Vernor Steffen Vinge was born on February 10th 1944. It is a writer states-unien of Science-fiction, especially known for its novel a fire on the abyss and its test of 1993 on the technological Singularité or singularity vingienne , but he is also professor of mathematical Informatique and at the University of San Diego.

Presentation

Vernor Vinge publishes its first news in 1965 in the review Analog Science Fiction . Although writing little, it contributes then to some magazines of science fiction before being noticed in 1981 with its novela True names , which is one of the first having for topic the Cyberspace and which illustrates the interest of the author for the theory of the technological singularity. This interest is found besides in the majority of its novels. It is the case for example novel the Prisoner of time lost in 1986 which describes the life of an small group of human which survived a singularity.

However, it is only in 1992 that the author gains the Prix Hugo with his novel a fire over the abyss . The history proceeds in a universe where a group of scientists awakes a super intelligence, thus causing the destruction of many civilizations. The novel tells then the search of an effective weapon against the super entity, which is on a planet where dogs with the collective intelligence live. The main interest of this work lies in the many ideas which build a rich universe, complex and original.

This novel is followed in 1999 of a premise To the subsoil of the sky which describes the meeting between men and an extraterrestrial race once again rather original. This novel also received a to him Prix Hugo in 2000. In 2004, it gains the Prix Hugo of best the novella for The Cookie Monster , not published in France for the moment.

In 2002, Vernor Vinge takes its retirement and leaves its station at the University of San Diego to devote itself fully to the writing.

Vernor Vinge was the first husband of Joan D. Vinge which is it also an author of Science-fiction.

The technological singularity

The theory of the technological Singularité or singularity vingienne puts forth the assumption that the exponential evolution of technology will reach soon a point beyond of which it will not be possible any more for us to apprehend it.

This theory is based on the Loi of Moore which implies a doubling of the computing power of the computers every 18 months. While extrapolating, it appears that in 2035 at the latest, the man will have created an intelligence higher than his putting thus fine at the human era.

Works

Novels

• Traps of Giri ( The Witling ), 1976
• the Prisoner of the time lost ( Marooned in Realtime ), 1986 - the Book of pocket N°7228, 2000
• a fire on the abyss ( has Fire Upon the Deep ), 1992
• With the subsoil of the sky ( has Deepness in the Sky ), 1999
• Rainbows End (Rainbows End) , 2007

News

• privileged Situation ( Apartness ), 1965
• the Apprentice of the hawker ( The peddler' S apprentice ), 1975
• The Cookie Monster , 2003

External bonds

• What is The Singularity? by Vernor Vinge (in English)
• biographical and bibliographical Card of Vernor VINGE + Critical of its books on the cosmic Cockroach