TalkCast 504 – Irrational Numbers for Rational Science Fiction

Sci-Fi Saturday Night

Edward M. Lerner

When you read science fiction or fantasy or for that matter anything within the entire collective mish-mash genre, as a reader you tend to “give up” certain things; you simply accept “givens”. Lobsters from Andromeda speak with English accents, generation ships will actually work, FTL travel must work. Why? In this Cast remarkable writer, physicist and computer scientist Edward M. Lerner talks about his book Trope-ing the Light Fantastic: The Science Behind the Fiction. This book peels back much of the silliness to look at the science necessary to make the fiction work. Based in large part on a series of his essays For Analog Science Fiction and Fact Magazine, this book is a trove of wonderful information about the why and how of the science in the fiction. The more we talked, the more fascinating the conversation became though we barely scratched the surface of the many topics in the book. It is described as a must read for any science fiction writer, I disagree, it is a must read for any science fiction fan.

Enjoy the chaos

http://www.scifisaturdaynight.com/podcast/talkcast504.mp3

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