Greg Bear

Science fiction author Greg Bear was born in San Diego, California, on August 20, 1951. His work has covered themes of galactic conflict (Forge of God books), artificial universes (Eon[?] series) and accelerated evolution (Blood Music, Darwin's Radio and Darwin's Children). He is the son-in-law of Poul Anderson.

Work

While the scale and detailed science of his work makes clear that he should be classified as hard science fiction, the plausibility of some of his science has been labelled questionable by some. For example, it is has been pointed out that it hard to imagine that the bacteria in Blood Music could process enough information to become self-aware[?]. Others have noted that singly, the bacteria could merely have information processing ability and they could then develop consciousness when they grouped into colonies.

The Forge of God uses the Gaia theoryfreely in ways that might be considered questionable by some scientists. Neo-Darwinists such as Richard Dawkins would question the introduction of the Gaia hypothesis itself. More recent works such as the Darwin's Radio/Darwin's Children pair of novels which deal with the impact of a strange disease which appears to drive evolutionary transitions, stick closely to the known facts of molecular biology of viruses and evolution. While some fairly speculative ideas are entertained (it is after all, fiction) they are introduced in such a rigorous and disciplined way within the context of the cutting edge of those disciplines, that Darwin's Radio gained praise in the science journal Nature.

Bibliography

• Psychlone (1979)
• Hegira (1979)
• Beyond Heaven's River (1980)
• The Strength of Stones (1981)
• The Infinity Concerto (1984)
• The 'Eon' series
  • Eon (1985)
  • Eternity (1988)
  • Legacy (1995)
• Blood Music (1985) won the 1984 Nebula award for best novella, and the Hugo award
• Strength of Stones (1986)
• The Serpent Mage (1986)
• The Forge of God series:
  • The Forge of God (1987)
  • Anvil of Stars (1992)
• Sleepside Story (1988)
• A group of novels featuring a shared history and some common characters:
  • Queen of Angels (1990)
  • Heads (1990)
  • Moving Mars (1993)
  • / (aka Slant) (1997)
• Songs of Earth and Power (1994 - combines The Infinity Concerto and The Serpent Mage)
• Foundation and Chaos (1998)
• Dinosaur Summer (1998)
• Darwin's Radio (1999)
• Vitals (2002)
• Darwin's Children (2003)

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External links:

• Greg Bear's Homepage: http://www.gregbear.com/