Wheelers - Softcover

Stewart, Ian; Cohen, Jack

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0743429028 ISBN 13: 9780743429023

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd, 2002

Synopsis

Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen - internationally popular scientists - present a richly-imagined novel of high adventure and earthshaking concepts, in the tradition of Arthur C. Clarke and Greg Bear Twenty-third-century civilisation is recovering from a decades-long anti-technology freeze that has left the world underpopulated, the Moon and asteroids controlled by a Tibetan Zen Buddhist sect from a deep-space habitat, and interplanetary exploration in the hands of a few eccentric outcasts. One such loner - Prudence Odingo - returns to Earth to report that she has recovered 100,00-year-old wheeled artifacts, from under the ice of Callisto, a moon of Jupiter. She is arrested, and about to be convicted on criminal fraud when the 'wheelers' abruptly come to life - and several of Jupiter's moons change their orbits, ready to propel a vast planet-destroying comet towards Earth. The unimaginable and incredibly powerful creatures that live in Jupiter's hellish atmosphere have apparently declared war on humanity. Prudence must somehow discover why - with the help of her Zen Buddhist friends, and the archenemy pedant who once destroyed her career.

About this title

About the Author:

Dr Ian Stewart, professor of mathematics at Warwick University, is a recipient of the Royal Society's Michael Faraday Medal for furthering public understanding of science. A columnist for SCIENTIFIC AMERICA and frequent television commentator, Dr Stewart is the author of more than 130 papers of mathematical research and 60 books of popular science. Dr Jack Cohen currently teaches at Warwick University. He has participated in the production of numerous television science specials, notably 'The Natural History of an Alien' for BBC2.

From Publishers Weekly:

Though Stewart, a mathematician, and Cohen, a reproductive biologist, have each written popular science books (they coauthored The Collapse of Chaos), this is the first SF novel either has attempted, with generally positive results. In the 23rd century, after a period of antitechnological sentiment on Earth, a small sect of Tibetan Buddhists gains a singular foothold in space, colonizing the moon and building a high-tech habitat and ore-processing facility called Cuckoo's Nest in the midst of the asteroid belt. Interplanetary travel and commerce thrive for those willing to take the risk, like discredited archeologist Prudence Odingo. No one believes her claim of recovering 100,000-year-old wheeled artifacts from the ice of Jupiter's moon CallistoAuntil one of the "wheelers" comes to "life." While the official research team is stymied by traditional scientific approaches, Odingo and her multitalented companions open communications with the intelligent, blimplike aliens they discover in great cities floating in Jupiter's dense atmosphere. Human contact leads to possibly catastrophic consequences for Earth. Although their characters and world-building lack believability, the authors wield scientific speculation with cheerful abandon, providing some real old-fashioned sense of wonder. Fans of hard SF authors Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle will get a kick out of Stewart and Cohen's SF debut. (Nov.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0743429028
• ISBN 13: 9780743429023
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 400