Gregory Benford
Personal Information
Description
Gregory Benford (Gregory Albert Benford) is an astrophysicist and science fiction author who is on the faculty of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Irvine. He is also a contributing editor of Reason magazine. Benford is best known for the Galactic Center Saga novels, a series that postulates a galaxy in which sentient organic life is in constant warfare with sentient electromechanical life. Greg was born in Mobile, Alabama. He received his Bachelor of Science in Physics from the University of Oklahoma, followed by his Masters and then his Doctorate from the University of California, San Diego. Having published more than 200 scientific papers, his research encompasses both theory and experiments in the fields of astrophysics and plasma physics. Greg is a two-time winner of the Nebula Award and has also won the John W. Campbell Award, the Australian Ditmar Award, the Lord Foundation Prize, and the 1990 United Nations Medal in Literature. Source: Secular Policy Institute
Books
Great Science Fiction
White Creatures - short story by Gregory Benford The Singing Diamond - short story by Robert L. Forward Publish and Perish - short story by Paul J. Nahin Skystalk - novelette by Charles Sheffield The Universal Library - short story by Kurd Lasswitz (trans. of Die Universalbibliothek 1904) Long Shot - short story by Vernor Vinge Blackmail - short story by Fred Hoyle Jeannette's Hands - short story by R. S. Richardson [as by Philip Latham] The Warm Space - novelette by David Brin The Wind from the Sun - novelette by Arthur C. Clarke Industrial Accident - novelette by G. Harry Stine [as by Lee Correy] Choice - short story by John R. Pierce The Winnowing - short story by Isaac Asimov Dr. Snow Maiden - short story by Larry Eisenberg On the Fourth Planet - short story by J. F. Bone Learning Theory - short story by James McConnell [as by James V. McConnell] Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death - short story by James Tiptree, Jr. Transfusion - novelette by Chad Oliver In the Beginning - short story by Morton Klass Modulation in All Things - short story by Suzette Haden Elgin The Bones of Charlemagne - novelette by Mario Pei [as by Mario A. Pei]
Again, Dangerous Visions
A collection of original science fiction stories by such noted authors as Ray Bradbury, Ben Bova, and Kurt Vonnegut.
Timescape
David, Xander, Dad, and Keal discover that Taksidian wants their house for himself in order to use the time portals to build an empire, and unless they can find his weakness in time, the future of the world itself may be in danger.
Heart of the Comet
From inside front cover: EXILES from a world devastated by fear and political strife. HEROES who first must conquer their own conflicts before the greater goal can be won. PIONEERS, hundreds of men and women chosen to seek a new future, to chart a new destiny. They soared to the heart of a comet, led by three remarkable and very human people: CARD OSBORN: The troubled leader of an increasingly improbable mission. Silently, he calls upon his bottomless strength to carry the weight of hundreds of frightened, tormented lives. SAUL LINTZ: The brilliant biologist who works feverishly to heal the stricken crew. Ultimately, he undertakes a desperate experiment to delve into the very essence of life -- and death. VIRGINIA HERBERT: The gifted cybernetics technician, the woman both men love. She breaks the barrier of artificial intelligence and must now ho one step beyond into a melding of mind and machine.
Isaac Asimov's Wonders of the World
Lirios: A Tale of the Quintana Roo - novelette by James Tiptree, Jr. Exposures - short story by Gregory Benford For the Birds - short story by Isaac Asimov The Woman the Unicorn Loved - novelette by Gene Wolfe Death in Vesunna - novelette by Elaine O'Byrne and Harry Turtledove [as by Eric G. Iverson and Elaine O'Byrne] I Dream of a Fish, I Dream of a Bird - short story by Elizabeth A. Lynn Fire Watch - novelette by Connie Willis Full Fathom Five My Father Lies - novelette by Rand B. Lee The Moon & the Moth - poem by Peter Payack Trial Sample - short story by Ted Reynolds Elementary Decision - poem by Don Anderson The Storm King - novelette by Joan D. Vinge The Regulars - short story by Robert Silverberg Memo - short story by Frank Ward Enemy Mine - novella by Barry B. Longyear
Tides of Light
From the back cover: Onboard an ancient starship, Killeen and the Bishop tribe escape the mech-ruled world of Snowglade. Seeking refuge on a faraway planet, they discover vast wonders -- an organic life-form as large as a world, a planet-coring cosmic string, a community of humans ruled by a brutal tyrant, and ultimately an alien race more awesome than any they have encountered. As they battle for survival against those myriad dangers, Killeen and his crew will gain an unforeseen ally -- one that may determine humanity's true destiny.
Far futures
This anthology collects five original novellas that take the very long view, all set at least ten thousand years in the future. The authors take a rigorously scientific view of such grand panoramas, confronting the largest issues of cosmology, astronomy, evolution, and biology.
Galaxy's Edge Magazine
Other Worlds Than These
Free Space
The New Hugo Winners
A Walk in the Sun - short story by Geoffrey A. Landis Gold - novelette by Isaac Asimov Beggars in Spain - novella by Nancy Kress Even the Queen - short story by Connie Willis The Nutcracker Coup - novelette by Janet Kagan Barnacle Bill the Spacer - novella by Lucius Shepard Death on the Nile - novelette by Connie Willis Georgia on My Mind - novelette by Charles Sheffield Down in the Bottomlands - novella by Harry Turtledove
Beyond Infinity
Even small children know there are infinitely many whole numbers - start counting and you'll never reach the end. But there are also infinitely many decimal numbers between zero and one. Are these two types of infinity the same? Are they larger or smaller than each other? Can we even talk about 'larger' and 'smaller' when we talk about infinity? In Beyond Infinity, international maths sensation Eugenia Cheng reveals the inner workings of infinity. What happens when a new guest arrives at your infinite hotel - but you already have an infinite number of guests? How does infinity give Zeno's tortoise the edge in a paradoxical foot-race with Achilles? And can we really make an infinite number of cookies from a finite amount of cookie dough? Wielding an armoury of inventive, intuitive metaphor, Cheng draws beginners and enthusiasts alike into the heart of this mysterious, powerful concept to reveal fundamental truths about mathematics, all the way from the infinitely large down to the infinitely small.
The Best Fantasy Stories of the Year, 1989
Timeskip / Charles de Lint -- We could do worse / Gregory Benford -- Prescience / Pat Murphy -- Windwagon Smith and the Martians / Lawrence Watt-Evans -- Miss Carstairs and the Merman / Delia Sherman -- Events which took place a day before other events / Avram Davidson -- What befell Mairiam / Algis Budrys -- Jack Straw / Midori Snyder -- A dirge for Clowntown / James Powell -- The edge of the world / Michael Swanwick.
Skylife
A collection of tales from such science fiction masters as Bradbury, Asimov, and Vinge focuses on life in space habitats and includes essays by scientists that discuss the potential realities of space stations and homes.
Furious gulf
From back cover Warner paperback February 2005: Trying to escape the relentless mechs, the last humans from the planet Snowglade take their ancient starship on a dangerous course straight into the Eater, the black hole at the galactic center. Hungry and desperate, the refugees begin to question the leadership of Captain Killeen, who believes the center holds their one hope of survival. Meanwhile, Killeen's son Toby struggles with the microchips that were implanted in his spine -- a technology that now threatens his sanity. Caught between their genocidal pursuers and peril in the galactic center, Killeen and Toby bring humanity to its final destiny.