David Brin Explained

David Brin
Birth Name:	Glen David Brin
Birth Date:	October 6, 1950
Birth Place:	Glendale, California, U.S.
Occupation:	Novelist, NASA consultant
Education:	University of California, San Diego (PhD, MS) California Institute of Technology (BS)
Signature:	David Brin signature (cropped).jpg
Father:	Herb Brin
Module:	Embed: yes Notableworks: Uplift series, The Postman, Earth, "The Transparent Society"
Module2:	Embed: yes Thesis Title: Evolution of cometary nuclei as influenced by a dust component Thesis Year: 1981 Thesis Url: https://search.proquest.com/docview/303005703/ Doctoral Advisor: D. Asoka Mendis

Glen David Brin (born October 6, 1950) is an American science fiction author. He has won the Hugo,^{[1] [2]} Locus,^{[3] [4] [5]} Campbell^[6] and Nebula Awards.^[7] His novel The Postman was adapted into a 1997 feature film starring Kevin Costner.^[8]

Early life and education

Brin was born in Glendale, California, in 1950 to Selma and Herb Brin. He graduated from the California Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science in astronomy, in 1973.^{[9] [10]} At the University of California, San Diego, he earned a Master of Science in electrical engineering (optics) in 1978 and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in astronomy in 1981.^{[11] [12]}

Career

From 1983 to 1986, he was a postdoctoral research fellow at the California Space Institute, of the University of California, at the San Diego campus in La Jolla.^[9] In 2010, Brin became a fellow of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies.^{[13] [14]} He helped establish the Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination at UCSD. He serves on the advisory board of NASA's Innovative and Advanced Concepts group and frequently does futurist consulting for corporations and government agencies.

As of 2013, he served on the Board of Advisors for the Museum of Science Fiction.^[15]

Personal life

Brin has Polish Jewish ancestry, from the area around Konin. His grandfather was drafted into the Russian army and fought in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905.^[16]

As of 2022, Brin was living in San Diego County, California, with his wife and children.^[17]

Works

Most of Brin's fiction is categorized as hard science fiction, in that they apply some degree of plausible scientific or technological change as important plot elements. About half of Brin's works are in his Uplift Universe. These have twice won the Hugo Award for Best Novel.

Much of Brin's work outside the Uplift series focuses on technology's effects on human society.^[18]

Bibliography

Fiction

Uplift

Novels:

• Sundiver (1980),
• Startide Rising (1983), . Hugo and Locus SF Awards winner, 1984;^[19] Nebula Award winner, 1983^[20]
• The Uplift War (1987), . Hugo and Locus SF Awards winner, 1988;^[21] Nebula Award nominee, 1987^[22]

Uplift trilogy, a.k.a. Uplift Storm:

• Brightness Reef (1995) . Hugo and Locus SF Awards nominee, 1996^[23]
• Infinity's Shore (1996),
• Heaven's Reach (1998),

Short fiction:

• "Aficionado" (1998) was first published as "Life in the Extreme" in Popular Science magazine, republished in the 2003 limited-edition collection Tomorrow Happens, and included in Brin's 2012 novel Existence. It is available on Brin's website. "Aficionado" takes place before the novels.
• "Temptation" (1999) appeared in Robert Silverberg's anthology Far Horizons: All New Tales from the Greatest Worlds of Science Fiction and is set after the events of Infinity's Shore.

Other works:

• Contacting Aliens: An Illustrated Guide to David Brin's Uplift Universe (2002), (co-written by Brin and Kevin Lenagh)

High Horizon

• Colony High (February 2021) ; reprinted June 2023
• Castaways of New Mojave (August 2021) ; reprinted October 2023 – with Jeff Carlson

Stand-alone novels

• The Practice Effect (1984),
• The Postman (1985), – Campbell and Locus SF Awards winner, Hugo Award nominee, 1986;^[24] Nebula Award nominee, 1985^[25] Originally appeared, in substantially different form, as a three-part novella in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. Filmed by Kevin Costner as a major motion picture.
• Heart of the Comet (1986), (with Gregory Benford) – Locus SF Award nominee, 1987^[22]
• Earth (1990), – Hugo and Locus SF Awards nominee, 1991.^[26] Contains many successful predictions of current trends (such as email spam) and technologies.
• Glory Season (1993), – Hugo and Locus SF Awards nominee, 1994^[27]
• Kiln People (2002), – Campbell, Clarke, Hugo, and Locus SF Awards nominee, 2003.^[28] Kiln People (published in the UK as Kil'n People) was shortlisted in four different awards for best SF/fantasy novel of 2002—the Hugo, the Locus, the John W. Campbell Award, and the Arthur C. Clarke Award; each time finishing behind a different book.
• Existence, Tor Books, (2012),
• The Ancient Ones, self-published, (2020),

Comics

• Forgiveness (2002), ( graphic novel)
• The Life Eaters (2003), (published by the Wildstorm imprint of DC Comics, art by Scott Hampton)
• Tinkerers (2010) (discussion of the causes of the decline of American manufacturing)^[29]

Short fiction collections

• The River of Time (1986),
• Otherness (1994),
• Tomorrow Happens (2003),
• Insistence of Vision (2016),
• The Best of David Brin (2021),

Fiction set in worlds created by others

• Foundation's Triumph (1999), novel set in Asimov's Foundation Universe,
• "71" in Ring of Fire IV (2016) anthology, short story set in Eric Flint's 1632-verse,

Games

Brin designed the game Tribes, published in 1998 by Steve Jackson Games,^[30] and wrote the storyline for the 2000 Dreamcast video game .

Nonfiction

Ongoing:

• Articles in professional journals, including The Astrophysical Journal and Information Technology and Libraries; as well as popular magazines, such as Omni, Nature, and Popular Science.^[9]

Books:

• Extraterrestrial Civilization by Thomas Kuiper and Glen David Brin, (1989)
• The Transparent Society: Will Technology Force Us to Choose Between Privacy and Freedom? (1998) —won the Eli M. Oboler Award for intellectual freedom from the American Library Association
• Star Wars on Trial: Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Debate the Most Popular Science Fiction Films of All Time (2006)
• Polemical Judo: Memes for our Political Knife-fight (2019)

Honors and awards

• 1984 Nebula Award for Best Novel^[31]
• 1984, 1988 Hugo Award for Best Novel
• 1985 Inkpot Award^[32]
  • • 1984, 1986, 1988 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel 1985 Hugo Award for Best Short Story Small solar system body 5748 Davebrin, discovered by Eleanor Helin in 1991, is named in his honor.^[33]

External links

• • David Brin's blog, Contrary Brin

Interviews

• Critical Resources :: David Brin
• Interview with David Brin at SFFWorld.com(2002-07-19)
• Interview with David Brin at Actusf.com
• All of David Brin's audio interviews on the podcast The Future And You, in which he describes his expectations of the future
• Metareview, Kiln/Kil'n People
• Video of conversation between David Brin and James Pinkerton on Bloggingheads.tv
  • Alliance for Progress Encyclopedia, encyclopedia of David Brin's Uplift Universe

Notes and References

1. http://www.thehugoawards.org/?page_id=35 1984 Hugo Awards
2. http://reason.com/archives/2008/10/29/whos-getting-your-vote/singlepage Who's Getting Your Vote?
3. http://www.worldswithoutend.com/novel.asp?ID=31 Startide Rising
4. http://www.worldswithoutend.com/novel.asp?ID=207 The Postman
5. http://www.worldswithoutend.com/novel.asp?ID=35 The Uplift War
6. http://www2.ku.edu/~sfcenter/campbell.htm 1986: 1st - The Postman, David Brin
7. "Nebula Award Winners: 1965 – 2011 ". Section: 1983. Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America. sfwa.org. "Best Novel: Startide Rising by David Brin". Retrieved 2018-02-04.
8. Web site: David Brin: The Postman . 20 March 2021 . Fiona M . Jones . 26 October 2021 . Mythaxis Review.
9. "David Brin". Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2004. Retrieved via Biography in Context database, 2018-02-01. Available online via Encyclopedia.com .
10. Web site: Caltech Commencement Program . June 8, 1973 . Caltech Campus Publications . 5 . 2013-03-29 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20150209170147/http://caltechcampuspubs.library.caltech.edu/2550/1/June_8%2C_1973.pdf . February 9, 2015 .
11. "David Brin." St. James Guide to Science Fiction Writers. New York: St. James Press, 1996. Retrieved via Biography in Context database, 2018-02-01.
12. Evolution of cometary nuclei as influenced by a dust component . 1981 . . Ph.D. . Brin . Glen David . . subscription . 8067212.
13. Web site: David Brin. ieet.org. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20100123053228/http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/bio/brin/. 23 January 2010.
14. Web site: David Brin Closer to Truth . 2022-03-17 . www.closertotruth.com.
15. Web site: Funds sought for science fiction museum lift-off . . 3 November 2013 . Mike . Snider . 7 September 2014 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20140808155222/http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/personal/2013/11/04/museum-of-science-fiction-indiegogo/3433947/ . 8 August 2014.
16. Web site: DAVID BRIN REVEALED: A two-year-long interview with Slawek Wojtowicz . www.slawcio.com . 2002 . Slawek . Wojtowicz . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20111002013604/http://www.slawcio.com/david.html . 2 October 2011.
17. Web site: David Brin's biography . 2022-07-15 . davidbrin.com . en.
18. Web site: March 31, 2016. David Brin on future societies of transparency and freedom. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20171107023446/http://futurethinkers.org/david-brin-future-societies-transparency/. November 7, 2017. Future Thinkers.
19. Web site: 1984 Award Winners & Nominees | Science Fiction & Fantasy Books by Award | WWEnd . Worldswithoutend.com . 2011-07-26 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20110716205347/http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1984 . 2011-07-16 .
20. Web site: 1983 Award Winners & Nominees | Science Fiction & Fantasy Books by Award | WWEnd . Worldswithoutend.com . 2011-07-26 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20120722201338/https://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1983 . 2012-07-22 .
21. Web site: 1988 Award Winners & Nominees | Science Fiction & Fantasy Books by Award | WWEnd . Worldswithoutend.com . 2011-07-26 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20120225022114/https://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1988 . 2012-02-25 .
22. Web site: 1987 Award Winners & Nominees | Science Fiction & Fantasy Books by Award | WWEnd . Worldswithoutend.com . 2011-07-26 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20120225021751/https://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1987 . 2012-02-25 .
23. Web site: 1996 Award Winners & Nominees | Science Fiction & Fantasy Books by Award | WWEnd . Worldswithoutend.com . 2011-07-26 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20120419180530/https://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1996 . 2012-04-19 .
24. Web site: 1986 Award Winners & Nominees | Science Fiction & Fantasy Books by Award | WWEnd . Worldswithoutend.com . 2011-07-26 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20120722201634/https://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1986 . 2012-07-22 .
25. Web site: 1985 Award Winners & Nominees | Science Fiction & Fantasy Books by Award | WWEnd . Worldswithoutend.com . 2011-07-26 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20110716210931/http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1985 . 2011-07-16 .
26. Web site: 1991 Award Winners & Nominees | Science Fiction & Fantasy Books by Award | WWEnd . Worldswithoutend.com . 2011-07-26 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20090215042922/http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1991 . 2009-02-15 .
27. Web site: 1994 Award Winners & Nominees | Science Fiction & Fantasy Books by Award | WWEnd . Worldswithoutend.com . 2011-07-26 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20091001225514/http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1994 . 2009-10-01 .
28. Web site: 2003 Award Winners & Nominees | Science Fiction & Fantasy Books by Award | WWEnd . Worldswithoutend.com . 2011-07-26 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20110716210953/http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=2003 . 2011-07-16 .
29. Web site: Forward | Graphic Novel . Forward.msci.org . 2011-07-26 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110727100411/http://forward.msci.org/tinkerers/graphicnovel.html . 2011-07-27 .
30. Book: Shannon Appelcline. Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. 2011. 978-1-907702-58-7. 110.
31. Book: The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1985 . Newspaper Enterprise Association, Inc. . New York . 0-911818-71-5 . 415. 1985 .
32. https://www.comic-con.org/awards/inkpot Inkpot Award
33. Book: Dictionary of Minor Planet Names . (5748) Davebrin . Springer . 2003 . 486 . 978-3-540-29925-7 . 10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_5421 .