Science Fiction

Gordon is interested in hard SF. He is a member of the Science Fiction Research Association (one of the few who is a "hard scientist").

Gordon worked as a consultant on Harry Harrison's novel, The Stainless Steel Rat Goes to Hell. He usually attends two Columbus-area science fiction conventions, Marcon, in late April-early May (see the picture of Gordon with fellow panelists at Marcon '98; from left to right Terry O'Brien, Jon Harthorn, GA, and Joe Martino), and Context, in early October and usually presents interesting material at the interface between science and science fiction.

The title of this panel was the The Ten Greatest Scientific Discoveries.

I first said there was exactly one greatest discovery, a state of mind for using the methods of science. Given that way of compensating for human proneness for error as a given, my top ten are:

• 1. The particulate nature of matter (Dalton et al.)
• 2. The nature of atoms (chemistry and physics of atoms and molecules)
• 3. The nature of nuclei (nuclear physics)
• 4. The statistics of particles (how nature distinguishes fermions and bosons)
• 5. Heat, thermodynamics, and energy conservation.
• 6. The theory of evolution and survival of the fittest.
• 7. The creation of the standardized system of measurement for science.
• 8. The transistor (building on #1, 2, 4, and 5).
• 9. The unification of electricity and magnetism (Maxwell's equations).
• 10. The attempt to create the theory of everything (TOE).

The panel had varied responses. One thing I left out was the mathematics necessary for doing science, which I have to agree is a point. The germ theory of disease was another I'd missed. Write me with your responses.