Citizendia

Vernor Vinge

Vernor Vinge, at the Computers, Freedom and Privacy Conference (CFP) 2006
BornOctober 2, 1944 (1944-10-02) (age 63)
Waukesha, Wisconsin, U.S.A.
OccupationComputer scientist
NationalityAmerican
Writing period1966—
GenresScience fiction
Notable work(s)True Names (1981),
A Fire Upon the Deep (1992),
"The Coming Technological Singularity" (1993),
Fast Times at Fairmont High (2002)
Notable award(s)Hugo Awards,
  Best Novel: 1993, 2000, 2007;
  Best Novella: 2003, 2005
Prometheus Awards:
  1987, 2000, 2004, 2007
Spouse(s)Joan D. Vinge (divorced)
Influenced
Official website

Vernor Steffen Vinge (pronounced /ˈvɪndʒi/) (born October 2, 1944 in Waukesha, Wisconsin, U.S.) is a retired San Diego State University Professor of Mathematics, computer scientist, and science fiction author. The ComputersFreedom and Privacy Conference (or CFP, or the Conference on Computers Freedom and Privacy) is an annual Academic conference held in the Events 1187 - Siege of Jerusalem: Saladin captures Jerusalem after 88 years of Crusader rule Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Waukesha (ˈwɔːkɨʃɔː is a city in and the County seat of Waukesha County, Wisconsin, in the the The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Employment is a Contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. Computer science (or computing science) is the study and the Science of the theoretical foundations of Information and Computation and their Nationality is a relationship between a Person and their State of Origin, Culture, association Affiliation and/or Loyalty The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A literary genre is a category of literary composition Genres may be determined by Literary technique, tone, Content, or even (as in the case of fiction True Names was the Science fiction Novella which brought Vernor Vinge to prominence in 1981 A Fire Upon the Deep (1992 is a Science fiction Novel written by Vernor Vinge, an award-winning Space opera about superhuman The Collected Stories of Vernor Vinge is a collection of Science fiction short stories by Vernor Vinge. The Hugo Awards are given every year for the best Science fiction or Fantasy works and achievements of the previous year Winners of the Hugo Award for best science fiction or fantasy Novel, along with all the nominees are presented here The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works The Prometheus Award is an award for Libertarian science fiction novels given out annually by the Libertarian Futurist Society which also publishes a quarterly journal Joan D Vinge (ˈvɪndʒi (born 2 April 1948 in Baltimore, Maryland as Joan Carol Dennison is an Cyberpunk is a Science fiction genre noted for its focus on " High tech and low life. Events 1187 - Siege of Jerusalem: Saladin captures Jerusalem after 88 years of Crusader rule Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Waukesha (ˈwɔːkɨʃɔː is a city in and the County seat of Waukesha County, Wisconsin, in the the The United States of America —commonly referred to as the History Established on March 13 1897 San Diego State University first began as the San Diego Normal School intended to educate local future female elementary school teachers The meaning of the word professor ( Latin: professor, person who professes to be an expert in some art or science teacher of highest rank) varies Mathematics is the body of Knowledge and Academic discipline that studies such concepts as Quantity, Structure, Space and Computer science (or computing science) is the study and the Science of the theoretical foundations of Information and Computation and their He is best known for his Hugo Award-winning novels A Fire Upon the Deep (1992), A Deepness in the Sky (1999) and Rainbows End (2006), his Hugo Award-winning novellas Fast Times at Fairmont High (2002) and The Cookie Monster (2004), as well as for his 1993 essay "The Coming Technological Singularity", in which he argues that exponential growth in technology will reach a point beyond which we cannot even speculate about the consequences. The Hugo Awards are given every year for the best Science fiction or Fantasy works and achievements of the previous year A Fire Upon the Deep (1992 is a Science fiction Novel written by Vernor Vinge, an award-winning Space opera about superhuman A Deepness in the Sky is a Science fiction Novel by Vernor Vinge. Rainbows End is a 2006 Science fiction novel by Vernor Vinge. The Hugo Awards are given every year for the best Science fiction or Fantasy works and achievements of the previous year The Collected Stories of Vernor Vinge is a collection of Science fiction short stories by Vernor Vinge. "The Cookie Monster" is a 2004 Hugo Award -winning novella by Vernor Vinge. The technological singularity is a theoretical future point of unprecedented technological progress caused in part by the ability of machines to improve themselves using Artificial Exponential growth (including Exponential decay) occurs when the growth rate of a mathematical function is proportional to the function's current value

Within thirty years, we will have the technological means to create superhuman intelligence. Shortly after, the human era will be ended.

– Vinge, 1993

Contents

Life and work

Vinge published his first short story, "Bookworm, Run!", in the March 1966 issue of Analog Science Fiction, then edited by John W. Campbell. "Bookworm Run!" is a Science fiction Short story written by Vernor Vinge; it is Vinge's second published work of fiction Analog Science Fiction and Fact is an American Science fiction Magazine. John Wood Campbell Jr (June 8 1910 – July 11 1971 was an important Science fiction editor and writer The story explores the theme of artificially augmented intelligence by connecting the brain directly to computerised data sources. He became a moderately prolific contributor to SF magazines in the 1960s and early 1970s, adapting one of his stories into a short novel, Grimm's World (1969), and publishing a second novel, The Witling (1975). The Witling is a 1976 Science fiction Novel by Vernor Vinge, about a planet populated by a race of nearly-human aliens who have the ability to

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 cyberpunk stories by William Gibson, Neal Stephenson and others. True Names was the Science fiction Novella which brought Vernor Vinge to prominence in 1981 Cyberspace &mdash from the Greek el Κυβερνήτης (el kybernētēs steersman governor pilot or rudder &mdash is the global domain of electro-magnetics accessed Cyberpunk is a Science fiction genre noted for its focus on " High tech and low life. William Ford Gibson (born March 17 1948 is an American - Canadian writer who has been called the "noir prophet" of the Cyberpunk subgenre Neal Town Stephenson (born October 31, 1959) is an American writer known primarily for his Science fiction works in the Postcyberpunk genre

His next two novels, The Peace War (1984) and Marooned in Realtime (1986), explore the spread of a future libertarian society, and deal with the impact of a technology which can create impenetrable force fields called 'Bobbles'. The Peace War is a Science fiction Novel by Vernor Vinge about Authoritarianism and technological progress Marooned in Realtime is a 1986 murder mystery and Time-travel Science fiction novel by Vernor Vinge, about a small time-displaced In Science fiction and Fantasy literature a force field or protective shield is a barrier made up of energy to protect a person area or object from Stasis (ˈsteɪsɪs or hypersleep, is a Science fiction concept akin to Suspended animation. These books built Vinge's reputation as an author who would explore ideas to their logical conclusions in particularly inventive ways. Both books were nominated for the Hugo Award, but lost to novels by William Gibson and Orson Scott Card. The Hugo Awards are given every year for the best Science fiction or Fantasy works and achievements of the previous year William Ford Gibson (born March 17 1948 is an American - Canadian writer who has been called the "noir prophet" of the Cyberpunk subgenre Orson Scott Card (born August 24, 1951) is a bestselling American Author, Critic, political writer and speaker.

These two novels and True Names also emphasized Vinge's interest in the technological singularity. The technological singularity is a theoretical future point of unprecedented technological progress caused in part by the ability of machines to improve themselves using Artificial 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 and a global plague, while Marooned in Realtime follows a small group of people who have managed to miss the singularity which otherwise encompassed Earth.

Vinge won the Hugo Award with his 1992 novel, A Fire Upon the Deep. A Fire Upon the Deep (1992 is a Science fiction Novel written by Vernor Vinge, an award-winning Space opera about superhuman In it, he 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. Nearest the center is 'The Unthinking Depths', where even human level intelligence is impossible. 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. In the last zone, 'The Transcend', there are apparently no limitations at all. The Beyond, therefore, permits a classic space opera, using technology that would push past the singularity. Space opera is a subgenre of Speculative fiction or Science fiction that emphasizes romantic, often Melodramatic adventure set mainly or entirely Fire includes a large number of additional ideas making for an unusually complex and rich universe and story.

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. A Deepness in the Sky is a Science fiction Novel by Vernor Vinge. A prequel is a work that portrays events and/or aspects of a previously completed narrative but is set prior to the existing narrative In addition, Deepness explores the themes of technological freedom vs. technology as a tool of enslavement and control. This novel transcends the polarities of a liberal vs. conservative-type struggle. Deepness also won a Hugo Award in 2000.

Vinge's novellas Fast Times at Fairmont High and The Cookie Monster also won Hugo Awards in 2002 and 2004, respectively. The Collected Stories of Vernor Vinge is a collection of Science fiction short stories by Vernor Vinge. "The Cookie Monster" is a 2004 Hugo Award -winning novella by Vernor Vinge.

Vinge's 2006 novel, Rainbows End is set in a similar universe to Fast Times at Fairmont High and is a Hugo Award winner for Best Novel. Rainbows End is a 2006 Science fiction novel by Vernor Vinge. He intends his next novel to be a sequel to A Fire Upon the Deep, set approximately 10 years after the events of that book. A Fire Upon the Deep (1992 is a Science fiction Novel written by Vernor Vinge, an award-winning Space opera about superhuman

Vinge retired in 2000 from teaching at San Diego State University, in order to write full-time. History Established on March 13 1897 San Diego State University first began as the San Diego Normal School intended to educate local future female elementary school teachers 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. The Free Software Foundation ( FSF) is a Non-profit corporation founded by Richard Stallman on 4 October 1985 to support the Free software movement Free Software Foundation (FSF grants two annual awards Since 1998 FSF has granted the award for Advancement of Free Software. Vernor Vinge was Writer Guest of Honor at ConJosé, the 60th World Science Fiction Convention in 2002. ConJosé was the 60th World Science Fiction Convention, held in San José, California on August 29-September 2 2002. See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar.

Vinge was formerly married to Joan D. Vinge, also an accomplished science fiction author. Joan D Vinge (ˈvɪndʒi (born 2 April 1948 in Baltimore, Maryland as Joan Carol Dennison is an

Themes

The concepts of artificial intelligence and technological singularity inform much of Vinge's writing, whether his stories embrace them (Bookworm, Run!; True Names; Rainbows End) or construct worlds to specifically explain the non-existence of these phenomena (A Fire Upon the Deep, A Deepness in the Sky). The technological singularity is a theoretical future point of unprecedented technological progress caused in part by the ability of machines to improve themselves using Artificial

A pro-market/anarchocapitalist theme can be seen in other works, either explicitly (The Ungoverned, Marooned in Realtime) or more quietly (the confrontation between the Emergents and the Qeng Ho in A Deepness in the Sky). Anarcho-capitalism (also known as Free-market anarchism) is an individualist anarchist Political philosophy that advocates the elimination

References in other works

In Gene Wolfe's The Fifth Head of Cerberus (published in 1972, before Vinge had written his best-known work), the narrator finds a collection of Vernor Vinge stories on a top shelf of a far-future library on a distant world, though the cover has been so worn down that he thinks a librarian must have mistaken the "V. Gene Wolfe (born May 7, 1931, New York New York) is an American Science fiction and Fantasy writer The Fifth Head of Cerberus is the title of both a Novella and a single-volume collection of three novellas written by American Science fiction Vinge" on the spine as "Winge".

In David Brin's Kiln People, there is a reference to the main character experiencing something like "Vingeian focus," a quick reference to A Deepness in the Sky. Glen David Brin, PhD (born October 6, 1950) is an American scientist and award-winning author of Science fiction. Kiln People is a 2002 Science fiction Novel by David Brin. It was published in the UK under the title Kil'n People A Deepness in the Sky is a Science fiction Novel by Vernor Vinge. Vinge's review of the book is featured on the back cover.

Bibliography

Novels

Collections

Uncollected Short Fiction

Listen to

External links


Persondata
NAMEVinge, Vernor Steffen
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTIONMathematician, computer scientist and science fiction author
DATE OF BIRTH1944-10-02
PLACE OF BIRTHWaukesha, Wisconsin, U.S.
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1187 - Siege of Jerusalem: Saladin captures Jerusalem after 88 years of Crusader rule Waukesha (ˈwɔːkɨʃɔː is a city in and the County seat of Waukesha County, Wisconsin, in the the Wisconsin ( or wɪˈskɑnsɨn (French Ouisconsin) is one of the fifty United States of America, located in the north central part of the United States The United States of America —commonly referred to as the
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