Project Hieroglyph is an initiative to create

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

in order to spur innovation in science and technology founded by

Neal Stephenson Neal Town Stephenson (born October 31, 1959) is an American writer known for his works of speculative fiction. His novels have been categorized as science fiction, historical fiction, cyberpunk, postcyberpunk, and baroque. Stephenson's work exp ...

in 2011.

Origins and purpose

Stephenson framed the ideas behind Hieroglyph in a World Policy Institute article entitled "Innovation Starvation" where he attempts to rally writers to infuse science fiction with optimism that could inspire a new generation to, as he puts it, “get big stuff done.” Stephenson says that "a good SF

universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy. The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological description of the development of the universe. Acc ...

has a coherence and internal logic that makes sense to scientists and engineers. Examples include

Isaac Asimov yi, יצחק אזימאװ , birth_date = , birth_place = Petrovichi, Russian SFSR , spouse = , relatives = , children = 2 , death_date = , death_place = Manhattan, New York City, U.S. , nationality = Russian (1920–1922)Soviet (192 ...

's robots, Robert Heinlein's rocket ships, and

William Gibson William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948) is an American-Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction subgenre known as ''cyberpunk''. Beginning his writing career in the late 1970s, his ...

cyberspace Cyberspace is a concept describing a widespread interconnected digital technology. "The expression dates back from the first decade of the diffusion of the internet. It refers to the online world as a world 'apart', as distinct from everyday rea ...

. Such icons serve as hieroglyphs — simple, recognizable symbols on whose significance everyone agrees." Stephenson partnered with

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

's Center for Science and the Imagination which now administers the project. In September 2014, the project's first book, Hieroglyph: Stories and Visions for a Better Future, edited by Ed Finn and

Kathryn Cramer Kathryn Elizabeth Cramer (born April 16, 1962) is an American science fiction writer, editor, and literary critic. Early years Kathryn Cramer is the daughter of physicist John G. Cramer. She grew up in Seattle and graduated from Columbia Univ ...

was published by William Morrow. Contributors to the book include Neal Stephenson,

Bruce Sterling Michael Bruce Sterling (born April 14, 1954) is an American science fiction author known for his novels and short fiction and editorship of the ''Mirrorshades'' anthology. In particular, he is linked to the cyberpunk subgenre. Sterling's first ...

Madeline Ashby Madeline Ashby (born April 24, 1983 in Panorama City, California) is an American-Canadian science fiction writer.

Gregory Benford Gregory Benford (born January 30, 1941) is an American science fiction author and astrophysicist who is professor emeritus at the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Irvine. He is a contributing editor of ''Reason ...

Rudy Rucker Rudolf von Bitter Rucker (; born March 22, 1946) is an American mathematician, computer scientist, science fiction author, and one of the founders of the cyberpunk literary movement. The author of both fiction and non-fiction, he is best known f ...

, Vandana Singh, Cory Doctorow,

Elizabeth Bear Sarah Bear Elizabeth Wishnevsky (born September 22, 1971) is an American author who works primarily in speculative fiction genres, writing under the name Elizabeth Bear. She won the 2005 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, the 2008 Hugo A ...

, Karl Schroeder, James Cambias,

Brenda Cooper Brenda Cooper (born August 12, 1960) is an author and futurist who resides in Kirkland, Washington, where she is the Chief Information Officer of the city of Kirkland. She has co-written various short stories with Larry Niven Laurence v ...

Charlie Jane Anders Charlie Jane Anders is an American writer and commentator. She has written several novels, published magazines and websites, and hosted podcasts. In 2005, she received the Lambda Literary Award for work in the transgender category, and in 2009, t ...

Kathleen Ann Goonan Kathleen Ann Goonan (May 14, 1952 – January 28, 2021)Kathleen Ann Goonan (1952–2021)

, Lee Konstantinou,

Annalee Newitz Annalee Newitz (born May 7, 1969) is an American journalist, editor, and author of both fiction and nonfiction, who has written for the periodicals ''Popular Science'' and ''Wired''. From 1999 to 2008 Newitz wrote a syndicated weekly column call ...

Geoffrey Landis Geoffrey Alan Landis (; born May 28, 1955) is an American aerospace engineer and author, working for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on planetary exploration, interstellar propulsion, solar power and photovoltaics. He ...

, David Brin,

Lawrence Krauss Lawrence Maxwell Krauss (born May 27, 1954) is an American theoretical physicist and cosmologist who previously taught at Arizona State University, Yale University, and Case Western Reserve University. He founded ASU's Origins Project, now cal ...

, and Paul Davies.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite web , last = Newitz , first = Annalee , url = http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Dear-Science-Fiction-Writers-Stop-Being-So-Pessimistic.html , title = Dear Science Fiction Writers: Stop Being So Pessimistic! , publisher = Smithsonianmag.com , date = April 2012 , access-date = 2012-04-14 {{cite web , last = Stephenson , first = Neal , url = http://www.worldpolicy.org/journal/fall2011/innovation-starvation , title = Innovation Starvation , publisher = Worldpolicy.org , date = 2011-09-27 , access-date = 2012-04-14 {{cite web , author = , url = http://hieroglyph.asu.edu/ , title = Hieroglyph , publisher = Hieroglyph.asu.edu , date = , access-date = 2012-04-14 {{cite web , author = , url = http://csi.asu.edu/ , title = Center for Science and the Imagination, Arizona State University , access-date = 2019-02-13 {{cite book , title = Hieroglyph : Stories and Visions for a Better Future , editor-last1 = Finn , editor-first1 = Ed , editor-last2 = Cramer , editor-first2 = Kathryn , last1 = Stephenson , first1 = Neal , last2 = Goonan , first2 = Kathleen Anne , last3 = Ashby , first3 = Madline , last4 = Doctorow , first4 = Cory , last5 = Lee , first5 = Konstantinou , last6 = Schroeder , first6 = Karl , last7 = Newitz , first7 = Annalee , last8 = Landis , first8 = Geoffrey , last9 = Cambias , first9 = James L. , last10 = Benford , first10 = Gregory , last11 = Vandana , first11 = Singh , last12 = Cooper , first12 = Brenda , last13 = Bear , first13 = Elizabeth , last14 = Rucker , first14 = Rudy , last15 = Brin , first15 = David , last16 = Anders , first16 = Charlie Jane , last17 = Sterling , first17 = Bruce , date = 2015 , publisher = William Morrow , location = New York , oclc = 904576842 , isbn = 9780062204714

Origins and purpose

See also

References

Further reading