I believe it was Alan Dean Foster who first postulated (as a premise of one of his sci-fi novels) that warfare in space was physically impossible. Physics just

I believe it was Alan Dean Foster who first postulated (as a premise of one of his sci-fi novels) that warfare in space was physically impossible. Physics just doesn't allow for it. (All those scenes of space battles in every TV show and movie are no more realistic than Harry Potter.) Heinlein pointed out in "Moon is a Harsh Mistress" that whoever controls massdrivers on Luna effectively rules the Earth (Dr. Evil-style, but still.) Not too long ago it was widely understood that allowing the very idea of "war" to escape the gravity well of our planet was to be assiduously avoided. (People orbited military satellites, of course, but it was done with decorum.)