Vernor Vinge

Vernor Steffen Vinge (pronounced VIN-jee, rhyming with 'stingy') (born February 10, 1944) is a mathematician, computer scientist and science fiction author who is best known for his Hugo award-winning novel A Fire Upon the Deep, and for his 1993 essay "The Technological Singularity", in which he argues that exponential growth in technology will reach a point beyond which we cannot even speculate about the consequences.

Related Topics:
February 10 - 1944 - Mathematician - Computer scientist - Science fiction - Hugo award - A Fire Upon the Deep - 1993 - The Technological Singularity - Exponential growth

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Vinge published his first short story, "Bookworm, Run!", in 1965 in Analog Science Fiction, then edited by John W. Campbell. He was then a moderately prolific contributor to SF magazines in the 1960s and early 1970s, including adapting two of his stories into a short novel, Grimm's World (1969), and publishing a second novel, The Witling (1975).

Related Topics:
1965 - Analog Science Fiction - John W. Campbell - 1960s - 1970s - Grimm's World - 1969 - The Witling - 1975

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Vinge came to prominence in 1981 with his novella True Names, which is one of the earliest stories to present a fully fleshed-out concept of cyberspace, which would later be central to stories by William Gibson, Neal Stephenson and others (and particularly to the cyberpunk genre).

Related Topics:
1981 - True Names - Cyberspace - William Gibson - Neal Stephenson - Cyberpunk

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His next two novels, The Peace War (1984) and Marooned in Realtime (1986), concern the impact of a technology which can create impenetrable force fields called "Bobbles" (with other properties which aren't revealed here as they are spoilers for the books). These books built Vinge's reputation as an author who would explore his science fictional ideas to their logical conclusions and in novel and particularly inventive ways. He was nominated for the Hugo Award for both books, but in each case lost to novels by William Gibson and Orson Scott Card.

Related Topics:
The Peace War - 1984 - Marooned in Realtime - 1986 - Force field - Bobble - Spoilers - Hugo Award - William Gibson - Orson Scott Card

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These two novels and True Names also emphasized Vinge's interest in the technological singularity. True Names takes place in a world on the cusp of the singularity. The Peace War shows a world in which the singularity has been postponed by the Bobbles, while Marooned in Realtime follows a small group of people who have managed to miss the singularity which otherwise encompassed Earth.

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Vinge finally won the Hugo Award with his 1992 novel, A Fire Upon the Deep. In it, Vinge envisions a galaxy that is divided up into "zones of thought", in which the further one moves from the center of the galaxy, the higher the level of technology one can achieve. Earth is in "The Slow Zone", in which faster-than-light (FTL) travel cannot be achieved. Most of the book, however, takes place in a zone called "The Beyond", where the computations necessary for FTL travel are possible, but transcendence beyond the Singularity to superhuman intelligence is not. Thus Vinge could write a classic space opera despite his belief that the technology required for such stories would push us past the singularity. Fire includes a large number of additional ideas making for an unusually complex and rich universe and story.

Related Topics:
1992 - A Fire Upon the Deep - Faster-than-light - Space opera

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A Deepness in the Sky (1999) was a prequel to Fire, following competing groups of humans in The Slow Zone as they struggle over who has the rights to exploit a technologically emerging alien culture. Deepness also won a Hugo Award in 2000.

Related Topics:
A Deepness in the Sky - 1999 - Prequel

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Vinge has also won Hugos for his novellas, "Fast Times at Fairmont High" in 2002, and "The Cookie Monster" in 2004.

Related Topics:
Fast Times at Fairmont High - The Cookie Monster

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Vinge retired in 2002 from teaching at San Diego State University in order to write full-time.

Related Topics:
2002 - San Diego State University

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His ex-wife Joan D. Vinge is also an accomplished science fiction author.

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Most years, since its inception in 1999, Vinge has been on the Free Software Foundation's selection committee for their Award for the Advancement of Free Software.

Related Topics:
Free Software Foundation - Award for the Advancement of Free Software

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