Hawking radiation: Predicted radiation that leaks from a black hole thanks to quantum effects.
Hayflick limit: A limit on the number of times a normal cell divides until it says, “No more.”
heat death: The ultimate fate of the universe. No thermal energy is available for any process.
Heisenberg uncertainty principle: There is fuzziness in nature that limits what can be known about the behavior of quantum particles.
holographic principle: A theory where everything we see in spacetime is really a lower-dimensional projection from a boundary.
hominid: Hominins plus apes, gorillas, chimps, and orangutans.
hominin: Humans and any early subspecies of humans.
Hubble's constant: The rate of expansion of the universe. It is about 70.8 kilometers per second per megaparsec.
intelligence: The accumulation of knowledge.
ion engine: Ionized gas for propulsion.
Kardashev scale: Ranking system of civilizations based on power usage.
laser: Focused and amplified light emissions.
Local Group: About fifty-four gravitationally bound galaxies. The Milky Way is a member.
loop quantum gravity (LQG) theory: A quantum version of spacetime. Instead of spacetime being continuous, it might be composed of tiny (Planck length) spacetime pixels.
macrophage: A large white blood cell that ingests foreign particles, including bacteria.
membrane theory: A cosmology in which our universe is camped out on a membrane (brane) of energy that floats in a higher-dimensional bulk made up of many branes. Gravity leaks through the bulk, making gravity appear weak compared to the other three universal forces.
metamaterials: Material with properties not found in natural materials.
nanites: A nanomachine operating at the nanoscale.
natural selection: The process where those members of a species that are better adapted are more likely to survive, meet a nice partner, and have a baby.
near-Earth objects (NEOs): Asteroids and comets in Earth's neighborhood (within 1.3 AU).
neurons: A nerve cell used to transmit impulses.
neutrino: A neutrally charged particle produced by beta decay.
nuclear propulsion (Orion design): What it sounds like—nuclear explosions for thrust. A more advanced version of nuclear propulsion for rockets would require controlled nuclear fission or fusion drives. This is still in the developmental stage.
parsec: Shorthand for parallax of one arcsecond, a measure of stellar distances.
Planck length: A length so small that classical ideas about physics are no longer valid. Quantum mechanics dominates. If strings vibrate particles into existence, then they will exist at or below this length.
posthumanism: A state of being beyond human.
quantum entanglement: Occurs when pairs of particles share the same quantum state and cannot be described independently from each other. Distance between the particles doesn't matter.
quantum teleportation: The transfer of quantum information between different locations.
ramjet: Instead of sucking air, the ramjet rams into it. The air compression ignites the fuel to produce thrust. Combustion occurs at subsonic speeds.
Rare Earth Hypothesis: Suggests that earthlike planets with complex life are rare.
redshift: A stretching of a wavelength to the red part of the electromagnetic spectrum as a stellar object moves away from an observer. This is to light what the Doppler shift is to sound.
RNA (ribonucleic acid): The worker that carries out the instructions found in the DNA genetic blueprint.
robot: Not an AI.
Schrödinger's cat: An unhappy feline used in a thought experiment.
Schrödinger's wave function: A math construct that contains all the probabilities for an outcome.
Schwarzschild radius: The radius of a given mass where, if the mass could be compressed to fit within this radius, no force could stop it from continuing its collapse to a singularity.
scramjet: A supersonic ramjet. Unlike a standard ramjet, it doesn't need to slow to subsonic speeds before combustion (and, you know, thrust).
singularity: Not clearly defined in physics, but the math of general relativity describes it as an infinitely small and dense point.
solar radiation: Solar rays identified by their wavelength.
solar sail: Uses the pressure from sunlight hitting mirrors for propulsion.
solar winds: Charged particles flowing from the sun.
space elevator: A cable anchored to a planet with its terminus in space. This could be used for ferrying equipment into orbit.
spacetime: The fusion of the three spatial dimensions of space with time into a single continuum.
special relativity: Laws of motion are the same for non-accelerating frames of reference. Speed of light is the same for all reference frames. These two facts combined yield a lot of the funky stuff in the first chapter.
speciation: The formation of unique species over the course of evolution.
stem cell: An undifferentiated cell capable of differentiating into specialized cells.
string theory: A theory that one-dimensional strings vibrating in multiple dimensions interact with each other to create science fiction along with everything else.
superatom: A group of atoms that when combined have some of the properties of an element.
superconductor: It conducts electricity in a super way (with no loss of energy).
super-galaxy: A merger of gravitationally bound galaxies into a single galaxy.
supernova: Stellar explosions. Also good for determining stellar distances.
superposition: Simultaneously maintaining all the possible states (outcomes) in the probability wave function.
tachyon particle: A theoretical particle that must always travel faster than the speed of light. The particle is inconsistent with relativity only if it slowed to subluminal speeds.
technology: The application of science for practical purposes and some not so practical but fun purposes.
terraforming: Planetary engineering to make a planet more earthlike.
thermodynamics: The physics of heat, energy, and work in a system.
3-D printing: Creation of a 3-D object from a digital model. The desired object is created in a succession of layers.
time dilation: Clocks in different frames of reference (different accelerating frames) move at different speeds relative to each other. This is one of the funky traits of special relativity.
transhumanism: The human in transition using available biological or mechanical enhancements.
transit method: A technique using measurements of light to detect exoplanets.
turbojet: Sucks in air for combustion to produce thrust.
vacuum energy/zero-point energy: The universe's background energy.
virtual particles: Short-lived particles birthed from temporary violations of the conservation of energy. It is all legal thanks to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle.
virtual reality: An interactive three-dimensional environment that appears (feels) real.
volatiles: Elements with low boiling points such as nitrogen and carbon dioxide.
wetware: Technology that links the human brain to artificial systems.
wobble method: A technique using measurements of gravitational pull to detect exoplanets.
zombie: Reanimated dead, or a living being made into an automaton (fiction).
The chapter the book or movie is relevant to is listed in parentheses.
READING LIST
Edwin A. Abbott. Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions. London: Seeley, 1884. An examination of geometric dimensions and Victorian culture. (Chapter 3.)
Douglas Adams. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. London: Pan Books, 1979. Humans evolved as part of a computer program to determine the question to life, the universe, and everything. (Chapters 8 and 13.)
Isaac Asimov. The Foundation Trilogy. New York: Alfred A. Kno
pf, 2010. Making a plan and sticking to it. (Chapter 13.)
Isaac Asimov. “Liar.” Astounding Science Fiction 27, no. 3 (May 1941). This story contains the first use of the word “robotics.” (Chapter 14.)
Isaac Asimov. “Runaround.” Astounding Science Fiction 29, no. 1 (March 1942). Tons of robot goodness including the Three Laws of Robotics. (Chapter 14.)
Jacob Astor IV. A Journey in Other Worlds: A Romance of the Future. New York: D. Appleton, 1894. The first appearance of the term “spaceship.” (Chapter 17.)
Margaret Atwood. The Handmaid's Tale. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1985. This is an example of the relationship between our bodies, our environment, and politics. Human effects on the environment have caused human infertility. Non-barren women are a limited resource to be managed. (Chapter 11.)
Paolo Bacigalupi. The Water Knife. New York: Knopf Doubleday, 2016. The American Southwest is water-depleted, and waring nations fight over what's left of the Colorado River. (Chapter 11.)
René Barjavel. Le Voyageur imprudent. Paris: Éditions Denoël, 1944. The introduction of the grandfather paradox. (Chapter 2.)
Harry Bates. “Farewell to the Master.” Astounding Science Fiction 26, no. 2 (October 1940). This story is the blueprint for the movie The Day the Earth Stood Still. It is a story of first contact. (Chapter 15.)
Stephen Baxter. Evolution. London: Orion, 2002. The title says it all. (Chapter 8.)
Greg Bear. Eon. New York: Tor Books, 1985. This book has everything: genetic engineering, parallel universes, and most other things from various chapters.
Gregory Benford. Timescape. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1980. Tachyons are used for time-traveling communication to warn of ecological disaster. (Chapters 6 and 11.)
David Brin. The Practice Effect. New York: Bantam Books, 1984. The main character travels to an alternate universe with different laws of physics. (Chapter 5.)
Max Brooks. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. New York: Three Rivers, 2007. In this book it is the Solanum virus that makes human flesh irresistible to the zombie community.
Tobias Buckell. Arctic Rising. New York: St. Martin's Press-3pl, 2012. A novel about the international relations after the loss of ice in the Arctic Ocean. (Chapter 11.)
Karel Capek. R.U.R. Rossum's Universal Robots (play). Aventinum, 1920. From this story we get the word “robot.” Robot is the Czech word for “worker.” (Chapter 14.)
Orson Scott Card. The Ender Quintet. New York: Tor Science Fiction; Box edition, 2008. This includes relativistic time travel and interstellar communication. (Chapters 1 and 16.)
M. R. Carey. The Girl with All the Gifts. London: Orbit Books, 2014. A novel about how messing with the environment will have biological consequences: zombies. (Chapter 9.)
Jeffrey A. Carver. Sunborn (the fourth book of The Chaos Chronicles). London: Macmillan, 2010. This book contains ancient AIs (Chapter 13) living within compact dimensions (Chapter 3) inside a black hole (Chapter 7).
Ted Chiang. “Story of Your Life.” Starlight 2. Edited by Patrick Nielsen Hayden. New York: Tor Books, 2002. This includes lingual determinism and alien contact. This novella is the basis for the movie Arrival. (Chapter 15.)
Wesley Chu. The Lives of Tao. Nottingham, UK: Angry Robot, 2013. Aliens use humans to increase greenhouse gasses to make the earth more suitable for their takeover. (Chapter 11.)
Liu Cixin. The Three-Body Problem. New York: Tor Books, 2014. It has examples of higher and lower dimensions beyond the ones we can perceive. It is also about planetary environmental problems. (Chapters 3 and 11.)
Arthur C. Clarke. 2001: A Space Odyssey. New York: New American Library, 1968. There is contact with an extraterrestrial intelligence, a possibly psychotic artificial intelligence, and displays of artificial gravity. (Chapters 13, 17, and 19.)
Arthur C. Clarke. The Fountains of Paradise. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1979. Early fictional use of the space elevator. (Chapter 17.)
Arthur C. Clarke. Imperial Earth. London: Gollancz, 1975. Use of smartphones and internet. Of course, they had different names because this was published in 1975. (Chapter 19.)
Ernest Cline. Ready Player One. New York: Random House, 2011. Virtual reality gaming for a big prize and survival. (Chapter 20.)
Blake Crouch. Pines (Book One of the Wayward Pines Trilogy). Seattle: Thomas & Mercer, 2012. This is about evolution gone haywire. (Chapter 8.)
Paige Daniels. “The Outpost.” Brave New Girls: Tales of Girls and Gadgets. Edited by Paige Daniels and Mary Fran. CreateSpace, 2015. A YA story jam-packed with wormholes. (Chapter 1.)
Samuel R. Delany. Triton. New York: Bantam Books, 1976. An interesting spin on antigravity. (Chapter 17.)
Philip K. Dick. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? New York: Doubleday, 1968. (The basis for the movie Blade Runner.) The story questions what it means to be human. (Chapter 13.)
Philip K. Dick. “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale.” Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction 30, no. 4 (April 1966). This story was loosely adapted into the movie Total Recall. It is all a question of identity. (Chapter 20.)
Michel Faber. The Book of Strange New Things: A Novel. London: Hogarth, 2014. Humans fleeing a dying Earth cause human-style environmental havoc on an inhabited alien world. (Chapter 11.)
David Gerrold. The Man Who Folded Himself. London: Orbit Books, 2014. The main character travels back and forward in time, always creating alternate iterations of himself. He eventually falls in love with himself, and mayhem ensues. (Chapters 2 and 5.)
William Gibson. Neuromancer. New York: Ace Books, 1984. Cyberspace is where all the cool posthumans hang out until the end of the universe. (Chapter 10.)
Joe Haldeman. Forever War. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1974. This novel is jam-packed with relativistic time travel (time dilation). Each battle in a war takes the hero centuries from the earth he remembers. (Chapter 1.)
Lucy Hawking and Stephen Hawking. George and the Big Bang. New York: Doubleday Children's Books, 2011. This middle-grade book examines the origins of the universe. (Chapter 4.)
Robert A. Heinlein. “The Man Who Sold the Moon.” The Man Who Sold the Moon. Chicago: Shashta, 1950. Examples of nuclear and chemical rockets. (Chapter 17.)
Bruce T. Holmes. Anvil of the Heart. Evanston, IL: Haven Corp., June 1983. A novel about optimizing the genes of children, or else! (Chapter 9.)
Frank K. Kelly. “Star Ship Invincible.” Astounding Stories of Science Fiction 9, no. 9 (January 1935). The word “starship” is first used. (Chapter 17.)
Nancy Kress. After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall. San Francisco: Tachyon Publications, 2012. A novel about ecological disaster (Chapter 11), dying before reaching adulthood, and time travel (Chapter 1). What more is needed?
Nancy Kress. Beggars in Spain. New York: William Morrow, 1991. A story about a new genetic trait giving an edge to a small portion of humanity. (Chapter 9.)
Ann Leckie. Ancillary Justice. London: Orbit Books, 2013. Reversed transhumanism. A starship AI who uses humans as ancillary units becomes trapped in one of them. (Chapter 13.)
Ursula K. Le Guin. Rocannon's World. New York: Ace Books, 1966. The fictional ansible is introduced for instantaneous long-distance communications. (Chapter 16.)
Madeleine L'Engle. A Wrinkle in Time. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1962. This young adult novel uses a tesseract to fold time for instantaneous travel across space. (Chapter 1.)
Jonathan Maberry. Patient Zero. New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 2009. A human-made disease zombifies humans. Not a smart choice. (Chapter 9.)
Anne McCaffrey. The Ship Who Sang. New York: Walker, 1969. Babies with birth defects have their brains wired into starships (transhumanism) to become the pilots. (Chapter 10.)
Seanan McGuire. “Each to Each.” Lightspeed Magazine: Women Destroy Science Fiction! no. 49 (June 2014). Women who join the military are (politically) nudged into the navy, where they are transformed into mermaids (transhumanism) to be both pretty for the cam
eras (good for public relations) and efficient in ocean warfare. There is a promise to be converted back—only none have. (Chapter 9.)
China Miéville. The City & the City. London: Macmillan, 2009. Overlapping dimensions. (Chapter 3).
Alan Moore. “Watchmen.” DC Comics, no. 1–12 (September 1986–October 1987). Because sometimes you can see the end coming. Or not. (Chapter 21.)
Audrey Niffenegger. The Time Traveler's Wife. San Francisco: MacAdam/Cage, 2003. Time travel as a genetic disorder is mentioned. This plot idea is not hard science. (Chapter 1.)
Larry Niven. Ringworld. New York: Ballantine Books, 1970. A civilization so advanced that they build an inhabitable artificial ring around a sun. This sounds a lot like a Dyson sphere. (Chapter 6.)
Larry Niven and Dean Ellis. All the Myriad Ways. New York: Ballantine Books, 1971. The title story of this short story collection features the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics. (Chapters 2 and 5.)
Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. Footfall. New York: Del Rey Books, 1985. This includes a ship propelled by nuclear bombs. There is also alien life. (Chapters 15 and 17.)
Claire North. The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August. Boston: Little, Brown, 2014. Time travel blended with the many-worlds interpretation of quantum physics. (Chapters 2 and 5.)
Ada Palmer. Too Like the Lightning. New York: Tor Books, 2016. Sometimes it is all about who controls the air highways. (Chapter 17.)
Hannu Rajaniemi. The Quantum Thief (Part One of the Jean le Flambeur trilogy). New York: Tor Books, 2011. It includes quantum computing (Chapter 2) and artificial intelligence (Chapter 13). There are posthumans hanging around who are radically different from baseline humans and from each other (Chapter 10).
Kim Stanley Robinson. Red Mars, Green Mars, and Blue Mars (the Mars trilogy). New York: Spectra/Bantam Dell/Random House, 1993, 1994, and 1996. This is how you write about terraforming. (Chapter 12.)
Carl Sagan. Contact. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1985. First contact between humans and an extraterrestrial, an intelligent communicating race gives rise to moral/political issues. (Chapters 15 and 16.)
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