Vernor Vinge
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Vernor Steffen Vinge (; October 2, 1944 – March 20, 2024) was an American science fiction author and professor. He taught mathematics and
computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...
at
San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CS ...
. He was the first wide-scale popularizer of the technological singularity concept and among the first authors to present a fictional "
cyberspace Cyberspace is an interconnected digital environment. It is a type of virtual world popularized with the rise of the Internet. The term entered popular culture from science fiction and the arts but is now used by technology strategists, security ...
".. Revised and expanded from "Viewpoint", ''
Communications of the ACM ''Communications of the ACM'' (''CACM'') is the monthly journal of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). History It was established in 1958, with Saul Rosen as its first managing editor. It is sent to all ACM members. Articles are i ...
'' 32 (6): 664–65, 1989, .
He won the Hugo Award for his novels '' A Fire Upon the Deep'' (1992), '' A Deepness in the Sky'' (1999), and '' Rainbows End'' (2006), and novellas '' Fast Times at Fairmont High'' (2001) and '' The Cookie Monster'' (2004).


Writing career

Vinge published his first short story, "Apartness", in the June 1965 issue of the British magazine '' New Worlds''. His second, " Bookworm, Run!", was in the March 1966 issue of '' Analog Science Fiction'', then edited by John W. Campbell. The story explores the theme of artificially augmented intelligence by connecting the brain directly to computerized data sources. He became a moderately prolific contributor to SF magazines in the 1960s and early 1970s. In 1969, he expanded the story "Grimm's Story" ('' Orbit 4'', 1968) into his first novel, '' Grimm's World''. In 1971, Vinge received his Ph.D. in mathematics from the
University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...
, under the supervision of Stefan E. Warschawski. His second novel, '' The Witling'', was published in 1976. Vinge came to prominence in 1981 with his novella '' True Names'', perhaps the first story to present a fully fleshed-out concept of
cyberspace Cyberspace is an interconnected digital environment. It is a type of virtual world popularized with the rise of the Internet. The term entered popular culture from science fiction and the arts but is now used by technology strategists, security ...
, which would later be central to cyberpunk stories by William Gibson,
Neal Stephenson Neal Town Stephenson (born October 31, 1959) is an American writer known for his works of speculative fiction. His novels have been categorized as science fiction, historical fiction, cyberpunk, and baroque. Stephenson's work explores mathemati ...
and others. 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'. 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 Orson Scott Card (born August 24, 1951) is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. , he is the only person to have won a Hugo Award for Best Novel, Hugo Award and a Nebula Award for Best Novel, Nebula Award in List of joint ...
. Vinge won the Hugo Award (tying for Best Novel with '' Doomsday Book'' by Connie Willis) with his 1992 novel, '' A Fire Upon the Deep''. '' 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. ''Deepness'' won the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2000. His novellas '' Fast Times at Fairmont High'' and '' The Cookie Monster'' also won Hugo Awards in 2002 and 2004, respectively. Vinge's 2006 novel '' Rainbows End'', set in the same universe and featuring some of the same characters as ''Fast Times at Fairmont High'', won the 2007 Hugo Award for Best Novel. In 2011, he released '' The Children of the Sky'', a sequel to ''A Fire Upon the Deep'' set approximately 10 years following the end of ''A Fire Upon the Deep''.Interview with Vernor Vinge
, Norwescon website, October 12, 2009.
Vinge retired in 2000 from teaching at
San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CS ...
, in order to write full-time. He was Writer Guest of Honor at ConJosé, the 60th World Science Fiction Convention in 2002. Additionally, Vinge served on the Free Software Foundation's selection committee for their Award for the Advancement of Free Software for most of the years between 1999 and his death in 2024.


Personal life

His former wife, Joan D. Vinge, is also a science fiction author. They were married from 1972 to 1979. Vernor Vinge died in
La Jolla, California La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood in San Diego, California, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. The climate is mild, with an average daily temperature o ...
on March 20, 2024, at the age of 79. He had
Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...
.


Awards


Bibliography


Novels


Realtime/Bobble series

* '' The Peace War'' (1984) * '' Marooned in Realtime'' (1986)


Zones of Thought series

* '' A Fire Upon the Deep'' (1992)—Hugo winner, 1993 (shared with '' Doomsday Book''); Nebula Award nominee, 1992; Locus SF Award nominee, 1993 * '' A Deepness in the Sky'' (1999)—Hugo, Campbell, and Prometheus Awards winner, 2000; Nebula Award nominee, 1999; Clarke and Locus SF Awards nominee, 2000 * '' The Children of the Sky'' (2011)


Standalone novels

* '' Grimm's World'' (1969), expanded as '' Tatja Grimm's World'' (1987) * '' The Witling'' (1976) * '' Rainbows End'' (2006) —Hugo and Locus SF Awards winner, 2007; Campbell Award nominee, 2007


Collections

* ''Across Realtime'' (1986) ** '' The Peace War'' ** " The Ungoverned" (added in 1991 edition) ** '' Marooned in Realtime'' * ''True Names ... and Other Dangers'' (1987) ** " Bookworm, Run!" ** " True Names" (1981, winner 2007 Prometheus Hall of Fame Award) ** "The Peddler's Apprentice" (with Joan D. Vinge) ** "The Ungoverned" (occurs in the same milieu as ''The Peace War'' and ''Marooned in Realtime'') ** "Long Shot" * ''Threats... and Other Promises'' (1988) (These two volumes collect Vinge's short fiction through the late 1980s.) ** "Apartness" ** "Conquest by Default" (occurs in the same milieu as "Apartness") ** "The Whirligig of Time" ** "Gemstone" ** "Just Peace" (with William Rupp) ** "Original Sin" ** "The Blabber" (occurs in the same milieu as ''A Fire Upon the Deep'') * ''True Names and the Opening of the Cyberspace Frontier'' (2001) (contains "True Names" plus essays by others) * '' The Collected Stories of Vernor Vinge'' (2001) (hardcover) or (paperback) (This volume collects Vinge's short fiction through 2001 (except "True Names"), including Vinge's comments from the earlier two volumes.) ** "Bookworm, Run!" ** "The Accomplice" ** "The Peddler's Apprentice" (with Joan D. Vinge) ** "The Ungoverned" ** "Long Shot" ** "Apartness" ** "Conquest by Default" ** "The Whirligig of Time" ** "Bomb Scare" ** "The Science Fair" ** "Gemstone" ** "Just Peace" (with William Rupp) ** "Original Sin" ** "The Blabber" ** "Win a Nobel Prize!" (originally published in ''
Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...
'', Vol. 407 No. 6805 "Futures") ** "The Barbarian Princess" (this is also the first section of "Tatja Grimm's World") ** "Fast Times at Fairmont High" (occurs in the same milieu as ''Rainbows End''; winner 2002 Hugo Award for Best Novella)


Essays

* "The Coming Technological Singularity: How to Survive in the Post-Human Era" (1993), '' Whole Earth Review'' * "2020 Computing: The creativity machine" (2006), ''
Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...
'' * "The Disaster Stack" (2017) ''Chasing Shadows''


Uncollected short fiction

* "A Dry Martini" (''The 60th World Science Fiction Convention ConJosé Restaurant Guide'', page 60) * " The Cookie Monster" ('' Analog Science Fiction'', October 2003) (winner 2004 Hugo Award for Best Novella) * "Synthetic Serendipity", IEEE Spectrum Online, June 30, 2004 * "A Preliminary Assessment of the Drake Equation, Being an Excerpt from the Memoirs of Star Captain Y.-T. Lee" (2010) ('' Gateways: Original New Stories Inspired by Frederik Pohl'', 2010) *"BFF's first adventure", (originally published in ''
Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...
'', Vol 518 No 7540 "Futures") *"Legale", (originally published in ''
Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...
'', Vol 548 No 7666 "Futures")


References


External links

* * * *


About Vinge


Vernor Vinge
at Worlds Without End *


Essays and speeches



* ttps://archive.org/download/conversationsnetwork_org/conversationsnetwork_org.zip/ITC.AC05-VernorVinge-2005.09.17.mp3 Accelerating Change 2005: Vernor Vinge Keynote Address(64 kbit/s MP3 audio recording, 40 minutes long)
Seminars About Long-term Thinking: Vernor Vinge
(Summary and MP3 audio recording of a 2007 speech, 91 minutes long)

from ''
Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...
'' magazine, March 23, 2006.
Vernor Vinge's keynote address at the 2006 Austin Games Conference.



Interviews


Interview
on '' Fresh Air'', 2000 (audio) * Interviews on the podcast series ''The Future and You''
April 8, 2006May 1, 2006
(audio)
Interview by Glenn Reynolds and Helen Smith
April 26, 2006 (podcast)
Interview
by ''
Reason Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing valid conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, religion, scien ...
'', 2007
Interview for the singularity symposium
2011 (podcast) {{DEFAULTSORT:Vinge, Vernor 1944 births 2024 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American short story writers American computer scientists American male non-fiction writers American male novelists American male short story writers American mathematics educators American science fiction writers American technology writers American transhumanists Deaths from Parkinson's disease in California Hugo Award–winning writers Inkpot Award winners Novelists from Wisconsin People from Waukesha, Wisconsin San Diego State University faculty Singularitarians University of California, San Diego alumni Writers from California