Free antho of scientifically accurate, physics-oriented sf

Mary Robinette Kowal sez:

Astronomy professor and SF author, Mike Brotherton, had a brilliant idea. A lot of people get their ideas about science from fiction, but the problem is that much of the science in fiction is really bad -- like that whole exploding in vacuum thing. So he decided to put together an online anthology of science fiction specifically to use in conjunction with teaching astronomy. The National Science Foundation thought it was a good idea and funded the anthology.
He said, "The purpose of the anthology is to provide stories with ample and accurate astronomy spanning a range of topics covered in introductory courses. Instructors in high school and college may these stories useful, as some students may learn concepts more easily through story than from lecture. Fans of science fiction with good science should also enjoy these stories."
These free stories come from Hugo, Nebula and Campbell-award winning authors.

Astronomy Science Fiction (Thanks, Mary!)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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mbrother

padster123, Robert Forward is dead or I would have asked him to contribute a story. Some big names passed. If you don’t recognize any of the names, you don’t read enough sf, at least not hard sf or short fiction. Take a look and maybe you’ll find some new favorites.
mbrother

Anonymous@4, THIS collection is about astronomy as we know it today. That’s what I pitched to the National Science Foundation for the outreach component of my research grant, and that’s what I tried to deliver. I think you’ll find some “plausible” stuff in there along with the good science.
Axx

My story didn’t make the cut. It’s about an alien child who, through the charitable help of a human quantum field theory student, verifies the transformation properties of a continuous random tensor field…and in the process, learns how to love.

If you use that one Cory, just cite me as an influence and we’ll call it cool.
Anonymous

#2 – Why limit the creative fiction to astronomy? Fun with chemicals created Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, electricity shocked Frankenstein’s monsters to life, music or light or x-rays are just different portions of the vibratory spectrum, and there are enough mysteries in magnets, gravity, the basic elements, and human behavior to make any middle school science student wonder “what if?“.
Sci-fi books hooked me on science in the 4th grade, but today’s kids have a more incredible range of video, TV, and games (and books) to spur their scientific imaginations.
What’s fascinating to me is that by knowing science, I can write about things that push those limits into more plausible scenarios. That’s Scientific Plausibility. Knowing there’s a wall in front of them inspires some people to find a way around, over, under, or through it.

#3 – Perhaps there is a dearth of well-known sci-fi authors that are as astronomically accurate as the project expects, although it does mention they’re “award winning authors”.
I have been reading the stories since sci-fi notoriety has never been a criteria of mine. There are more one-hit-wonders in literature than there are in music and (with apologies to roses) a good story is a good story by any author.
mbrother

@#14, Ditto Mary. You posted this on my blog too and I told you there that this was a different book. I would appreciate you being more careful about trash talking something when you don’t know what you’re talking about.
robulus

@AXX

And maybe, just maybe, that human quantum field theory student might learn a little something about transformation properties of continuous random tensor field verification along the way too.
jccalhoun

#4 Plausibility is good but who determines what is actually plausible? I don’t find much of any of the science in Star Trek to be plausible. I don’t find any faster than light-speed travel to be plausible. I don’t find it plausible that someone’s memories could be transferred to someone else. I do find it plausible that they could be copied and a duplicate set could be copied into a clone. But that wouldn’t be the same person. It would be a duplicate of that person.

When I read scifi that has things like interstellar travel that doesn’t take decades or centuries or consciousnesses being moved around without any debate over if that is the same person or not, I get taken out of the story because I don’t find it plausible. I can overcome that and enjoy it despite that but I’d rather have scifi be much more plausible.
falalalala

This is great! I teach middle school science and have my sixth graders write astronomically accurate sci-fi stories when we’re covering astronomy.
Axx

@ROBULUS

Doubtful.
;)
padster123

Nice, but the author list is, I hate to say it, a little obscure? I don’t recognize a single name, and I read quite a bit of SF. Put in Robert L Forward at least?!
Anonymous

Actually, science fiction does NOT have to be scientifically accurate, nor should it be. All it really has to be is Scientifically Plausible.

Think about it for a few trillion nano-seconds. If we agree that [1] sci-fi is based upon upon the sciences, and if we agree that [2] we humans of today collectively do not know everything there is to know about the various sciences (including their interactions), and if we agree that [3] human sci-fi authors are reflecting a contemporary human knowledge of science (and of course, humans) in their writings, then scientific plausibility – not accuracy – is the key to a good science fiction story.

Is Star Trek‘s warp drive scientifically accurate? Hardly. But is it plausible? Sure. Can a person’s memories (as a combination of biological, chemical, electrical, and/or other components) be transferred to a computer and then restored into that person’s clone? Uhm, doubt it. But is it plausible? Sure.

Yes, there have been great science fiction tales that have been based upon science, that have even predicted scientific achievements (think Arthur C. Clarke). And yes, there has been some distinct cross pollination between fantasy and sci-fi in many areas that border on several sciences (think psychology or parapsychology, biology or exobiology). But no, if what we read is not scientifically plausible in the universe the writer creates for us it’s not science fiction (think disconcerting, perhaps).

Therefore I repeat: Scientific Plausibility trumps Scientific Accuracy in science fiction.
mbrother

#12, we can transport information about particles, not the particles themselves. Quantum “teleportation” isn’t quite what the media or terminology has made it out to be. Unfortunate, in my opinion, as it is a really profoundly cool thing, but not teleportation as people think of it.
Anonymous

#10 – You just proved my point in #4. If a reader doesn’t think the science is plausible, it’s not a good story. But, only to him or her.
I think you missed the point that in science fiction scientific plausibility is better than scientific accuracy because we don’t KNOW what is really accurate. We humans only understand bits’n'pieces of science.
You say you would “rather have scifi [sic] be much more plausible”, but I think I’m hearing you would “rather have scifi that conforms to my scientific beliefs.” Is it only plausible if it fits what you believe to be true? Depends on your fanaticism. If we sci-fi readers understand that what we think true may be incorrect or incomplete to begin with, then we realize damn near anything is possible or plausible. Otherwise, why read sci-fi?
I also said “scientifically plausible in the the universe the writer creates for us”. Yes, some universes are more likely than others. Perhaps many Star Trek props are not too scientifically valid as we understand things today. But explore quantum physics and we see that “Beam me up, Scotty” is very plausible when we can indeed transport particles short distances. As Einstein noted, spooky.
Mary Robinette Kowal

@#14 That’s a different book. There is no lulu edition of this.
Anonymous

What is not a Brilliant idea– The execution.

If this is the book I think it is, it has been published as a Print on Demand Title. Retail Bookstores are anathema to carry any Print on Demand titles, as there is no return credits. It languishes forever unsold (if unbought) until it is clearanced out at a loss.

Not only has it been published so, it has been done so BADLY.
Whoever formatted the text, layed it out, created a PDF for a 6 x 9 page, which was printed, as most Print on Demand Titles are, on an 81/2 x 11 page.

AND
each page has the word Copywrite 2008 (or 2009) at the top of each page.

That is not protecting it for copyright (copyRIGHT) purposes when you have a big honking TYPO as your legal notice on each page.

However, with the white space, astronomers could use the huge margins as note paper.

This is not lulu.coms fault that the book was designed SO poorly, it is the eagerness and incompetence of the editors.

Maybe I saw a rare first pressing however.

In either case, someone who KNOWS what they are doing should REALLY publish the book, properly formatted, with return credit, so it can be distributed physically. TOR or someone.

Print On Demand is a technology that really has not met its potential in the least, and has merely become an overpriced vanity press for the ignorant, in most cases, or a price gouging scheme for public domain works, from imprints such as Kessinger. There are some good titles at Lulu.com though.
wolfiesma

I’m sorry, I just couldn’t resist…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7F2X3rSSCU