Best Mathematical Science Fiction Books
best-sci-fi-books.com
Best Mathematical Science Fiction Books
1–10 of 39 posts
Re: Best Mathematical Science Fiction Books
#2Re: Best Mathematical Science Fiction Books
#3I remember in the early 2000s reading a short story collection, a sci-fi book in the nanotech subgenre. One of the stories had something to do with organisms that would search for newer axiom systems in which they could thrive, somehow the more interesting, or rich, axiom systems being the ones that would give better survival odds. Does anyone remember the particulars of this story? I've been wanting to reread it for some time, but haven't been able to locate it.
Re: Best Mathematical Science Fiction Books
#4Interesting that they included Cryptonomicon, which is arguably more about IT than mathematics, but they failed to include Stephenson's Anathem [1]: a book about people who live in monasteries called "maths" [2], who spend their whole lives doing mathematics (including at least one scene where the monks demonstrate a basic proof to a novice), in a book which is at its core an apology for mathematical realism, and approaches Platonic metaphysics through a mathematical lens.
Re: Best Mathematical Science Fiction Books
#5I remember in the early 2000s reading a short story collection, a sci-fi book in the nanotech subgenre. One of the stories had something to do with organisms that would search for newer axiom systems in which they could thrive, somehow the more interesting, or rich, axiom systems being the ones that would give better survival odds. Does anyone remember the particulars of this story? I've been wanting to reread it for…
Not a short story, but possibly Permutation City by Egan?
Re: Best Mathematical Science Fiction Books
#6I remember in the early 2000s reading a short story collection, a sci-fi book in the nanotech subgenre. One of the stories had something to do with organisms that would search for newer axiom systems in which they could thrive, somehow the more interesting, or rich, axiom systems being the ones that would give better survival odds. Does anyone remember the particulars of this story? I've been wanting to reread it for…
Sounds like Greg Egan, but I don't recognise that particular story. If you don't get a result here, try a story identification question on Stack Exchange, the residents there are amazing at this:
https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/story-ident...
Re: Best Mathematical Science Fiction Books
#7Definitely not the best, but the most mathematical fiction book might go to Surreal Numbers: How Two Ex-Students Turned On to Pure Mathematics and Found Total Happiness by of course no other than Donald Knuth.
And you could put The Part-Time Parliament by Leslie Lamport near that if you stretch it.
Re: Best Mathematical Science Fiction Books
#8math as a plot device is difficult as anything other than a macguffin, and then even if you did manage to create a popularized understanding of a concept, the backlash about calling it misleading, and to discourage people from reading it, would overpower it.
its why you dont write music for people who make music, there are too few of them to bother pleasing and most will just talk about how you dont know what youre doing and their own basement project is superior. the dearth of mathematical fiction could also be attributed to successful writers knowing better than to write for insufferable readers.
Re: Best Mathematical Science Fiction Books
#9I remember in the early 2000s reading a short story collection, a sci-fi book in the nanotech subgenre. One of the stories had something to do with organisms that would search for newer axiom systems in which they could thrive, somehow the more interesting, or rich, axiom systems being the ones that would give better survival odds. Does anyone remember the particulars of this story? I've been wanting to reread it for…
This sounds like the book:
https://isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?23392
The story is almost certainly Stephen Baxter's The Logic Pool.
Re: Best Mathematical Science Fiction Books
#10[deleted]