Science Fiction And The Dismal Science

Author : Gary Westfahl,Gregory Benford,Howard V. Hendrix,Jonathan Alexander
Publisher : McFarland
Page : 299 pages
File Size : 48,6 Mb
Release : 2019-11-30
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9781476677385

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Science Fiction and the Dismal Science by Gary Westfahl,Gregory Benford,Howard V. Hendrix,Jonathan Alexander Pdf

Despite the growing importance of economics in our lives, literary scholars have long been reluctant to consider economic issues as they examine key texts. This volume seeks to fill one of these conspicuous gaps in the critical literature by focusing on various connections between science fiction and economics, with some attention to related fields such as politics and government. Its seventeen contributors include five award-winning scholars, five science fiction writers, and a widely published economist. Three topics are covered: what noted science fiction writers like Robert A. Heinlein, Frank Herbert, and Kim Stanley Robinson have had to say about our economic and political future; how the competitive and ever-changing publishing marketplace has affected the growth and development of science fiction from the nineteenth century to today; and how the scholars who examine science fiction have themselves been influenced by the economics of academia. Although the essays focus primarily on American science fiction, the traditions of Russian and Chinese science fiction are also examined. A comprehensive bibliography of works related to science fiction and economics will assist other readers and critics who are interested in this subject.

Author : Peter Mountford
Publisher : Tin House Books
Page : 281 pages
File Size : 45,9 Mb
Release : 2014-01-28
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9781935639725

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The Dismal Science by Peter Mountford Pdf

The Dismal Science tells of a middle-aged vice president at the World Bank, Vincenzo D’Orsi, who publicly quits his job over a seemingly minor argument with a colleague. A scandal inevitably ensues, and he systematically burns every bridge to his former life. After abandoning his career, Vincenzo, a recent widower, is at a complete loss as to what to do with himself. The story follows his efforts to rebuild his identity without a vocation or the company of his wife. An exploration of the fragile nature of identity, The Dismal Science reveals the terrifying speed with which a person’s sense of self can be annihilated. It is at once a study of a man attempting to apply his reason to the muddle of life and a book about how that same ostensible rationality, and the mathematics of finance in particular, operates—with similarly dubious results—in our world.

Author : Gary Westfahl
Publisher : McFarland
Page : 312 pages
File Size : 43,9 Mb
Release : 2019-10-04
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9781476638515

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The Rise and Fall of American Science Fiction, from the 1920s to the 1960s by Gary Westfahl Pdf

 By examining important aspects of science fiction in the twentieth century, this book explains how the genre evolved to its current state. Close critical attention is given to topics including the art that has accompanied science fiction, the subgenres of space opera and hard science fiction, the rise of SF anthologies, and the burgeoning impact of the marketplace on authors. Included are in-depth studies of key texts that contributed to science fiction's growth, including Philip Francis Nowlan's first Buck Rogers story, the first published stories of A. E. van Vogt, and the early juveniles of Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke and Robert Heinlein.

Author : Gary Westfahl
Publisher : McFarland
Page : 298 pages
File Size : 46,6 Mb
Release : 2022-09-27
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9781476646954

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The Stuff of Science Fiction by Gary Westfahl Pdf

While students and general readers typically cannot relate to esoteric definitions of science fiction, they readily understand the genre as a literature that characteristically deals with subjects such as new inventions, space, robot and aliens. This book looks at science fiction in precisely this manner, with twenty-one chapters that each deal with a subject that is repeatedly addressed in science fiction of recent centuries. Based on a packet of original essays that the author assembled for his classes, the book could serve as a supplemental textbook in science fiction classes, but also contains material of interest to science fiction scholars and others devoted to the genre. In some cases, chapters offer thorough surveys of numerous works involving certain subjects, such as imagined vehicles, journeys beneath the Earth and undersea adventures, discovering intriguing patterns in the ways that various writers developed their ideas. When comprehensive coverage of ubiquitous topics such as robots, aliens and the planet Mars is impossible, chapters focus on major themes referencing selected texts. A conclusion discusses other science fiction subjects that were omitted for various reasons, and a bibliography lists additional resources for the study of science fiction in general and the topics of each chapter.

Author : Gary Westfahl
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Page : 681 pages
File Size : 53,5 Mb
Release : 2021-07-19
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9798216142348

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Science Fiction Literature through History [2 volumes] by Gary Westfahl Pdf

This book provides students and other interested readers with a comprehensive survey of science fiction history and numerous essays addressing major science fiction topics, authors, works, and subgenres written by a distinguished scholar. This encyclopedia deals with written science fiction in all of its forms, not only novels and short stories but also mediums often ignored in other reference books, such as plays, poems, comic books, and graphic novels. Some science fiction films, television programs, and video games are also mentioned, particularly when they are relevant to written texts. Its focus is on science fiction in the English language, though due attention is given to international authors whose works have been frequently translated into English. Since science fiction became a recognized genre and greatly expanded in the 20th century, works published in the 20th and 21st centuries are most frequently discussed, though important earlier works are not neglected. The texts are designed to be helpful to numerous readers, ranging from students first encountering science fiction to experienced scholars in the field.

Author : Alexander Tabarrok
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
Page : 329 pages
File Size : 48,9 Mb
Release : 2002
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780195150285

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Entrepreneurial Economics by Alexander Tabarrok Pdf

This intriguing collection is designed to show how economists can play a more active role in designing and directing the nation's social institutions. By taking the task of political economy seriously, the contributors (including some of today's most distinguished economists) reveal the power of economic thought to offer innovative solutions to some of the most difficult problems facing society today. By creating markets where none existed before, the authors propose efficient, reliable, and profitable improvements to current systems of health insurance, financial markets, human organ distribution, judicial practice, bankruptcy and securities regulation, patenting, and transportation. Written in the entrepreneurial spirit, these essays show economics to be an ambitious, dynamic, and far-from-dismal science.

Author : Gary Westfahl,George Slusser
Publisher : McFarland
Page : 291 pages
File Size : 50,5 Mb
Release : 2009-06-01
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9780786442973

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Science Fiction and the Two Cultures by Gary Westfahl,George Slusser Pdf

Essays in this volume demonstrate how science fiction can serve as a bridge between the sciences and the humanities. The essays show how early writers like Dante and Mary Shelley revealed a gradual shift toward a genuine understanding of science; how H.G. Wells first showed the possibilities of combining scientific and humanistic perspectives; how writers influenced by Gernsback's ideas, like Isaac Asimov, illustrated the ways that literature could interact with science and assist in its progress; and how more recent writers offer critiques of science and its practitioners.

Author : Donald M. Hassler
Publisher : Wildside Press LLC
Page : 118 pages
File Size : 41,9 Mb
Release : 1983
Category : Reference
ISBN : 9780893707385

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Patterns of the Fantastic by Donald M. Hassler Pdf

A selection of papers delivered at Chicon IV, including "Stephen King in Context," (Joseph F. Patrouch, Jr.); "Narcissism and Romance in McCaffrey's 'Restoree, '" (Mary T. Brizzi; "Harlan Ellison's Use of the Narrator's Voice" (Joseph F. Patrouch, Jr., more.

Author : Gardner Dozois
Publisher : St. Martin's Griffin
Page : 672 pages
File Size : 44,8 Mb
Release : 2002-07-23
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9781429903820

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The Year's Best Science Fiction: Nineteenth Annual Collection by Gardner Dozois Pdf

The twenty-first century has so far proven to be exciting and wondrous and filled with challenges we had never dreamed. New possibilities previously unimagined appear almost daily . . . and science fiction stories continue to explore those possibilities with delightful results: Collected in this anthology are such compelling stories as: "On K2 with Kanakaredes" by Dan Simmons. A relentlessly paced and absorbing tale set in the near future about three mountain climbers who must scale the face of K2 with some very odd company. "The Human Front" by Ken MacLeod. In this compassionate coming-of-age tale the details of life are just a bit off from things as we know them-and nothing is as it appears to be. "Glacial" by Alastair Reynolds. A fascinating discovery on a distant planet leads to mass death and a wrenching mystery as spellbinding as anything in recent short fiction. The twenty-six stories in this collection imaginatively takes us far across the universe, into the very core of our beings, to the realm of the gods, and the moment just after now. Included here are the works of masters of the form and of bright new talents, including: Eleanor Arnason Chris Beckett Michael Blumlein Michael Cassutt Brenda W. Clough Paul Di Filippo Andy Duncan Carolyn Ives Gilman Jim Grimsley Simon Ings James Patrick Kelly Leigh Kennedy Nancy Kress Ian R. MacLeod Ken MacLeod Paul J. McAuley Maureen F. McHugh Robert Reed Alastair Reynolds Geoff Ryman William Sanders Dan Simmons Allen M. Steele Charles Stross Michael Swanwick Howard Waldrop Supplementing the stories are the editor's insightful summation of the year's events and a lengthy list of honorable mentions, making this book a valuable resource in addition to serving as the single best place in the universe to find stories that stir the imagination and the heart.

Author : Anonim
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 504 pages
File Size : 40,7 Mb
Release : 1976
Category : Science fiction
ISBN : UVA:X000022073

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Galaxy Science Fiction by Anonim Pdf

Author : Peter Mountford
Publisher : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Page : 309 pages
File Size : 44,7 Mb
Release : 2011-04-12
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9780547548722

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A Young Man's Guide to Late Capitalism by Peter Mountford Pdf

“A terrific debut novel . . . Mountford’s parable of the voracious global economy reminds me of Graham Greene’s The Quiet American.” —Jess Walter, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of The Cold Millions On his first assignment for a rapacious hedge fund, Gabriel embarks to Bolivia at the end of 2005 to ferret out insider information about the plans of the controversial president-elect. If Gabriel succeeds, he will get a bonus that would make him secure for life. Standing in his way are his headstrong mother, a survivor of Pinochet’s Chile, and Gabriel’s new love interest, the president’s passionate press liaison. Caught in a growing web of lies and questioning his own role in profiting from an impoverished people, Gabriel sets in motion a terrifying plan that could cost him the love of all those he holds dear. Set against the stunning mountainous backdrop of La Paz and interspersed with Bolivia’s sad history of stubborn survival, this examines the critical choices a young man makes as his world closes in on him. “Both of the book’s settings—desperately poor but proud La Paz, the world’s highest-altitude capital, and the world of go-go high finance, a realm about which Mountford clearly knows his stuff—are well rendered. The author is especially good at conveying the visceral and intellectual thrills of stock speculation/manipulation . . . smart, intricate, fast-paced.” —Kirkus Reviews “One of the most compelling and thought-provoking novels I’ve read in years.” —David Shields, author of Other People Winner of the Washington State Book Award

Author : William Dillon
Publisher : Trieste Publishing
Page : 264 pages
File Size : 48,9 Mb
Release : 2017-08-23
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 0649358570

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The Dismal Science, a Criticism on Modern English Political Economy by William Dillon Pdf

Trieste Publishing has a massive catalogue of classic book titles. Our aim is to provide readers with the highest quality reproductions of fiction and non-fiction literature that has stood the test of time. The many thousands of books in our collection have been sourced from libraries and private collections around the world.The titles that Trieste Publishing has chosen to be part of the collection have been scanned to simulate the original. Our readers see the books the same way that their first readers did decades or a hundred or more years ago. Books from that period are often spoiled by imperfections that did not exist in the original. Imperfections could be in the form of blurred text, photographs, or missing pages. It is highly unlikely that this would occur with one of our books. Our extensive quality control ensures that the readers of Trieste Publishing's books will be delighted with their purchase. Our staff has thoroughly reviewed every page of all the books in the collection, repairing, or if necessary, rejecting titles that are not of the highest quality. This process ensures that the reader of one of Trieste Publishing's titles receives a volume that faithfully reproduces the original, and to the maximum degree possible, gives them the experience of owning the original work.We pride ourselves on not only creating a pathway to an extensive reservoir of books of the finest quality, but also providing value to every one of our readers. Generally, Trieste books are purchased singly - on demand, however they may also be purchased in bulk. Readers interested in bulk purchases are invited to contact us directly to enquire about our tailored bulk rates.

Author : Brian Stableford
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 576 pages
File Size : 47,8 Mb
Release : 2006-09-06
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9781135923747

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Science Fact and Science Fiction by Brian Stableford Pdf

Science fiction is a literary genre based on scientific speculation. Works of science fiction use the ideas and the vocabulary of all sciences to create valid narratives that explore the future effects of science on events and human beings. Science Fact and Science Fiction examines in one volume how science has propelled science-fiction and, to a lesser extent, how science fiction has influenced the sciences. Although coverage will discuss the science behind the fiction from the Classical Age to the present, focus is naturally on the 19th century to the present, when the Industrial Revolution and spectacular progress in science and technology triggered an influx of science-fiction works speculating on the future. As scientific developments alter expectations for the future, the literature absorbs, uses, and adapts such contextual visions. The goal of the Encyclopedia is not to present a catalog of sciences and their application in literary fiction, but rather to study the ongoing flow and counterflow of influences, including how fictional representations of science affect how we view its practice and disciplines. Although the main focus is on literature, other forms of science fiction, including film and video games, are explored and, because science is an international matter, works from non-English speaking countries are discussed as needed.

Author : Stephen A. Marglin
Publisher : Harvard University Press
Page : 384 pages
File Size : 47,8 Mb
Release : 2008
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 0674026543

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The Dismal Science by Stephen A. Marglin Pdf

See "Stephen Marglin on the Future of Capitalism" at FORA.tv. Economists celebrate the market as a device for regulating human interaction without acknowledging that their enthusiasm depends on a set of half-truths: that individuals are autonomous, self-interested, and rational calculators with unlimited wants and that the only community that matters is the nation-state. However, as Stephen Marglin argues, market relationships erode community. In the past, for example, when a farm family experienced a setback--say the barn burned down--neighbors pitched in. Now a farmer whose barn burns down turns, not to his neighbors, but to his insurance company. Insurance may be a more efficient way to organize resources than a community barn raising, but the deep social and human ties that are constitutive of community are weakened by the shift from reciprocity to market relations. Marglin dissects the ways in which the foundational assumptions of economics justify a world in which individuals are isolated from one another and social connections are impoverished as people define themselves in terms of how much they can afford to consume. Over the last four centuries, this economic ideology has become the dominant ideology in much of the world. Marglin presents an account of how this happened and an argument for righting the imbalance in our lives that this ideology has fostered.

Author : Charles Wheelan
Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company
Page : 385 pages
File Size : 46,8 Mb
Release : 2010-04-19
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780393337648

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Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science (Fully Revised and Updated) by Charles Wheelan Pdf

Seeks to provide an engaging and comprehensive primer to economics that explains key concepts without technical jargon and using common-sense examples.