The human colony on the planet Argo has long explored and exploited the technology left behind by an extinct alien race. But then an archaeology team accidentally activates a terrible weapon...
Read More.
"Seldom does a storytelling talent come along as potent and fully mature as Mike Brotherton. His complex characters take you on a voyage that is both fiercely credible and astonishingly imaginative. This is Science Fiction."
-- David Brin
"Star Dragon is terrific fare, offering readers a fusion of hard science and grand adventure."
-- Locus Magazine
"Star Dragon is steeped in cosmology, the physics of interstellar travel, exobiology, artificial intelligence, bioscience. Brotherton, author of many scientific articles in refereed journals, has written a dramatic, provocative, utterly convincing hard science sf novel that includes an ironic twist that fans will love."
-- Booklist starred review
"Readers hungry for the thought-provoking extrapolation and rigorous technical detail of old-fashioned hard SF are sure to enjoy astronomer Brotherton's first novel."
-- Publishers Weekly
"Mike Brotherton, himself a trained astrophysicist, combines the technical acuity and ingenuity of Robert Forward with the ironic, postmodern stance and style of M. John Harrison. In this, his debut novel, those twin talents unite to produce a work that is involving on any number of levels. It's just about all you could ask for in a hardcore SF adventure."
-- Paul di Fillippo, SCI-FI.COM
My personal feeling is that religion is incompatible with science, but there have certainly been religious scientists capable of doing good science. People compartmentalize and turn off their critical brains when it comes to certain topics. I don’t see the difference between being critical about astrology and being critical about any supernatural claims. Still, a […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 7 Comments »>I was watching Stephen Colbert interview Jonah Lehrer, author of Imagine: How Creativity Works. He said something that was very powerful for me, that everyone is creative. It’s one of our species’ better qualities. Lehrer amplified this statement by describing how nearly all second graders describe themselves as creative, but this fraction drops dramatically with […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments »>I think about communicating science to a wide variety of audiences, both as a professor who does research and teaches, but also as a science fiction author. Knowing your audience is key, and knowing how to reach them better helps tremendously. A lot of what I say will apply to both non-fiction and fiction, speaking […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments »>Scientists and writers take on a burden few others do (although a few other professions have it as bad or worse). They accept that in order to have success in their careers, or just to maintain a longterm career, they will experience intense and frequent criticism. That criticism, when done professionally and with insight, can […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments »>I made some strategic errors in my career, mostly because I split my energy between engineering and astronomy double majoring when it would have been better to commit to one or the other early. By most measures, I’ve done fine, now being a tenured professor at the University of Wyoming, with a salary, research, and […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »>I got an email from a professor I know. I know a lot of professors, and I won’t say who or where, but this should be more broadly known: This past week I helped grade midterm exams for Calculus I…One of the problems involved an astronaut on the lunar surface throwing a rock vertically into […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »>Here’s the letter below asking for input (until March 19th). I am particularly thrilled about NASA’s questions and especially the only about video game development (question six). This is a potentially very powerful way of getting at the younger generation before college level. I wish I’d seen this sooner and had more time to participate. […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »>All of writing hinges on knowing your audience. This is true of fiction and non fiction, and applies not only to writing, but communication of all kinds from entertainment to education. I’ve been thinking about this a lot after reading Randy Olson’s very interesting and worthwhile book Don’t Be Such a Scientist, which is about […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 7 Comments »>Now, I don’t expect everyone to love everything that I love, but I do know that everyone loves the results of science even if they don’t readily acknowledge it. I mean, people love using the internet, driving cars, being warm in the winter, getting medicine when they are sick, all that good stuff. But even […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 54 Comments »>WARNING: HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE Spoilers A friend of mine picked up the new Harry Potter movie on DVD and I plan to watch it this week. I was thinking back to how much I enjoyed the book, but remembered something that nagged the hell out of me when the identity of the […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 12 Comments »>Passing on some news about an educational project I contributed to: Science educators Stephanie Slater (University of Wyoming), Janelle Bailey (University of Nevada, Las Vegas), and Michael Gibbs (Capitol College) have compiled and edited a coherent set of IYA2009 educational materials that provide both content knowledge for classroom teachers and classroom-ready materials suitable for use, […]
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »>So I’ve been talking about being at the International Astronomical Union’s General Assembly in Rio, and mentioned a few things in a Living in Brazil post, but thought I’d say a few things more general about attending an astronomy meeting. Every one is a little different, similar to the way that every science fiction convention […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »>