Glen David Brin, Ph.D. (born October 6 October 6 is the 279th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 86 days remaining until the end of the year, 1950 Year 1950 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. It is also the index year, or year 0, that scientists use for before present figures) is an American The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the scientist and award-winning author of science fiction Science fiction is a broad genre of fiction that often involves speculations on current or future science or technology. Science fiction is found in books, magazines, art, television, films, games, theatre, and other media. In organizational or marketing contexts, science fiction can be synonymous with the broader definition of speculative fiction,. He has received the Hugo The Hugo Awards are given every year for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories. Hugo Awards have been presented every year since 1955 [1], Locus [2] [3] [4], Campbell [5], and Nebula Awards The Nebula Award is an award given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America , for the best science fiction/fantasy fiction published in the United States during the two previous years (see rolling eligibility below). There is no cash prize associated with the award, the award itself being a transparent block with an embedded [6].

Contents

Biography

Brin was born in Glendale, California Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It lies at the eastern end of the San Fernando Valley, is bisected by the Verdugo Mountains, and is a suburb in the Greater Los Angeles Area. The city is bordered to the northwest by the Tujunga neighborhood of Los Angeles; to the northeast by La Cañada Flintridge and the in 1950. In 1973, he graduated from the California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. The Institute maintains a strong emphasis on the natural sciences and engineering, and operates and manages NASA's neighboring Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Caltech is a small school, with only about 2100 students (about 900 with a Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years (see below) in astronomy Astronomy (from the Greek words astron , "star", and nomos (νόμος), "law") is the scientific study of celestial objects (such as stars, planets, comets, and galaxies) and phenomena that originate outside the Earth's atmosphere (such as the cosmic background radiation). It is concerned with the evolution, physics, chemistry,. He followed this with a Master of Science A Master of Science is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in a large number of countries. The degree is typically studied for in the sciences and occasionally in the social sciences in applied physics The journal Applied Physics is a major international scientific journal published by Springer. It is published in two parts: in 1978 and a Doctor of Philosophy Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated Ph.D. or PhD for the Latin philosophiæ doctor, meaning "teacher of philosophy", or, more rarely, D.Phil., for the equivalent doctor philosophiæ, is an advanced academic degree awarded by universities. In many, but not all countries in the English-speaking world, it has become the highest degree one can in space science in 1981, both from the University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego is a public research university in San Diego, California. The school's nearly 2,000-acre (810 ha) campus contains 694 buildings and is located in the La Jolla community. UC San Diego is one of ten University of California campuses and was founded in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of.

He currently lives in southern California California ( /kælɪˈfɔrnjə/ ) is a state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and, to the south, the Mexican state of Baja California. California is the most populous U.S. state. Its four largest cities are Los Angeles, San Diego,.

Bibliography

Fiction

Brin's body of science fiction, when taken as a whole, is normally categorized as Hard science fiction Hard science fiction is a category of science fiction characterized by an emphasis on scientific or technical detail, or on scientific accuracy, or on both. The term was first used in print in 1957 by P. Schuyler Miller in a review of John W. Campbell, Jr.'s Islands of Space in Astounding Science Fiction. The complementary term soft science.

The Uplift stories

Main article: Uplift Universe The Uplift Universe is a fictional universe created by science fiction writer David Brin. A central feature in this universe is the process of biological uplift

Although they make up a minority of David Brin's works, his Uplift The Uplift Universe is a fictional universe created by science fiction writer David Brin. A central feature in this universe is the process of biological uplift stories, set in a common "universe" or projected future history A future history is a postulated history of the future that some science fiction authors construct as a common background for fiction. Sometimes the author publishes a timeline of events in the history, while other times the reader can reconstruct the order of the stories from information provided therein, have won a large following in the SF community, twice winning the international Science Fiction Achievement Award (Hugo Award The Hugo Awards are given every year for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories. Hugo Awards have been presented every year since 1955) in the Best Novel category.

This future history depicts a huge galactic civilization responsible for "uplifting" In science fiction, biological uplift is a term for the act of an advanced civilization helping the development of another species.[citation needed] The term is used in David Brin's Uplift series, and similar concepts are found in other science fiction works all forms of life which are potentially capable of building and operating interstellar spaceships for themselves. The stories focus almost exclusively on oxygen Oxygen (pronounced /ˈɒksɨdʒɨn/, from the Greek roots ὀξύς (acid, literally "sharp," from the taste of acids) and -γενής (-genēs) (producer, literally begetter) is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. It is a member of the chalcogen group on the periodic table, and is a highly reactive-breathing species but make it clear that there are other "orders of life", of which hydrogen Hydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. At standard temperature and pressure, hydrogen is a colorless, odorless, nonmetallic, tasteless, highly flammable diatomic gas with the molecular formula H2. With an atomic weight of 1.00794 u, hydrogen is the lightest element-breathers are the most important. In the "Uplift" novels humans are economically and technologically the weakest spacefaring race, and are an anomaly since they have no "patron It could refer to the protector, sponsor, or benefactor of a cliens from the lower classes or from outside Rome in a relationship called clientela. This social institution was ancient, extending into Rome's earliest society. Indeed, the Romans believed it was invented by Romulus. In the earliest periods, patricians were patrons of plebian citizens" species responsible for their uplift from animal pre-sapience Sapience is often defined as wisdom, or the ability of an organism or entity to act with appropriate judgment. Judgment is a mental faculty which is a component of intelligence or alternatively may be considered an additional faculty, apart from intelligence, with its own properties. Robert Sternberg has segregated the capacity for judgment from. As a result several races are eager to force humans to become their clients In ancient Roman society, a client was a plebeian who was sponsored by a patron benefactor (patronus, a predecessor to the Italian padrino, godfather). The patron assisted his client with his protection and regular gifts; the client dedicated his vote whenever the patron or his associate was up for election; but galactic law saves humans from this fate because they are patrons themselves, having already made considerable progress in uplifting dolphins and chimpanzees before developing faster-than-light Faster-than-light communications and travel refer to the propagation of information or matter faster than the speed of light. Under the special theory of relativity, a particle (that has mass) with subluminal velocity needs infinite energy to accelerate to the speed of light, although special relativity does not forbid the existence of particles space travel and thus attracting the attention of galactic civilization. Some of the more aggressive races regard as heresy Heresy is an introduced change to some system of belief, especially a religion, that conflicts with the previously established canon of that belief the humans' claim to have evolved In biology, evolution is the change in the genetic material of a population of organisms from one generation to the next. Though the changes produced in any one generation are small, differences accumulate with each generation and can, over time, cause substantial changes in the organisms. This process can culminate in the emergence of new species naturally to their current level of intelligence, and therefore wish to exterminate them; while many of the others see humans' lack of patrons as an opportunity to bully them mercilessly. It does not help that humans have a relatively non-hierarchical A hierarchy is an arrangement of items , in which the items are represented as being "above," "below," or "at the same level as" one another. The word derives from the Greek ἱεραρχία (hierarchia), from ἱεράρχης (hierarches), "president of sacred rites, high-priest" and that from ἱερός society with rather informal habits of speech, while most of galactic society is rather feudal Feudalism, in its most classic sense, refers to the Medieval European political system composed of a set of reciprocal legal and military obligations among the warrior nobility, revolving around the three key concepts of lords, vassals, and fiefs. Although derived from the Latin word feodum , then in use, the term feudalism and the system it and very particular about etiquette Etiquette is a code of behavior that influences expectations for social behavior according to contemporary conventional norms within a society, social class, or group. Rules of etiquette are usually unwritten, but aspects of etiquette have been codified from time to time. Rules of etiquette encompass most aspects of social interaction in any, especially deference.

The Uplift novels are:

Additionally, "Aficionado", was published in the limited-edition collection Tomorrow Happens, and is a short-story prequel to the novels. This story was originally published as "Life in the Extreme" in Popular Science Magazine Special Edition (August 1998). This story is also freely available on Brin's website for reading.

Brin has also co-authored with Kevin Lenagh Contacting Aliens: An Illustrated Guide to David Brin's Uplift Universe.

There is a detailed Uplift supplement for the roleplaying game GURPS The Generic Universal RolePlaying System, or GURPS, is a role-playing game system designed to adapt to any imaginary gaming environment. It was created by Steve Jackson Games in 1986. GURPS won the Origins Award for Best Roleplaying Rules of 1988, and in 2000 it was inducted into the Origins Hall of Fame. Many of its expansions have also won allowing players to play out adventures in the universe described in these novels. Although Brin did not write the GURPS supplement, he did contribute information to it.

Several of his novels refer to the fictional Anglic language, a future variety In sociolinguistics a variety, also called a lect, is a form of a language used by speakers of that language. This may include dialects, accents, registers, styles or other sociolinguistic variation. "Variety" avoids the terms language, which many people associate with the standard language, and dialect, which is associated with non- of English English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries and of the United States since the mid 20th century, it has become the lingua franca in many parts of the world. It is.

Brin has contrasted the Uplift saga -- in which humans find themselves one minor species among a universe of many thousands of more advanced races -- with his short story "The Crystal Spheres" (available in the collection The River of Time Several of the short stories and novellas from The River of time are available for free on David Brin's official web site), in which humans begin searching for extraterrestrial life only to learn that the universe is empty of other sapient life... almost.

Other fiction

Brin has written several stand-alone novels:

His short fiction has been collected in:

Other well-known works by David Brin include his book that completes and ties up all of the loose ends in the legendary Asimov's Isaac Asimov , born in Russia to Jewish parents, was an American author and professor of biochemistry, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 9,000 letters and postcards. His works have been Foundation Universe:

Brin wrote the storyline for the video game A video game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. The word video in video game traditionally referred to a raster display device. However, with the popular use of the term "video game", it now implies any type of display device. The electronic systems used to Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future Ecco the Dolphin is an action-adventure video game released in 1993 for the Sega Genesis. The central character, Ecco, is a bottlenose dolphin controlled by the player through a progression of side-scrolling aquatic levels. The game was designed by Ed Annunziata and developed by Novotrade International, and spawned a series of sequels. Ecco is.

Brin also wrote a number of articles criticising several science-fiction and fantasy series, including Star Wars, and The Lord of the Rings. On Star Wars Brin focused on what he called George Lucas's "agenda", describing how he saw the basis of the Star Wars universe as profoundly anti-democratic. These essays inspired a debate-format book: Star Wars On Trial which clashed "defense vs prosecution" testimony covering a dozen political and philosophical and storytelling charges against the Star Wars Universe. Brin also criticised The Lord of the Rings for what he perceived to be their unquestioning devotion to a traditional elitist social structure, their positive depiction of the slaughter of the opposing forces, and their romantic backward-looking worldview.

Concerns and themes of his work

Many of Brin's original works (works not set into pre-existing series or "universes") focus on the impact on human society of technology humankind develops for itself, a theme which commonly appears in contemporary North American science-fiction. This is most noticeable in The Practice Effect, Glory Season and Kiln People.

Brin's Jewish heritage may be the source of two other strong themes in his works. Tikkun Olam ("repairing the world", i.e. people have a duty to make the world a better place) is originally a religious concept but Brin, like many non-orthodox Jews, has adapted this into a secular notion of working to improve the human condition, to increase knowledge, and to prevent long-term evils. Brin has confirmed that this notion in part underscores the notion of humans as "caretakers" of sentient-species-yet-to-be, as he explains in a concluding note at the end of Startide Rising; and it plays a key role in The Uplift War, where the Thennanin are converted from enemies to allies of the Terragens (humans and other sapients that originated on Earth) when they realize that making the world a better place and being good caretakers are core values of both civilizations. Many of Brin's novels emphasize another element of Jewish tradition, the importance of laws and legality, whether intergalactic law in the Uplift series or that of near-future California in Kiln People but, on the other hand, Brin has stated that "Truly mature citizens ought not to need an intricate wrapping of laws and regulations, in order to do what common sense dictates as good for all". [7]

The "Uplift" stories also feature themes which are conspicuous in Brin's Web site: the dangers of contact with more advanced races (his reservations about Active SETI); his dislike of stories which glorify elitist and backward-looking cultures (Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings); the necessity and difficulty of holding the powerful to account for their actions; and the dangers of the "rising mass frenzy of self-righteousness" (a good description of the Jophur).

Nonfiction

Brin consults and speaks for a wide variety of groups interested in the future, ranging from Defense Department agencies and the CIA to Procter & Gamble, SAP, Google and other major corporations. He has also been a participant in discussions at the Philanthropy Roundtable and other groups seeking innovative problem solving approaches.

References

  1. ^ http://www.thehugoawards.org/?page_id=35
  2. ^ http://www.worldswithoutend.com/novel.asp?ID=31
  3. ^ http://www.worldswithoutend.com/novel.asp?ID=207
  4. ^ http://www.worldswithoutend.com/novel.asp?ID=35
  5. ^ http://www2.ku.edu/~sfcenter/campbell.htm
  6. ^ http://www.sfwa.org/awards/archive/pastwin.htm
  7. ^ http://www.reformthelp.org/rights/moderation/goal.php

External links

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Persondata
NAME Brin, Glen David
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Brin, David
SHORT DESCRIPTION American author
DATE OF BIRTH October 6, 1950
PLACE OF BIRTH Glendale, California
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH

Categories: 1950 births | David Brin | Living people | American novelists | American short story writers | Jewish American writers | Writers from California | Hugo Award winning authors | American libertarians | Contributors to Bloggingheads.tv | Nebula Award winning authors | Transhumanists | American science fiction writers | California Institute of Technology alumni | Worldcon Guests of Honor | University of California, San Diego alumni

 

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