! As for canon, Trek, like Doyle's Holmes, would build a backstory until it became unwieldy to keep straight or convenient to abandon, and it was still FUN! So pick up this reminder of the days before Trek took itself so seriously. Oh, I also recommend the gloriously "outdated" Spaceflight Chronology with its Sternbach illustrations and since-discarded backstory; it's more (dare I say?) FUN than anything that happened aboard NX-01.
