Fred Hoyle – författare

A 1959 classic 'hard' science-fiction novel by renowned Cambridge astronomer and cosmologist Fred Hoyle. Tracks the progress of a giant black cloud that comes towards Earth and sits in front of the sun, causing widespread panic and death. A select group of scientists and astronomers - including the dignified Astronomer Royal, the pipe smoking Dr Marlowe and the maverick, eccentric Professor Kingsly - engage in a mad race to understand and communicate with the cloud, battling against trigger happy politicians. In the pacy, engaging style of John Wyndham and John Christopher, with plenty of hard science thrown in to add to the chillingly credible premise (he manages to foretell Artificial Intelligence, Optical Character Recognition and Text-to-Speech converters), Hoyle carries you breathlessly through to its thrilling end.

Originally published in 1957, this book offers a challenging intellectual experience to the reader who wishes to understand the broad historical trends that determine the future of humanity on this planet. The book examines natural laws that govern humanity by looking at communities over long periods of time and noting patterns which become evident. The book includes discussions of communism, the crisis in food and population growth, the significance of industrialism and man and his religious beliefs – all issues that remain as relevant today as when the book was first published.

Originally published in 1957, this book offers a challenging intellectual experience to the reader who wishes to understand the broad historical trends that determine the future of humanity on this planet. The book examines natural laws that govern humanity by looking at communities over long periods of time and noting patterns which become evident. The book includes discussions of communism, the crisis in food and population growth, the significance of industrialism and man and his religious beliefs – all issues that remain as relevant today as when the book was first published.

Originally published in 1979, written at a time when the world stood on the brink of (another) energy crisis, this book argued that an alternative primary fuel had to be found and that the answer lay in the exploitation of nuclear fission. The book sought to dispel the anxieties of environmentalists by correcting what the authors felt were basic misconceptions about nuclear energy. The book distinguishes carefully between nuclear energy and nuclear explosions, as the authors believed that it was the confusion between these two very different things which lies at the root of most opposition to nuclear energy. The Relevant facts concerning nuclear energy are presented in a straightforward way and the case made that nuclear energy can be clean and safe. The book includes a discussion of the storage of nuclear waste and the safety record of the nuclear industry.

Originally published in 1979, written at a time when the world stood on the brink of (another) energy crisis, this book argued that an alternative primary fuel had to be found and that the answer lay in the exploitation of nuclear fission. The book sought to dispel the anxieties of environmentalists by correcting what the authors felt were basic misconceptions about nuclear energy. The book distinguishes carefully between nuclear energy and nuclear explosions, as the authors believed that it was the confusion between these two very different things which lies at the root of most opposition to nuclear energy. The Relevant facts concerning nuclear energy are presented in a straightforward way and the case made that nuclear energy can be clean and safe. The book includes a discussion of the storage of nuclear waste and the safety record of the nuclear industry.

Originally published in 1977 and as second edition in 1979, this book argues that without energy sources on a vast scale our present society cannot survive. According to the author, Fred Hoyle, the technology to tap solar, wind or wave power on a large enough scale just does not exist. He considers nuclear fission to be the only source currently capable of supplying our needs. The author fills in the scientific background necessary to appreciate his arguments in his lucid, direct style, so that the book can act as an ideal introduction for those unfamiliar with the energy debate. This short book is unashamedly provocative and many of the central tenets of it remain as relevant today as when it was first published.

Originally published in 1977 and as second edition in 1979, this book argues that without energy sources on a vast scale our present society cannot survive. According to the author, Fred Hoyle, the technology to tap solar, wind or wave power on a large enough scale just does not exist. He considers nuclear fission to be the only source currently capable of supplying our needs. The author fills in the scientific background necessary to appreciate his arguments in his lucid, direct style, so that the book can act as an ideal introduction for those unfamiliar with the energy debate. This short book is unashamedly provocative and many of the central tenets of it remain as relevant today as when it was first published.

In addition to being the man who coined the term 'the Big Bang', world-renowned astronomer Sir Fred Hoyle also produced a fine body of science fiction. This omnibus contains three of his SF novels: Ossian's Ride, October the First Is Too Late & Fifth Planet, co-written with his son, Geoffrey Hoyle. Ossian's Ride: The year is 1970. Sealed behind an impenetrable barrier in the south of Ireland, the Industrial Corporation of Eire startles the rest of the world with its efficiency, its brilliance . . . October the First Is Too Late: Unusual solar activity has played havoc with terrestrial time: England is in the '60's, but in France, it is 1917 and WWI is still raging in western Europe . . .Fifth Planet: Another star is due to pass close to the sun, close enough for conventional spacecraft to reach it. Signs of chlorophyll are detected on one of the worlds, suggesting that it supports life. Rival Soviet and US expeditions are launched to visit it. But what will they find on the 'Fifth Planet'?

In addition to being the man who coined the term 'the Big Bang', world-renowned astronomer Sir Fred Hoyle also produced a fine body of science fiction. The Andromeda Anthology contains the acclaimed duology A for Andromeda and The Andromeda Breakthrough, co-written with John Elliot. The close-knit group of scientists who work at the new radio telescope are shocked to receive a mysterious signal from the heart of the Andromeda galaxy. Working with mathematician Christine Jones, Dr John Fleming interprets the signal as the instructions to build a super-computer. When the computer begins to relay the information it receives from Andromeda, scientists find themselves possessing knowledge previously unknown to mankind, knowledge that could threaten the security of human life itself.

British mathematician and astronomer Sir Fred Hoyle (1915 - 2001) coined the phrase "Big Bang" to describe the currently accepted explanation of the origin of the universe, and he did important work on the origins of stars and on the elements within stars. To the general public he was known more as a prolific writer of popular science books, in which he offered his stimulating ideas on the nature of our huge, fascinating cosmos. In this compilation of popular lectures delivered in 1964, he comments on the nature of the scientific enterprise, gives his view of life on Earth from the perspective of astronomy, and speculates about the future.Among the many interesting ideas discussed in this book is Hoyle's suggestion that "the emergence of intelligent life is not a meaningless accident" and he estimates that the existence of intelligent life on other planets is highly probable. Despite the enormous distances that separate the stars and planetary systems, he considers it very likely that humanity will eventually discover the technological means to communicate with intelligent extraterrestrial life. He also feels that the developmental pattern of life on Earth is probably not unique and that we "are following an inevitable path, one that must have been followed many, many times on other planets." In conclusion, he conjectures that contact with more advanced civilizations may prove vital to learning how to address the most daunting problems of life on Earth, such as avoiding nuclear war and managing the global stresses of the population explosion.These forward-looking lectures by one of the 20th century's great scientific minds make for exciting and rewarding reading.

This book describes the subject of electrodynamics at classical as well as quantum level, developed as an interaction at a distance. Thus it has electric charges interacting with one another directly and not through the medium of a field. In general such an interaction travels forward and backward in time symmetrically, thus apparently violating the principle of causality. It turns out, however, that in such a description the cosmological boundary conditions become very important. The theory therefore works only in a cosmology with the right boundary conditions; but when it does work it is free from the divergences that plague a quantum field theory.

This book describes the subject of electrodynamics at classical as well as quantum level, developed as an interaction at a distance. Thus it has electric charges interacting with one another directly and not through the medium of a field. In general such an interaction travels forward and backward in time symmetrically, thus apparently violating the principle of causality. It turns out, however, that in such a description the cosmological boundary conditions become very important. The theory therefore works only in a cosmology with the right boundary conditions; but when it does work it is free from the divergences that plague a quantum field theory.