Marc Stiegler (born 1 August 1954) is an American

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imagination, imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, Paral ...

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

and

software Software is a set of computer programs and associated software documentation, documentation and data (computing), data. This is in contrast to Computer hardware, hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. ...

developer. He co-authored ''Valentina: Soul in Sapphire'' (1984) with Joseph H. Delaney. The computer program, Valentina, was one of science fiction's earliest examples of sentient

computer software Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...

, completely unlike

mainframe A mainframe computer, informally called a mainframe or big iron, is a computer used primarily by large organizations for critical applications like bulk data processing for tasks such as censuses, industry and consumer statistics, enterpris ...

AIs such as

HAL HAL may refer to: Aviation * Halali Airport (IATA airport code: HAL) Halali, Oshikoto, Namibia * Hawaiian Airlines (ICAO airline code: HAL) * HAL Airport, Bangalore, India * Hindustan Aeronautics Limited an Indian aerospace manufacturer of fight ...

and

Colossus Colossus, Colossos, or the plural Colossi or Colossuses, may refer to: Statues * Any exceptionally large statue ** List of tallest statues ** :Colossal statues * '' Colossus of Barletta'', a bronze statue of an unidentified Roman emperor * '' C ...

. Stiegler also wrote the

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

"The Gentle Seduction", based on

Vernor Vinge Vernor Steffen Vinge (; born October 2, 1944) is an American science fiction author and retired professor. He taught mathematics and computer science at San Diego State University. He is the first wide-scale popularizer of the technological singu ...

's ideas about a technological "singularity," the exponential growth of future technology that will drastically affect the human condition. The story's characters are augmented with

molecular nanotechnology Molecular nanotechnology (MNT) is a technology based on the ability to build structures to complex, atomic specifications by means of mechanosynthesis. This is distinct from nanoscale materials. Based on Richard Feynman's vision of miniatur ...

. The 'seducer' is the technology itself, and perhaps the programmers of the technology - the majority of mankind is more willing to swallow a pill that fixes one's back (this happens in the story) than take a pill that installs a computer in one's forehead (also from the story). He also realized that many humans do not have the mental fortitude to survive the

Technological singularity The technological singularity—or simply the singularity—is a hypothetical future point in time at which technological growth becomes uncontrollable and irreversible, resulting in unforeseeable changes to human civilization. According to the m ...

. The heroine of "The Gentle Seduction" is a normal woman whose very elemental connection with her own identity is key in soothing humanity's jarring experience of finally meeting an alien mind. His novel ''Earthweb'' takes place in a future where computers have been secured from attack, the Web has evolved to largely supplant government as the underpinning fabric of human civilization, and idea futures are used to make decisions about important future events. Stiegler's software development career partly parallels his science fiction. His non-fiction work, "Hypermedia and the Singularity" predates the development of the Web and predicts that

hypertext Hypertext is text displayed on a computer display or other electronic devices with references ( hyperlinks) to other text that the reader can immediately access. Hypertext documents are interconnected by hyperlinks, which are typicall ...

will play a key role in accelerating the evolution of knowledge. Shortly after writing this article, he took over management, of

Project Xanadu Project Xanadu ( ) was the first hypertext project, founded in 1960 by Ted Nelson. Administrators of Project Xanadu have declared it superior to the World Wide Web, with the mission statement: "Today's popular software simulates paper. The World ...

, the hypertext system envisioned by

Ted Nelson Theodor Holm Nelson (born June 17, 1937) is an American pioneer of information technology, philosopher, and sociologist. He coined the terms ''hypertext'' and ''hypermedia'' in 1963 and published them in 1965. Nelson coined the terms '' transc ...

. Later software development efforts included the development of DecideRight (1995) which won the Software Publishing Association's CODIE Award for Best Numeric or Data Software Program. In the late 1990s his attention turned to computer security. Later he developed CapDesk, a capability-based desktop resistant to cyberattack, and invented the principles underlying Polaris, an overlay for the Windows operating system that secures the system against several important kinds of computer viruses and trojan horses. He gave talks on object capability security at the

RSA Conference The RSA Conference is a series of IT security conferences. Approximately 45,000 people attend one of the conferences each year. It was founded in 1991 as a small cryptography conference. RSA conferences take place in the United States, Europe, Asia ...

in 2012 and 2013. While at HP Labs, his research included approaches to security in planetary scale computing.

Bibliography

Books

* ''Valentina: Soul in Sapphire'' (1984) (with Joseph H. Delaney) * ''Programming Languages: Featuring the IBM PC and Compatibles'' (1985) (with Bob Hanson) * ''David's Sling'' (1987) * ''

Earthweb ''EarthWeb'' is a science fiction novel written by American author Marc Stiegler, published in May 1999 by Baen Books. ''EarthWeb'' is set in a future where Earth faces a recurring attack every five years by a massive spaceship of unknown origi ...

'' (1998) * The Braintrust Series ** ''The Braintrust: A Harmony of Enemies'' (2017) ** ''Crescendo of Fire'' (2018) ** ''Rhapsody For the Tempest'' (2018) ** ''Ode To Defiance'' (2019) ** ''Braintrust: Requiem'' (2020)

Collection

* ''The Gentle Seduction'' (1990) ** "Masters of the Mortal God" (1990) ** "Too Loving a Touch" (1982) ** "Petals of Rose" (1981) ** "The Bully and the Crazy Boy" (1980) ** "Evolution of Entropic Error in Closed Conservative Systems" (1982) non-fiction article ** "A Simple Case of Suicide" (1983) ** "The Gentle Seduction" (1989) ** "Hypermedia and the Singularity" (1989) non-fiction article

Anthologies containing stories by Marc Stiegler

* ''Nanodreams'' (1995)

Short works

The following three stories comprise the novel ''Valentina: Soul in Sapphire'': * "Valentina" (1984) (with Joseph H Delaney) Hugo nominee * "The Crystal Ball" (1984) (with Joseph H Delaney) * "The Light in the Looking Glass" (1984) (with Joseph H Delaney)

Awards

Hugo Award for Best Novella The Hugo Award for Best Novella is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published or translated into English during the previous calendar year. The novella award is available for works of fiction of between ...

finalist (1985): "Valentina" *

Prometheus Award The Prometheus Award is an award for libertarian science fiction novels given annually by the Libertarian Futurist Society. American author and activist L. Neil Smith established the award in 1979, but it was not awarded regularly until the newl ...

Best Novel finalist (1988): ''David's Sling'' *

Best Novel finalist (1999): ''Earthweb'' *

Best Novel finalist (2018): ''The Braintrust'' *

Best Novel finalist (2019): ''Crescendo of Fire'' and ''Rhapsody for the Tempest,'' *

Best Novel finalist (2020): ''Ode to Defiance'' *

Best Novel finalist (2021): ''Braintrust: Requiem''

References

External links

Marc Stiegler's website
with a selection of his fiction and non-fiction writings.

at the ''

Locus Locus (plural loci) is Latin for "place". It may refer to: Entertainment * Locus (comics), a Marvel Comics mutant villainess, a member of the Mutant Liberation Front * ''Locus'' (magazine), science fiction and fantasy magazine ** ''Locus Award ...

'' Index to Science Fiction * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stiegler, Marc 20th-century American novelists American male novelists American science fiction writers Living people Internet pioneers 1954 births American male short story writers 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers