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Transhumanism In Fiction
Many of the tropes of science fiction can be viewed as similar to the goals of transhumanism. Science fiction literature contains many positive depictions of technologically enhanced human life, occasionally set in utopian (especially techno-utopian) societies. However, science fiction's depictions of technologically enhanced humans or other posthuman beings frequently come with a cautionary twist. The more pessimistic scenarios include many dystopian tales of human bioengineering gone wrong. Examples of "transhumanist fiction" include novels by Linda Nagata, Greg Egan, and Hannu Rajaniemi. Transhuman novels are often philosophical in nature, exploring the impact such technologies might have on human life. Nagata's novels, for example, explore the relationship between the natural and artificial, and suggest that while transhuman modifications of nature may be beneficial, they may also be hazardous, so should not be lightly undertaken. Egan's Diaspora explores the nature of ideas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Science Fiction
Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space exploration, time travel, Parallel universes in fiction, parallel universes, and extraterrestrials in fiction, extraterrestrial life. The genre often explores human responses to the consequences of projected or imagined scientific advances. Science fiction is related to fantasy (together abbreviated wikt:SF&F, SF&F), Horror fiction, horror, and superhero fiction, and it contains many #Subgenres, subgenres. The genre's precise Definitions of science fiction, definition has long been disputed among authors, critics, scholars, and readers. Major subgenres include hard science fiction, ''hard'' science fiction, which emphasizes scientific accuracy, and soft science fiction, ''soft'' science fiction, which focuses on social sciences. Other no ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Invisible Man
''The Invisible Man'' is an 1897 science fiction novel by British writer H. G. Wells. Originally serialised in '' Pearson's Weekly'' in 1897, it was published as a novel the same year. The Invisible Man to whom the title refers is Griffin, a scientist who has devoted himself to research into optics and who invents a way to change a body's refractive index to that of air so that it neither absorbs nor reflects light. He carries out this procedure on himself and renders himself invisible, but fails in his attempt to reverse it. A practitioner of random and irresponsible violence, Griffin has become an iconic character in horror fiction. While its predecessors, ''The Time Machine'' and '' The Island of Doctor Moreau'', were written using first-person narrators, Wells adopts a third-person objective point of view in ''The Invisible Man''. The novel is considered influential, and helped establish Wells as the "father of science fiction". Plot summary A man named Griffin arrives ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Brin
Glen David Brin (born October 6, 1950) is an American science fiction author. He has won the Hugo Award, Hugo,Who's Getting Your Vote? , October 29, 2008, ''Reason magazine, Reason'' Locus Award, Locus, John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel, Campbell and Nebula Awards. His novel ''The Postman'' was adapted into a 1997 The Postman (film), feature film starring Kevin Costner. Early life and education Brin was born in Glendale, California, in 1950 to Selma and Herb Brin. He graduated from the California Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science in astronomy, in 1973."David Brin". ''Contemporary Authors Online''. Detroit: Gale, 2004. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, 2018-02-01. Available onlin[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marshall Brain
Marshall David Brain II (May 17, 1961 – November 20, 2024) was an American author, public speaker, futurist, businessman, and academic, who specialized in making complex topics easier to understand for the general public. Brain was the founder of HowStuffWorks.com and the author of the ''How Stuff Works'' book series. He hosted the National Geographic channel's ''Factory Floor with Marshall Brain'' and ''Who Knew? With Marshall Brain''. Early life and education Marshall Brain was born in Santa Monica, California, where his father designed components for Moon rockets. He received a B.S. in electrical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1983, and a M.S in computer science from North Carolina State University. Marshall taught in the computer science department at North Carolina State University from 1986 to 1992. He also wrote computer programming manuals and ran a software training and consulting company.Manjoo, Farhad"Welcome to the machine?", ''Salon'', 18 Se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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'' magazine. Benford wrote the Galactic Center Saga science fiction novels, beginning with '' In the Ocean of Night'' (1977). The series postulates a galaxy in which sentient organic life is in constant warfare with sentient electromechanical life. In 1969 he wrote "The Scarred Man", Republished on author's website at http://www.gregorybenford.com/extra/the-scarred-man-returns/ . the first story about a computer virus (based on a real computer virus he had spread), published in 1970. Biography Benford was born in Mobile, Alabama and grew up in Robertsdale and Fairhope. Graduating Phi Beta Kappa, he received a Bachelor of Science in physics in 1963 from the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma, followed by a Master of Science ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greg Bear
Gregory Dale Bear (August 20, 1951 – November 19, 2022) was an American science fiction writer. His work covered themes of Interstellar_war, galactic conflict (''The Forge of God, Forge of God'' books), parallel universes (''The Way (Greg Bear), The Way'' series), consciousness and Cultural_practice, cultural practices (''Queen of Angels (novel), Queen of Angels''), and accelerated evolution (''Blood Music (novel), Blood Music'', ''Darwin's Radio'', and ''Darwin's Children''). His last work was the 2021 novel ''The Unfinished Land''. Greg Bear wrote over 50 books in total. He was one of the five co-founders of San Diego Comic-Con. Early life Greg Bear was born in San Diego, California. He attended San Diego State University (1968–1973), where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree. At the university, he was a teaching assistant to Elizabeth Chater in her course on science fiction writing; in later years, they were friends. Career Bear is often classified as a hard science f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stephen Baxter (author)
Stephen Baxter (born 13 November 1957) is an English hard science fiction author. He has degrees in mathematics and engineering. Writing style Strongly influenced by science fiction pioneer H. G. Wells, Baxter has been vice-president of the international H. G. Wells Society since 2006. His fiction falls into three main categories of original work plus a fourth category, extending other authors' writing; each has a different basis, style, and tone. Baxter's "Future history, Future History" mode is based on research into hard science fiction, hard science. It encompasses the ''Xeelee Sequence'', which consists of nine novels (including the ''Destiny's Children'' trilogy and Vengeance/Redemption duology that is set in alternate timeline), plus three volumes collecting the 52 short pieces (short stories and novellas) in the series, all of which fit into a single timeline stretching from the Big Bang singularity of the past to his ''Timelike Infinity'' (1993) singularity of the fu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kage Baker
Kage Baker (June 10, 1952 – January 31, 2010Obituary: Kage Baker ", SF Site, January 31, 2010) was an American and writer. Biography Baker was born and raised in , and lived in later in life. Before becoming a profess ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iain M
Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, which is derived from the Hebrew given name (Yohanan, ') and corresponds to the English name John (given name), John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename ''Iain''. This name is a popular name in Scotland, where it originated, as well as in other English-speaking world, English-speaking countries. The name has fallen out of the top 100 male baby names in the United Kingdom, having peaked in popularity as one of the top 10 names throughout the 1960s. In 1900, Ian ranked as the 180th most popular male baby name in England and Wales. , the name has been in the top 100 in the United States every year since 1982, peaking at 65 in 2003. Other Gaelic forms of the name "John" include "Seonaidh" ("Johnny" from Scots language, Lowland Scots), "Seon" (from English), "Seathan", and "Seán" and "Eoin" (from Irish language, Irish). The Welsh language, Welsh equivalent is Ioan (other), Ioan, the Cornish la ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Margaret Atwood
Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian novelist, poet, literary critic, and an inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of nonfiction, nine collections of short fiction, eight children's books, two graphic novels, and a number of small press editions of both poetry and fiction. Her best-known work is the 1985 dystopian novel ''The Handmaid's Tale.'' Atwood has won numerous awards and honors for her writing, including two Booker Prizes, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the Governor General's Award, the Franz Kafka Prize, Princess of Asturias Awards, and the Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award, National Book Critics and PEN Center USA Lifetime Achievement Awards. A number of her works have been adapted for film and television. Atwood's works encompass a variety of themes including gender and identity, religion and myth, the power of language, climate change, and "power politics". Many of her poems are inspired by myth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neal Asher
Neal Asher (born 4 February 1961) is an English science fiction writer. He lives near Chelmsford. Career Both of Asher's parents are educators and science fiction fans. Although he began writing speculative fiction in secondary school, he did not turn seriously to writing until he was 25. He worked as a machinist and machine programmer and as a gardener from 1979 to 1987. Asher identifies ''The Lord of the Rings'', '' The Hobbit'' and other fantasy work including Roger Zelazny's '' The Chronicles of Amber'' series as important early creative influences. Asher published his first short story in 1989. In 2000 he was offered a three-book contract by Pan Macmillan, and his first full-length novel '' Gridlinked'' was published in 2001. This was the first in a series of novels made up of ''Gridlinked'', '' The Line of Polity'', '' Brass Man'', '' Polity Agent'', and '' Line War''. Asher is published by Tor, an imprint of Pan Macmillan, in the UK, and by Tor Books in the United S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Akira (manga)
is a Japanese cyberpunk post-apocalyptic manga series written and illustrated by Katsuhiro Otomo. It was serialized biweekly in Kodansha's manga magazine ''Young Magazine'' from December 20, 1982, to June 25, 1990, with its 120 chapters collected into six volumes. It was initially published in the United States by Marvel Comics under its Epic imprint, becoming one of the first manga works to be translated in its entirety into English. It is currently published by Kodansha Comics in North America. Considered a watershed title for the medium, the manga is also famous for spawning the seminal 1988 cyberpunk anime film adaptation of the same name and the greater franchise. Set in a post-apocalyptic and futuristic "Neo-Tokyo", more than three decades after a mysterious explosion destroyed the city, the story centers on teenage biker gang leader Shotaro Kaneda, militant revolutionary Kei, a trio of Espers, and Neo-Tokyo military leader Colonel Shikishima, who attempt to pre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
