The number of earthlings has grown from the original 13 to the current 39. Here's how it happened:
The original movings behind earth.li came in February 1998 from JonathanMcDowell, Mike Ricketts and Tristam Fenton-May. Tim Bond, Jon Chin, Paul Duff, Mike Mason, David Sheldon, GaneshSittampalam, Chris Venus and David Woolger joined in soon afterwards and David Ball followed shortly, thus completing the original EarthlingsCouncilOfThirteen. Each of the original members paid £5 towards the earth.li registration.
Sometime in between February and November it appears that Tim Bagot and Adrian Chadd joined.
In November 1998 SimonHuggins joined, followed by Janet McKnight, Kate Pugh and Simon Cozens, and then Stephen Gower.
In January 1999 Roland Kay joined, followed by Caroline Berry and then Stephen White at the beginning of February. Next was Tim Ricketts and then Toby Jaffey in May, Angharad Green in November, and Meryki Horton and Ian Lynagh in December.
2000 started out with Matthew Byng-Maddick joining in February, Patrick Moore in May, and Rebecca Luckraft in July.
Up till this point new earthlings were added by acclamation - new members were known to several existing members so even if some people didn't know them there was little controversy about adding them. This changed in August 2000, when Dominic Hargreaves asked to join. It was felt that he wasn't really well known to very many earthlings, and as a result a policy of new earthlings requiring (at least) two existing earthling sponsors prepared to say something like "I know him really well and I think (s)he'd fit in with the ethos behind being an earthling" and no dissension from the others. At this stage little effort was made to define said ethos.
Although Dominic had one sponsor at this stage (GaneshSittampalam) he wasn't well known to the rest, and so his application didn't proceed. After a few months Kate Pugh also agreed to be his sponsor and so Dominic eventually joined in November 2000.
In February 2001 Amanda Kerr-Munslow asked to join, with Ian Lynagh and Kate Pugh as sponsors. After a brief discussion that focussed mainly on her reasons for wanting to join, she was accepted. The question of why people wanted to join was to become a recurring theme.
In April 2001 Caroline Pearson joined, with David Woolger, Simon Cozens and Kate Pugh as sponsors. The discussion as to whether she should be admitted focussed mainly on a demand that she shave her pubic hair.