Comment Re:Space: Tons o' benefit (Score 2, Informative) 210
An excellent book which provides many reasons (and how-to's!) for human space exploration is "Entering Space: Creating a Spacefaring Civilization" by Robert Zubrin (of "A Case for Mars" fame).
He actually spends a little bit of time showing why the Solar Satellites you mention in 3) won't be feasible for quite some time.
That being said, it is an inspirational read which I highly recommend.
