The poetic side of science writing

re: The poetic side of science writing

JohnRobertJohnson — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 03:16:16 GMT

I am the astonomer's worst nightmare-- a science fiction writer who is not a scientist. But, as I was watching Michio Kaku talk on the History Channel this evening about parallel universes, I was shocked to see many of the concepts expressed in my novel. Watching this program was like experiencing a deja vu experience. The premise of my story was first conceived ten years ago and was originally going to be titled "COSM", until I learned that Gregory Benford was using that same term as the title for his book. It is a rather strange to feeling to hear notable astrophysicists talking about the very concepts that I built my science fiction novel around. "Purusha's Urn", as it turns out, is about a level 2 parallel universe, which I didn't know at the time I was writing it. While the book was obviously written for general consumption, I would be very interested in getting a scientist's point of view about the things I describe. If anybody has any ideas about where I could send this book, I would be grateful if you could pass them on to me. My website, which is dedicated to the novel, is www.johnrobertjohnson.com.

re: The poetic side of science writing

Matt Quandt — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 20:10:46 GMT

Absolutely right, Zachsdad! Thanks for pointing that out. We're certainly fortunate to have some wonderful astronomer-poets as part of our online community.

Click on the names below to meet the poets Zachsdad references:

Kevin Bozard

mr Q

leo731

re: The poetic side of science writing

zachsdad — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:57:01 GMT

You need look no further than Astronomy.com's reader's forums to find the poetic side of our avocation. Read through posts by Kevin Bozard, Leo731, and Mr Q and you'll find the "ineffable" experiences brought to life with great humor, and no small wordsmanship.