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Daniel John Alderson (October 31, 1941 – May 17, 1989) was a scientist at the
Daniel John Alderson (October 31, 1941 – May 17, 1989) was a scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center in the City of La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States.
Founded in the 1930s by Caltech researchers, JPL is owned by NASA an ...
in California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, and a prominent participant in science fiction fandom
Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or fandom of people interested in science fiction in contact with one another based upon that interest. SF fandom has a life of its own, but not much in the way of formal organization (although ...
. He came from a middle-class family and had diabetes
Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...
. A high school science fair project on the gravitational fields of non-spherical bodies won him a college scholarship to Caltech
The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...
and a job at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center in the City of La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States.
Founded in the 1930s by Caltech researchers, JPL is owned by NASA an ...
, where he wrote the software used to navigate ''Voyagers'' 1 and 2.
A member of the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society
The Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society, Inc., or LASFS, is a science fiction and fantasy fan society that meets in the Los Angeles area. The current meeting place can be found on thLASFS website
LASFS is the oldest continuously operating scienc ...
, an Official Editor of the comic book
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
APA CAPA-alpha CAPA-alpha (sometimes abbreviated to K-a) was the first amateur press association (APA) devoted to comic books, started by Jerry Bails (the "father of comics fandom") in the United States in 1964.
History
In October 1964 Bails released the first ...
, and an early member of gaming fandom
A fandom is a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of empathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest. Fans typically are interested in even minor details of the objects of their fandom and spend a significant ...
, he came into contact with a number of 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 ...
writers, notably Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, who, in their books, credit Dan Alderson with ideas that inspired some of their science fiction, notably the Alderson drive
CoDominium is a series of future history novels written by American writer Jerry Pournelle, along with several co-authors, primarily Larry Niven.
Series
Setting
Formation of the CoDominium
The point of departure of Pournelle's history is the ...
and the Alderson disk. As "Dan Forrester" he is a prominent character in '' Lucifer's Hammer''.
Alderson did not write science fiction himself, but for his own amusement created the imaginary planet of Toadland, a planet where everyone gets his heart's desire. As the ruler of the world, he assumed the title "Wibblefubwilda", over the Wibblefubs, Wibbles, amd Wibs that populated Toadland. He died at an early age from complications of diabetes. He is remembered as a "patron saint" of the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society, which honored his memory with a parking space reserved in his name in front of their clubhouse until they moved to a new location without dedicated parking.
Alderson devised a Fortran program (called TRAM for Trajectory Monitor) for navigation in the Solar System
The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar S ...
, still used by low-thrust craft in 2008. When Alderson lost his vision to diabetic complications, he was able to continue working at JPL by dictating to an unpaid "seeing eye person." Before he was forced to retire due to medical reasons, he created a complex subroutine package (Portable NameList) in Fortran, strictly by dictation. He organized things so well that he was able to create a number of secondary subroutines and functions, keeping all arguments in a strict order to avoid confusion.
Alderson was a confirmed night owl. It was well known at JPL that, if someone saw him at his desk at 8 AM, he'd been there all night. As his health failed, he paid less and less attention to the time, sometimes leaving for a 3 PM appointment at 3:30 PM.
References