Frontiers of Space, Time, and Thought: Essays and Stories on the Big Questions

Q: What's Smaller Than an Atom... And Larger Than a Universe?

A: This book.

Frontiers of Space, Time, and Thought brings together more than a dozen of Edward M. Lerner's most engaging short stories to to take the reader on a grand tour of Big Ideas: from virtual reality to artificial intelligence to homicidal time-traveling grandchildren to troubled aliens wondering if they are alone. Journey along in these beguiling tales as we start by colonizing near-Earth space-and end up in the farthest reaches of the multiverse. Lerner's novels and short fiction have intrigued fans around the world-and this collection will show you why.

But truth can be stranger than fiction-and Lerner is not just a writer; he's a professional computer engineer and physicist. His fact articles, mostly from Analog, have pride of place in this collection, and they pose some Really Big Questions. How can we protect Earth from asteroids? What will commercialized spaceflight be like in the post-shuttle era? What will privacy (or the lack thereof) mean in the Internet age? He lays out the why, where, and (perhaps the) how of faster-than-light travel; and the challenges of communicating with alien species. With full references and links to further reading, these essays will take you to and beyond the Frontiers of Space, Time, and Thought.

"If you only read one Hard SF book this year, make it this one. You won't regret it."

-Tangent