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Ask HN: Good Sci-Fi involving CS/InfoTheory?
Recently been enjoying books by Vernor Vinge (ex CS prof at SDSU) and Charles Stross.
- johnnyo 15y agoHave you read Cryptonomicon? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptonomicon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptonomicon
- pmr_ 15y agoI was going to suggest Snow Crash but I'm really unsure after all. Cyberpunk almost always requires you to adopt some kind of esoteric thinking, which is not a bad thing per se but makes it harder to immerse yourself in the story if you are looking for real science. Also Neuromancer.
- Rabidgremlin 15y agoThe Vernor Vinge books are excellent...
- andrewcooke 15y agosome of the older greg egan stuff (he was a programmer). i can't remember any titles, but a look at the summaries should make things clear (or his site - http://gregegan.customer.netspace.net.au/ http://gregegan.customer.netspace.net.au/) [edit: ok, so after looking there (ow my eyeballs!) permutation city is one i remember, and there was also a collection of short stories...]
- SamReidHughes 15y agoHarry Potter and the Methods of Rationality has some good CS-related moments.
- keefe 15y agowilliam gibson...
- polyfractal 15y agoAnathem by Neal Stephenson is tangentially related to Information Theory. More abstract/concepual math and general philosophy than CS/InfoTheory. An excellent novel, highly recommended.
- joeycfan 15y agoNeal Stevenson's Diamond Age
- steverb 15y agoDaemon & Freedom by Daniel Suarez (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Suarez http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Suarez) Rudy Rucker (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudy_Rucker http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudy_Rucker) Cory Doctorow has some good stuff and most of it is available free from his site (http://craphound.com/ http://craphound.com/).
- rsaarelm 15y agoHis Master's Voice by Stanislaw Lem is about trying to decipher an alien radio transmission, and focuses a lot on the mathematics and information theory involved as far as I remember.