The author discussed in my previous post, who employs the blogname 'Ernest Scribbler,' has kindly pointed out the fact that the draft of his science fiction novel which I mentioned has long since evolved into a trilogy. You can learn more about it here. His writing blog is also worth checking out, with posts on such topics as names in Rowling and Tolkien, and the latest issue of "Mallorn," the Journal of the Tolkien Society. (He is now the editor.)
Gabriel McKee has a post about Terry Pratchett's clarification of his recent quasi-mystical remarks on the universe. Gabriel also notes that an excerpt from his book The Gospel According to Science Fiction has been translated into Dutch! Gelukwensen!
D.G.D. Davidson has been doing some acquisitions work (sorry - library lingo...) on his science-fiction-and-religion collection. I'm acquainted with some of the books on his list, but not others. One of the books he mentions, Scientific Mythologies, has just been reviewed at length by James F. McGrath over at Exploring Our Matrix. He didn't like it.
Åka speculates about Dracula, or, more specifically, on where Van Helsing got all of his consecrated Hosts.
And last month Anactoria posted an interesting quote from Margaret Atwood (author of The Handmaid's Tale and Oryx & Crake) in which she describes what it means to be a "pessimistic pantheist," and muses on the Genesis creation account.
As for me, I'm reading Something More, by Paul Cornell. Does it contain any interesting scienti-theomological specumalation? Indeed it does.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Henry Gee and the Science of Middle-Earth
Here's an interesting-sounding book:
The Science of Middle-Earth: Explaining the Science Behind the Greatest Fantasy Epic Ever Told! by Henry Gee.
The promotional blurb reads in part: The author explores just how elves might be able to see much further than humans, why Frodo's sword turns blue at the sight of evil orcs, how the rings of power do their thing, and just about every other conundrum or piece of 'elvish magic' that have puzzled and delighted Tolkien fans for years. Throughout, Gee makes the point that science, fantasy, and nature are really more similar than one might think. Gee writes in a popular tone and style, fully explaining all science concepts and convincingly demonstrating how Tolkien's world of fantasy makes sense in a very real - scientific - way.
Now, you might think this is a pointless exercise in fandom by a fantasy fanatic with his head in the clouds... except for the fact that Dr. Henry Gee is himself a scientist, more specifically a paleontologist and evolutionary biologist. He is also a senior editor of Nature, the world-renowned scientific journal, and has edited a collection of science fiction previously published in the pages of Nature. He's written popular books on evolutionary biology, genomics, and dinosaurs. The Scientific American review of the LotR book points out: In a closing essay, [Gee] argues that "Tolkien's own worldview was closer to the true spirit of science than that held by many who propose to promote the public understanding of science."
He's also written some science fiction of his own, which is available for free here. The write-up: "Jack Corstorphine is a man with a rare intuition. He is convinced that the landscape of Europe hides a civilization a million years old. Jadis Markham has a gift for analysis -- she can reach solutions while everyone else is still grappling with the problem. Together, they change the face of prehistory. But prehistory bites back. Forces almost beyond imagination are stirring in Jack and Jadis' world, among the worlds of their friends -- their scientist-priest mentor Domingo, and their adopted son, Tom -- and among the stars. The Sigil is an epic of near-future SF about the nature of the past, religion, love and the nature of humanity."
I tend to enjoy the work of people who avoid polarization or easy categorization, like those who are at home in both science and art, who are good at rigorous thinking but who also appreciate the power and beauty of myth. And it seems that Dr. Gee is one of those 'in-between' people, not only in regards to fantastic literature ("he read The Lord of the Rings about once a year between the ages of 10 and 25") but also in questions of science, religion and philosophy. According to his awfully witty blog, The End Of The Pier Show, he is Jewish, with progressive/liberal opinions on religious matters. On the one hand, he's strongly opposed to creationism and the Intelligent Design movement, and on the other he has also expressed his disagreement with the militant atheists among his scientist colleagues (for example, here, here or here) while maintaining personal friendships with many of them.*
Something that comes through loud and clear on his blog, as a powerful recurring theme, is his passion for popularizing science for the widest possible audience. The Science of Middle-Earth sounds like a marvelous contribution to that quest.
*If you strongly disagree with Dr. Gee's views on creationism, I.D., militant atheism, or The Lord of the Rings, please take the issue up with him, as I'm allergic to strenous comment box arguments.
The Science of Middle-Earth: Explaining the Science Behind the Greatest Fantasy Epic Ever Told! by Henry Gee.
The promotional blurb reads in part: The author explores just how elves might be able to see much further than humans, why Frodo's sword turns blue at the sight of evil orcs, how the rings of power do their thing, and just about every other conundrum or piece of 'elvish magic' that have puzzled and delighted Tolkien fans for years. Throughout, Gee makes the point that science, fantasy, and nature are really more similar than one might think. Gee writes in a popular tone and style, fully explaining all science concepts and convincingly demonstrating how Tolkien's world of fantasy makes sense in a very real - scientific - way.
Now, you might think this is a pointless exercise in fandom by a fantasy fanatic with his head in the clouds... except for the fact that Dr. Henry Gee is himself a scientist, more specifically a paleontologist and evolutionary biologist. He is also a senior editor of Nature, the world-renowned scientific journal, and has edited a collection of science fiction previously published in the pages of Nature. He's written popular books on evolutionary biology, genomics, and dinosaurs. The Scientific American review of the LotR book points out: In a closing essay, [Gee] argues that "Tolkien's own worldview was closer to the true spirit of science than that held by many who propose to promote the public understanding of science."
He's also written some science fiction of his own, which is available for free here. The write-up: "Jack Corstorphine is a man with a rare intuition. He is convinced that the landscape of Europe hides a civilization a million years old. Jadis Markham has a gift for analysis -- she can reach solutions while everyone else is still grappling with the problem. Together, they change the face of prehistory. But prehistory bites back. Forces almost beyond imagination are stirring in Jack and Jadis' world, among the worlds of their friends -- their scientist-priest mentor Domingo, and their adopted son, Tom -- and among the stars. The Sigil is an epic of near-future SF about the nature of the past, religion, love and the nature of humanity."
I tend to enjoy the work of people who avoid polarization or easy categorization, like those who are at home in both science and art, who are good at rigorous thinking but who also appreciate the power and beauty of myth. And it seems that Dr. Gee is one of those 'in-between' people, not only in regards to fantastic literature ("he read The Lord of the Rings about once a year between the ages of 10 and 25") but also in questions of science, religion and philosophy. According to his awfully witty blog, The End Of The Pier Show, he is Jewish, with progressive/liberal opinions on religious matters. On the one hand, he's strongly opposed to creationism and the Intelligent Design movement, and on the other he has also expressed his disagreement with the militant atheists among his scientist colleagues (for example, here, here or here) while maintaining personal friendships with many of them.*
Something that comes through loud and clear on his blog, as a powerful recurring theme, is his passion for popularizing science for the widest possible audience. The Science of Middle-Earth sounds like a marvelous contribution to that quest.
*If you strongly disagree with Dr. Gee's views on creationism, I.D., militant atheism, or The Lord of the Rings, please take the issue up with him, as I'm allergic to strenous comment box arguments.
Monday, July 07, 2008
Robert Randall
Here's a tidbit I found among Dani Zweig's "Belated Reviews:"
"Also noteworthy is "The Shrouded Planet" by "Robert Randall". (Robert Randall is the name Robert Silverberg and Randall Garrett used for their collaborations.) The Shrouded Planet is the cloud-covered planet of Nidor, home to a stable, low-tech culture -- and the only other intelligent beings discovered by Earth. For reasons of its own, Earth decides to set Nidor, willy nilly, on the road to science and technology. Playing the emissaries-from-above gambit, they open a school. Of theology. With a bit of science and engineering thrown in."
The book was first published in 1957. Randall Garrett is better known for his Lord Darcy stories. According to Wikipedia, he belonged to the Old Catholic Church and was ordained in that denomination. According to this witty article by Robert Silverberg, however, Garrett was an Anglican. (As I understand it, Old Catholics are in full communion with Anglicanism, so perhaps both statements are correct.)
The Silverberg article is well worth reading, as he explains his long-time desire to become Pope Sixtus the Sixth, and what sorts of things he would do as Pope. He discusses the intriguing book that first sparked this ambition, a strange 1904 novel entitled Hadrian the Seventh, in which an obscure English layman unexpectedly becomes the Pope and sets about fixing the world.
"Also noteworthy is "The Shrouded Planet" by "Robert Randall". (Robert Randall is the name Robert Silverberg and Randall Garrett used for their collaborations.) The Shrouded Planet is the cloud-covered planet of Nidor, home to a stable, low-tech culture -- and the only other intelligent beings discovered by Earth. For reasons of its own, Earth decides to set Nidor, willy nilly, on the road to science and technology. Playing the emissaries-from-above gambit, they open a school. Of theology. With a bit of science and engineering thrown in."
The book was first published in 1957. Randall Garrett is better known for his Lord Darcy stories. According to Wikipedia, he belonged to the Old Catholic Church and was ordained in that denomination. According to this witty article by Robert Silverberg, however, Garrett was an Anglican. (As I understand it, Old Catholics are in full communion with Anglicanism, so perhaps both statements are correct.)
The Silverberg article is well worth reading, as he explains his long-time desire to become Pope Sixtus the Sixth, and what sorts of things he would do as Pope. He discusses the intriguing book that first sparked this ambition, a strange 1904 novel entitled Hadrian the Seventh, in which an obscure English layman unexpectedly becomes the Pope and sets about fixing the world.
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