Rudolf von Bitter Rucker (; born March 22, 1946) is an American

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

, computer scientist,

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 ...

author, and one of the founders of the

cyberpunk Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting that tends to focus on a "combination of lowlife and high tech", featuring futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and cyber ...

literary movement. The author of both fiction and non-fiction, he is best known for the novels in the

Ware Tetralogy ''The Ware Tetralogy'' is a series of four science fiction novels by author Rudy Rucker: ''Software'' (1982), '' Wetware'' (1988), ''Freeware'' (1997) and '' Realware'' (2000). The first two books both received the Philip K. Dick Award for best ...

, the first two of which (''

Software Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...

'' and '' Wetware'') both won

Philip K. Dick Award The Philip K. Dick Award is an American science fiction award given annually at Norwescon and sponsored by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society and (since 2005) the Philip K. Dick Trust. Named after science fiction writer Philip K. Dick, ...

s. Until its closure in 2014 he edited the science fiction

webzine An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine format to being online only was the computer magaz ...

Flurb ''Flurb'' was an American science fiction webzine, edited by author Rudy Rucker and launched in August 2006. In addition to short stories, ''Flurb'' featured paintings and photography by Rucker. It was released biannually. The author of an acce ...

''.

Early life

Rucker was born and raised in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, son of Embry Cobb Rucker Sr (October 1, 1914 - August 1, 1994), who ran a small furniture-manufacture company and later became an Episcopal priest and community activist, and Marianne (née von Bitter). The Rucker family were of Huguenot descent. Through his mother, he is a great-great-great-grandson of

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (; ; 27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a German philosopher. He is one of the most important figures in German idealism and one of the founding figures of modern Western philosophy. His influence extends ...

. Rucker attended St. Xavier High School before earning a BA in

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

from

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeduca ...

(1967) and MS (1969) and

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

(1973) degrees in mathematics from

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

Career

Rucker taught mathematics at the

State University of New York at Geneseo The State University of New York College at Geneseo (SUNY Geneseo, Geneseo State College or, colloquially, "Geneseo") is a public liberal arts college in Geneseo, New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. The colle ...

from 1972 to 1978. Although he was liked by his students and "published a book 'Geometry, Relativity and the Fourth Dimension''and several papers," several colleagues took umbrage at his long hair and convivial relationships with English and philosophy professors amid looming budget shortfalls; as a result, he failed to attain tenure in the "dysfunctional" department. Thanks to a grant from the

Alexander von Humboldt Foundation The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (german: Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung) is a foundation established by the government of the Federal Republic of Germany and funded by the Federal Foreign Office, the Federal Ministry of Education and Resear ...

, Rucker taught at the

Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

from 1978 to 1980. He then taught at

Randolph-Macon Women's College Randolph College is a private liberal arts and sciences college in Lynchburg, Virginia. Founded in 1891 as Randolph-Macon Woman's College, it was renamed on July 1, 2007, when it became coeducational. The college offers 32 majors; 42 minors; � ...

Lynchburg, Virginia Lynchburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner John Lynch (1740–1820), John Lynch, the city's populati ...

from 1980 to 1982, before trying his hand as a full-time author for four years. Inspired by an interview with

Stephen Wolfram Stephen Wolfram (; born 29 August 1959) is a British-American computer scientist, physicist, and businessman. He is known for his work in computer science, mathematics, and theoretical physics. In 2012, he was named a fellow of the American Ma ...

, Rucker became a computer science professor at

San José State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sys ...

in 1986, from which he retired as

professor emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

in 2004. From 1988 to 1992 he was hired by John Walker of

Autodesk Autodesk, Inc. is an American multinational software corporation that makes software products and services for the architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing, media, education, and entertainment industries. Autodesk is headquartered ...

as a programmer o
cellular automata
which inspired his book

The Hacker and the Ants ''The Hacker and the Ants'' is a science fiction novel by American writer and mathematician Rudy Rucker, published in 1994 by Avon Books. It was written while Rucker was working as a programmer at Autodesk, Inc., of Sausalito, California from 1 ...

. A mathematician with philosophical interests, he has written '' The Fourth Dimension'' and ''

Infinity and the Mind ''Infinity and the Mind: The Science and Philosophy of the Infinite'' is a popular mathematics book by American mathematician, computer scientist, and science fiction writer Rudy Rucker. Synopsis The book contains accessible popular expositio ...

''.

Princeton University Press Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large. The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financial su ...

published new editions of ''Infinity and the Mind'' in 1995 and in 2005, both with new prefaces; the first edition is cited with fair frequency in academic literature. As his "own alternative to cyberpunk," Rucker developed a writing style he terms transrealism. Transrealism, as outlined in his 1983 essay "The Transrealist Manifesto", is science fiction based on the author's own life and immediate perceptions, mixed with fantastic elements that symbolize psychological change. Many of Rucker's novels and short stories apply these ideas. One example of Rucker's transreal works is ''Saucer Wisdom'', a novel in which the main character is abducted by aliens. Rucker and his publisher marketed the book, tongue in cheek, as non-fiction. His earliest transreal novel, ''

White Light White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

'', was written during his time at

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

. This transreal novel is based on his experiences at SUNY Geneseo. Rucker often uses his novels to explore scientific or mathematical ideas; ''White Light'' examines the concept of

infinity Infinity is that which is boundless, endless, or larger than any natural number. It is often denoted by the infinity symbol . Since the time of the ancient Greeks, the philosophical nature of infinity was the subject of many discussions amo ...

, while the

(written from 1982 through 2000) is in part an explanation of the use of

natural selection Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the heritable traits characteristic of a population over generations. Charle ...

to develop software (a subject also developed in his ''The Hacker and the Ants'', written in 1994). His novels also put forward a

mystical Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in u ...

philosophy that Rucker has summarized in an essay titled, with only a bit of irony, "The Central Teachings of Mysticism" (included in ''Seek!'', 1999). His non-fiction book, ''The Lifebox, the Seashell, and the Soul: What Gnarly Computation Taught Me About Ultimate Reality, the Meaning Of Life, and How To Be Happy'' summarizes the various philosophies he's believed over the years and ends with the tentative conclusion that we might profitably view the world as made of computations, with the final remark, "perhaps this universe is perfect."

Personal life

Rucker was the roommate of

Kenneth Turan Kenneth Turan (; born October 27, 1946) is an American retired film critic, author, and lecturer in the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California. He was a film critic for the ''Los Angeles Times'' from 1991 ...

during his freshman year at Swarthmore College. In 1967, Rucker married Sylvia Rucker. Together they have three children. On July 1, 2008, Rucker suffered a

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

. Thinking he may not be around much longer, this prompted him to write ''Nested Scrolls'', his autobiography. Rucker resided in

Highland Park, New Jersey Highland Park is a borough in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States in the New York City metropolitan area. The borough is located on the northern banks of the Raritan River, in the Raritan Valley region. As of the 2020 United States Cens ...

during his graduate studies at Rutgers University.

Bibliography

Novels

The

*''

'' (1982) *'' Wetware'' (1988) *''Freeware'' (1997) *''Realware'' (2000) Transreal Trilogy *''The Secret of Life'' (1985) *''

'' (1980) *''Saucer Wisdom'' (1999) novel marketed as non-fiction Transreal novels *''

Spacetime Donuts ''Spacetime Donuts'' is a novel by Rudy Rucker published in 1981. Plot summary ''Spacetime Donuts'' is a novel in which the universe consists of a single particle which is folded over and over to create everything that exists. Reception Greg Co ...

'' (1981) *''The Sex Sphere'' (1983) *'' Master of Space and Time'' (1984) *''The Hollow Earth'' (1990) *''

'' (1994) (Revised 'Version 2.0' 2003) *''

Spaceland Spaceland was an alternative rock/indie rock nightclub in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, that existed between 1995 and 2011. The club was formerly a popular disco to young locals called Dreams of LA. Spaceland's owner an ...

'' (2002) *''Frek and the Elixir'' (2004) *'' Mathematicians in Love'' (2006) *''Jim and the Flims'' (2011) *''The Big Aha'' (2013) *''All the Visions'' (1991), memoir/novel Other novels *''As Above, So Below: A Novel of Peter Bruegel'' (2002) *''

Postsingular ''Postsingular'' is a 2007 science-fiction novel written by the American writer Rudy Rucker. It focuses upon a cast of San Franciscans and their relationship with emerging uses of nanotechnology. It was the first of his works to be licensed under ...

'' (2007) *''Hylozoic'' (sequel to ''Postsingular'', May 2009) *''Turing and Burroughs'' (2012) *''Return to the Hollow Earth'' (2018) *''Million Mile Road Trip'' (2019) *''Juicy Ghosts'' (2021)

Short fiction

Collections *''The Fifty-Seventh Franz Kafka'' (1983) *''Transreal!'', includes poetry and non-fiction essays (1991) *''Gnarl!'' (2000), complete short stories *''Mad Professor'' (2006) *''Surfing the Gnarl'' (2012), includes an essay and interview with the author *''Complete Stories'' (2012) *''Transreal Cyberpunk'', with Bruce Sterling (2016) Stories (by date of composition)

Non-fiction

*''Geometry, Relativity and the Fourth Dimension'' (1977) *''

'' (1982) *'' The Fourth Dimension: Toward a Geometry of Higher Reality'' (1984) *''Mind Tools'' (1987) *''Seek!'' (1999), collected essays *''Software Engineering and Computer Games'' (2002), textbook *''The Lifebox, the Seashell, and the Soul: What Gnarly Computation Taught Me About Ultimate Reality, the Meaning of Life, and How to Be Happy'' (

Thunder's Mouth Press Perseus Books Group was an American publishing company founded in 1996 by investor Frank Pearl. Perseus acquired the trade publishing division of Addison-Wesley (including the Merloyd Lawrence imprint) in 1997. It was named Publisher of the Ye ...

, 2005) *''Nested Scrolls'' - autobiography (2011) *''Collected Essays'' (2012) *''How to Make an Ebook'' (2012) *''Better Worlds'' (2013), art book of Rucker's paintings *''Journals 1990–2014'' (2015)

As editor

*''Speculations on the Fourth Dimension: Selected Writings of Charles H. Hinton'', Dover (1980), *'' Mathenauts: Tales of Mathematical Wonder'',

Arbor House Arbor House was an independent publishing house founded by Donald Fine in 1969. Specializing in hard cover publications, Arbor House published works by Hortense Calisher, Ken Follett, Cynthia Freeman, Elmore Leonard and Irwin Shaw before being ac ...

(1987) *'' Semiotext(e) SF'',

Autonomedia Autonomedia is a nonprofit publisher based in Williamsburg, Brooklyn known for publishing works of criticism. Staffed by volunteers, they have published over 200 books, usually with 3,000 of each run. Its most renowned book is Hakim Bey's essays o ...

(1989)

Critical studies and reviews of Rucker's work

;''The big aha'' * ;''Turing and Burroughs'' *

Filmography

* As actor-speaker in ''Manual of Evasion LX94'', a 1994 film by

Edgar Pêra Edgar Henrique Clemente Pêra (born 19 November 1960) is a Portuguese filmmaker. Pêra is also a fine artist and a graphic comics artist . and writes fiction and cinema essays (PhD). Edgar Pêra studied Psychology, but switched to Film at the ...

Explanatory notes

References

External links

Rudy Rucker Portal

Rudy Rucker Books
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rucker, Rudy 1946 births 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American novelists American male non-fiction writers American male novelists American people of German descent American science fiction writers American technology writers Cellular automatists Cyberpunk writers Living people Novelists from Kentucky Novelists from New York (state) People from Highland Park, New Jersey People from Los Gatos, California Rutgers University alumni San Jose State University faculty State University of New York at Geneseo faculty Swarthmore College alumni Wired (magazine) people Writers from California Writers from Louisville, Kentucky