Phase Space (book)
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''Phase Space'' (subtitled ''Stories from the Manifold and Elsewhere'') is a 2003 science fiction collection by British writer Stephen Baxter, containing twenty-three thematically linked stories, in which the human relationship with the universe is explored: whether humanity is truly alone in the universe, if there are other intelligent species, if these have turned their backs on us, or if expansion itself is destined to fail. Written in the same style as most of Stephen Baxter's work, ''Phase Space'' is a collection of more or less scientifically based stories in the tradition of
Arthur C. Clarke Sir Arthur Charles Clarke (16 December 191719 March 2008) was an English science-fiction writer, science writer, futurist, inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host. He co-wrote the screenplay for the 1968 film '' 2001: A Spac ...
. The stories are mostly set in the same
Multiverse The multiverse is a hypothetical group of multiple universes. Together, these universes comprise everything that exists: the entirety of space, time, matter, energy, information, and the physical laws and constants that describe them. The di ...
as the books in his
Manifold In mathematics, a manifold is a topological space that locally resembles Euclidean space near each point. More precisely, an n-dimensional manifold, or ''n-manifold'' for short, is a topological space with the property that each point has a n ...
series, with a few stories related to his separate
NASA Trilogy The ''NASA Trilogy'' consists of three hard science fiction novels written by British science fiction author Stephen Baxter. They were published from 1996 to 1998. These books explore the possibilities of the American space program if the circumst ...
. The book contains the following short stories: *Dreams (I) **"Moon-Calf" (1998) – A retired astronaut finds hints of an ancient space voyage while on holiday in England. *Earths **"Open Loops" (2000) – An astronaut explores, and later becomes a colonist on an asteroid, observing the expansion and evolution of humanity over the millennia. **"Glass Earth, Inc." (1997) – A policeman must sort through the memories of a murder to find out who the killer is, and in the process, learns more about himself than he ever knew. **"Poyekhali 3201" (1997) – The experiences of a Russian cosmonaut are no more than the ultimate re-enactment. (An earlier version of this story appeared in '' Decalog 5: Wonders'' (1997).) **"Dante Dreams" (1998) – A police woman from San Francisco travels to the Vatican to investigate the suicide of a
Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...
priest and an illegally created
sentient Sentience is the capacity to experience feelings and sensations. The word was first coined by philosophers in the 1630s for the concept of an ability to feel, derived from Latin '' sentientem'' (a feeling), to distinguish it from the ability to ...
hologram Holography is a technique that enables a wavefront to be recorded and later re-constructed. Holography is best known as a method of generating real three-dimensional images, but it also has a wide range of other Holography#Applications, applic ...
based on the late priest. **"War Birds" (1997) – When Apollo 11 explodes on the Moon, the US blames the Russians, then fast-tracks its
Space Shuttle program The Space Shuttle program was the fourth human spaceflight program carried out by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which accomplished routine transportation for Earth-to-orbit crew and cargo from 1981 to 2011. Its ...
for military applications and becomes a fascist state. *Worlds **"Sun-Drenched" (1998) – When two Apollo astronauts are stranded on the Moon, they decide to expose themselves to the elements in the hope of colonising the Moon with bacteria and viruses from their own bodies. **"Martian Autumn" (2002) – Too much environmental stress and life on Earth might undergo an evolutionary "reboot", like what happened on Mars. **"Sun God" (1997) – A pendant to ''
Titan Titan most often refers to: * Titan (moon), the largest moon of Saturn * Titans, a race of deities in Greek mythology Titan or Titans may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities Fictional locations * Titan in fiction, fictiona ...
'', in which a Titanian beetle finds an abandoned
Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average radius of about nine and a half times that of Earth. It has only one-eighth the average density of Earth; h ...
rocket and studies the strange creatures (humans) who made it. **"Sun-Cloud" (2001) – A sentient multi-corpuscular being travels to the distant future to fulfill her dying sister's dream: to witness the emergence of stars. *Manifold **"Sheena 5" – The sentient
squid True squid are molluscs with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight arms, and two tentacles in the superorder Decapodiformes, though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also called squid despite not strictly fitting t ...
plotline of '' Manifold: Time'' as a separate short story, with a different ending. **"The Fubar Suit" (1997) – An astronaut is stranded in space wearing a suit guaranteed to re-create her when her corpse is discovered. Meanwhile, a microscopic world evolves inside the suit, threatening her existence. **"Grey Earth" (2001) – The end of '' Manifold: Origin'' from the viewpoint of Mary, the
Neanderthal Neanderthals (, also ''Homo neanderthalensis'' and erroneously ''Homo sapiens neanderthalensis''), also written as Neandertals, are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ago. While th ...
friend of Nemoto, set on the axis-tilted Earth of the Neanderthals. **"Huddle" (1999) – Madeleine Meacher from '' Manifold: Space'' returns to an Earth where the descendants of humans occupy the ecological niche of seals or penguins, a hundred thousand years after the events of the novel. *Paradox **"Refugium" (2002) – Two men, an enthusiast and a cynic, set out in an alien spacecraft to discover an answer to the
Fermi paradox The Fermi paradox is the discrepancy between the lack of conclusive evidence of advanced extraterrestrial life and the apparently high a priori likelihood of its existence, and by extension of obtaining such evidence. As a 2015 article put it, ...
: where have all the extraterrestrial civilisations gone? **"Lost Continent" (2001) – Two friends discuss the possibility that
Atlantis Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas (mythology), Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works ''Timaeus (dialogue), Timaeus'' and ''Critias (dialogue), Critias'' ...
may have been more than a myth, and may have been more recent than anyone ever dreamed. **"Tracks" (2001) – Two astronauts are on the Moon in 1973 collecting rock samples; things go wrong and the mission is aborted. But what the astronauts remember is much stranger than what the video tapes show. **"Lines of Longitude" (1997) – A physicist teaching a community college course must cope with reality when one of her students dies after having disappeared for several days. The aftermath of his death have graver consequences than she can imagine. **"The Barrier" (1998) – Two old men travel through space in a malfunctioning ship toward the edge of all; an exploration of the
Zoo Hypothesis The zoo hypothesis speculates on the assumed behavior and existence of technologically advanced extraterrestrial life and the reasons they refrain from contacting Earth. It is one of many theoretical explanations for the Fermi paradox. The hypot ...
. **"Marginalia" (1999) – Baxter's novel ''
Voyage Voyage(s) or The Voyage may refer to: Literature *''Voyage : A Novel of 1896'', Sterling Hayden * ''Voyage'' (novel), a 1996 science fiction novel by Stephen Baxter *''The Voyage'', Murray Bail * "The Voyage" (short story), a 1921 story by K ...
'' as
conspiracy theory A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...
- the idea that
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
really did go to
Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...
in the 1970s is explored. **"The We Who Sing" (2002) – Intelligence exists in a universe of shining gas clouds, before space became transparent. **"The Gravity Mine" (2000) – Posthuman beings in the deep future of '' Manifold: Time'' struggle in a dying universe. **"Spindrift" (1999) – Will human endeavours (e.g. colonisation of the Moon) have any ultimate consequence? Or will humanity arise then vanish unobserved, like
spindrift Spindrift (more rarely spoondrift) is the Sea spray, spray blown from cresting waves during a gale. This spray, which "drifts" in the direction of the gale, is one of the characteristics of a wind speed of 8 Beaufort scale, Beaufort and higher ...
? **"Touching Centauri" (2003) – Scientists attempting to use a laser to contact another world inadvertently cause the end of their universe, while everyone struggles with the ultimate nature of their existence. (While snippets of the story are touched upon between each previous story, the full explanation is given here.) *Dreams (II) **"The Twelfth Album" (1998) – Two friends mourning their departed shipmate find a strange
Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...
record A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...
, leading them to believe that their friend's drunken ravings might have been true.


See also

*
Simulated reality The simulation theory is the hypothesis that reality could be simulated—for example by quantum computer simulation—to a degree indistinguishable from "true" reality. It could contain conscious minds that may or may not know that they live i ...
{{Stephen Baxter 2002 short story collections Short story collections by Stephen Baxter HarperCollins books