Microcosmic Tales

Microcosmic Tales PDF Author: Isaac Asimov
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 360

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Book Description

Microcosmic Tales

Microcosmic Tales PDF Author: Isaac Asimov
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 360

Get Book Here

Book Description


Harry Harrison

Harry Harrison PDF Author: Paul Tomlinson
Publisher: Wildside Press LLC
ISBN: 1587154013
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 370

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Book Description
The definitive Harry Harrison bibliography, with lengthy annotations and a special bonus--the Harrison story written for Harlan Ellison's unpublished "Last Dangerous Visions" anthology.

The Modern Weird Tale

The Modern Weird Tale PDF Author: S.T. Joshi
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786462493
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
This is a critical study of many of the leading writers of horror and supernatural fiction since World War II. The primary purpose is to establish a canon of weird literature, and to distinguish the genuinely meritorious writers of the past fifty years from those who have obtained merely transient popular renown. Accordingly, the author regards the complex, subtle work of Shirley Jackson, Ramsey Campbell, Robert Aickman, T.E.D. Klein, and Thomas Ligotti as considerably superior to the best-sellers of Stephen King, Clive Barker, Peter Straub, and Anne Rice. Other writers such as William Peter Blatty, Thomas Tryon, Robert Bloch, and Thomas Harris are also discussed. Taken as a whole, the volume represents a pioneering attempt to chart the development of weird fiction over the past half-century.

Aliens 1

Aliens 1 PDF Author: Dennis Pepper
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780192751621
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 164

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Book Description
This collection brings together a wide range of stories about aliens and encounters with aliens. Some are hostile invaders of Earth, others friendly and more generous visitors - though not all of them are as friendly as they would like us to believe.

I, Asimov

I, Asimov PDF Author: Isaac Asimov
Publisher: Bantam
ISBN: 0307573532
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 609

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Book Description
Arguably the greatest science fiction writer who ever lived, Isaac Asimov also possessed one of the most brilliant and original minds of our time. His accessible style and far-reaching interests in subjects ranging from science to humor to history earned him the nickname “the Great Explainer.” I. Asimov is his personal story—vivid, open, and honest—as only Asimov himself could tell it. Here is the story of the paradoxical genius who wrote of travel to the stars yet refused to fly in airplanes; who imagined alien universes and vast galactic civilizations while staying home to write; who compulsively authored more than 470 books yet still found the time to share his ideas with some of the great minds of our century. Here are his wide-ranging thoughts and sharp-eyed observations on everything from religion to politics, love and divorce, friendship and Hollywood, fame and mortality. Here, too, is a riveting behind-the-scenes look at the varied personalities—Campbell, Ellison, Heinlein, Clarke, del Rey, Silverberg, and others—who along with Asimov helped shape science fiction. As unique and irrepressible as the man himself, I. Asimov is the candid memoir of an incomparable talent who entertained readers for nearly half a century and whose work will surely endure into the future he so vividly envisioned.

Time Travel

Time Travel PDF Author: Paul J. Nahin
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 1421401207
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 222

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Book Description
From H.G. Wells to Isaac Asimov to Ursula K. Le Guin, time travel has long been a favorite topic and plot device in tales of science fiction and fantasy. But as any true SF fan knows, astounding stories about traversing alternate universes and swimming the tides of time demand plausible science. That’s just what Paul J. Nahin’s guide provides. An engineer, physicist, and published science fiction writer, Nahin is uniquely qualified to explain the ins and outs of how to spin such complex theories as worm holes, singularity, and relativity into scientifically sound fiction. First published in 1997, this fast-paced book discusses the common and not-so-common time-travel devices science fiction writers have used over the years, assesses which would theoretically work and which would not, and provides scientific insight inventive authors can use to find their own way forward or backward in time. From hyperspace and faster-than-light travel to causal loops and the uncertainty principle and beyond, Nahin’s equation-free romp across time will help writers send their characters to the past or future in an entertaining, logical, and scientific way. If you ever wanted to set up the latest and greatest grandfather paradox—or just wanted to know if the time-bending events in the latest pulp you read could ever happen—then this book is for you.

Kings and Prophets

Kings and Prophets PDF Author: Cristiano Grottanelli
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195361121
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 221

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Book Description
This collection of essays examines the respective religious and social functions of kings and prophets as they are presented in the biblical narratives. Biblical kingship is easily shown to be a specific instance of an ancient and widespread institution--sacred monarchy--that was the pivot of most state organizations throughout antiquity; prophetic authority is described as a typical institution of ancient Hebrew society. The difference between monarchy and prophecy is radical, because the former implies a hereditary power and is upheld by its subjects who feed their kings with taxes, while the latter derives its authority from allegedly direct divine inspiration, and though it is also economically dependent it is not explicitly presented as being based upon systematic exploitation. Cristiano Grottanelli interprets the rise of prophecy as a consequence of a crisis of monarchical structures at the beginning of the Iron Age, and connects it to similar phenomena attested in ancient Greek texts derived from a similar crisis. Though monarchy finally won the day in the Ancient Mediterranean in a new imperial form, the new literatures in Greek and Hebrew consonantic and alphabetic scripts shaped nonmonarchic figures to which they attributed some of the functions previously pertaining to monarchy. These new literatures, produced by two cultures that were both highly literate and organized according to nonmonarchical principles, diverged radically in their development and final outcomes. In the Hebrew tradition, monolatry and an official canon of sacred writings were the final result; the prophetic principle was thus overcome by a new ideological construction, centered upon inspired scriptures rather than upon the impromptu performances of inspired persons. In using the prophetic principle against the monarchic, the canonical texts paradoxically shaped their own authority above that of living prophets.

Understanding Language Understanding

Understanding Language Understanding PDF Author: Ashwin Ram
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262181921
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 524

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Book Description
This book highlights cutting-edge research relevant to the building of a computational model of reading comprehension, as in the processing and understanding of a natural language text or story. The book takes an interdisciplinary approach to the study of reading, with contributions from computer science, psychology, and philosophy. Contributors cover the theoretical and psychological foundations of the research in discussions of what it means to understand a text, how one builds a computational model, and related issues in knowledge representation and reasoning. The book also addresses some of the broader issues that a natural language system must deal with, such as reading in context, linguistic novelty, and information extraction.

Tales of Wonder

Tales of Wonder PDF Author: Mark Twain
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 9780803294523
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 428

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Book Description
"First published in 1984 as The science fiction of Mark Twain by Archon Books ... North Haven, CT"--T.p. verso.

Time Machines

Time Machines PDF Author: Paul J. Nahin
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9780387985718
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 674

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Book Description
This book explores the idea of time travel from the first account in English literature to the latest theories of physicists such as Kip Thorne and Igor Novikov. This very readable work covers a variety of topics including: the history of time travel in fiction; the fundamental scientific concepts of time, spacetime, and the fourth dimension; the speculations of Einstein, Richard Feynman, Kurt Goedel, and others; time travel paradoxes, and much more.