Pagsa Panel: ScienceFiction (4/7)

Pagsa Panel: The Interplay of Science and Science Fiction
Moderator: Victoria Astley
Panelists: Raymund Eich, Chad Wilson, Alexis Latner

Alexis Glynn Latner is an accomplished science fiction author of almost 20 publications, including her novel Hurricane Moon (2007). She works at the Rice University Fondren Library and has taught several courses on creative writing and editing for the Glasscock School of Continuing Studies.
Chad Wilson is a Clemson University and University of Houston graduate who teaches technical writing to engineering graduates at the University of Houston.
Raymund Eich got his PhD from Rice in biochemistry in 1997. He has several short story publications and is currently working on his first novel. He now works as a patent agent at the Law Firm of William, Morgan, and Amerson.

Victoria kindly compiled the complete list of science fiction works discussed during this panel. Check them out!

The Dreams Our Stuff Is Made Of: How Science Fiction Conquered the World -- Thomas Disch (nonfiction, the one that's essentially the topic of the panel. :D)

Blood Music -- Greg Bear (fiction, the one with the guy who injects himself with his nanotech experiments)

Engines of Creation -- K. Eric Drexler (nonfiction, the nanotech book he fought with Smalley about)

Dragon's Egg -- Robert Forward (fiction, the one with creatures living on the surface of a neutron star)

Speed of Dark -- Elizabeth Moon (fiction, the one with the autistic protagonist)

Neuromancer -- William Gibson (fiction, one of the first and most famous cyberpunk novels)

The Difference Engine -- William Gibson and Bruce Sterling (fiction, classic example of the "steampunk" subgenre)

The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer -- Neal Stephenson (fiction, the one with the Second Victorian Age, not quite steampunk or cyberpunk but with aspects of both)

Childhood's End -- Arthur C. Clark (fiction, I think we mentioned it for the way it portrays a utopian society that results from alien domination. Big childhood favorite of mine and Dr. Eich. :D)

Planetary Protection -- more of a concept, NASA has a website about the ethics of planetary exploration: http://planetaryprotection.nasa.gov/pp/

Diamonds in the Sky -- an anthology of astronomical science fiction by various authors maintained by Mike Brotherton. http://www.mikebrotherton.com/diamonds/

Gregory Benford -- general mention as a science fiction author who focuses on how science is done

During the conversation after the panel ended, we also touched on:

Microcosmic God, a short story by Theodore Sturgeon
His Dark Materials, a series of novels by Philip Pullman including the Golden Compass (like the movie)
Catherine Asaro, an author and former physics professor who writes more human-focused stories, including romance, set in a sci-fi universe

The Physics and Astronomy Graduate Student Association panels are hosted for physics grad students, by physics grad students, and are funded by the Shell foundation.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• pagsa
• physics
• rice university
• science fiction