Books: SciFi & Fantasy

Discussion in 'SciFi & Fantasy' started by Porfiry, Oct 3, 2001.

  1. thinking Banned Banned

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    1,504
    its what I thought , some how

    if thats true , then it puzzles me why nobody seems to be aware of these mathematical concepts

    hence cesspool
     
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  3. Dywyddyr Penguinaciously duckalicious. Valued Senior Member

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    There's a difference between "not being aware" and "there being something to reply to".
    You could have Googled for at least some background and then asked pertinent questions.
    You didn't even bother acknowledging Capt. Bork's post.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_(physics)
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_least_action

    IIRC Feynman was something of a wizard with action principles, using that method in preference to others at times.
     
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  5. thinking Banned Banned

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    I didn't ackowledge anybody's response , I was too busy explaining what Neal was trying to get at

    it took awhile
     
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  7. thinking Banned Banned

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    yet as brilliant as Feynman was and he was , is he now out dated in his thinking ?
     
  8. thinking Banned Banned

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    1,504
    look again in Neal's book

    how to get 8 pieces from 4

    if you have a square 2 by 2

    by adding an extra row , vertically and horizontally you get 9 , 3 by 3

    the only way to get 8 is by dividing the square , ( 2 by 2 ) diagionally
     
  9. Dywyddyr Penguinaciously duckalicious. Valued Senior Member

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    19,252
    Er, no.
    Action principles is another way of looking at things.
    Not a different method of thinking.

    And?
    Nothing to to do with action principles.
    It's about cutting squares only.
     
  10. krokah Registered Senior Member

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    198
    Hey, just found this thread...
    Lincoln Childs and Douglas Preston: "Relic" and "Thunderhead", then just Childs's "Terminal Freeze". Also, Dean Koontz's "Watchers" and "Phantoms" are great reads. Of course Asimove, Bradbury, Stephenson, Wells, and many others...
     
  11. Shogun Bleed White and Blue! Valued Senior Member

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    7,635
    Ender's Game series is pretty decent. We had to read it for novel study and this is one of the few novel study books I enjoyed.
     
  12. Escaped Goat Registered User and Abuser Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
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    The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. It started semi-slowly but ended up being one of my favorite fantasy reads ever. It was typical fantasy but still great.

    Also, the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin is obviously wonderful.
     
  13. synthesizer-patel Sweep the leg Johnny! Valued Senior Member

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    a science Fiction writer who probably hasnt quite managed to cross the atlantic yet is a scottish guy called Ken MacLeod.
    For those who know their SF but havent heard of him yet, he's one of Iain M Banks' best friends - in fact it was IMB who persuaded him to become a writer because he liked his ideas so much.

    High praise indeed.

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos...pe=ss&index=books-uk&field-author=Ken MacLeod

    I can definitely recommend the Fall Revolution series, The Execution Channel, and The Night Sessions - I havent read any of the Engines of Light, and Newton's Wake is a bit shit

    I also just finished Halting State by Charles Stross and it is by a very long way the best bit of near future speculative fiction I've read in a very long time.

    Nerdgasm or what? lol!

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Halting-Sta...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262128418&sr=1-1
     
  14. glaucon tending tangentially Registered Senior Member

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    5,502

    Nice recommendation.
    I actually found him via Charles Stross' blog...


    Banks is a genius.



    If you like that, you've barely scratched the surface of Stross.
    Halting State is easily one of his 'softest' SF books.

    Start with Iron Sunrise. Besides Banks, Stross is my favourite contemporary SF writer.
     
  15. synthesizer-patel Sweep the leg Johnny! Valued Senior Member

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  16. glaucon tending tangentially Registered Senior Member

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    5,502

    Seems to be.

    Not yet, though planning on it.
    I'm currently finishing of the Stross collection "Toast", as well as Banks' "Matter".

    Nice.
    ta


    I'm definitely a fan of 'idea' writing myself, though, happily, Stross does tend to go towards the 'hard' SF as opposed to fluffy space opera.
    Nonetheless, he's a heavy 'idea' guy... so it's always a good read. He doesn't get bogged down in the 'hard' details [like Reynolds... IMO], so the concepts flow nicely.
     
  17. Celt Registered Member

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  18. Celt Registered Member

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    If you like this book, you will more than likely enjoy Terraforming Earth by Jack Williamson. It is a little disturbing, and has more to do with the human condition than terraforming.....

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  19. glaucon tending tangentially Registered Senior Member

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    I agree.
    Ever since Donaldson's Covenant Chronicles series, given how brilliant it was, I had pretty much given up on fantasy.
    I was happily surprised at how good Martin's stories are.
    Sadly, we've been waiting for the next book, A Dance with Dragons for 5 years now. I know it's difficult work but come on....
     
  20. ricrery Banned Banned

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    No one has brought up the Horus Heresy series, shame on you bad people!
     
  21. glaucon tending tangentially Registered Senior Member

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    ??

    Never heard of it..
     
  22. Dywyddyr Penguinaciously duckalicious. Valued Senior Member

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    I'm still waiting for the final volume of that. Not due out in hardback (and I generally buy paperbacks - less shelf space taken up, not to mention cover price) until October this year.
    Edit: oh hell! It's apparently the last two volumes - The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant is a quadrilogy... October 2010 and sometime in 2013. I hope I live long enough.

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    Aaargh!!
    Not Evil Empire Warty Thou potboilers...

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    Last edited: Mar 18, 2010
  23. ricrery Banned Banned

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    Well, it's a good read.
     

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