David Brin#Uplift

{{Short description|American scientist and science fiction author (born 1950)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = David Brin

| image = David Brin at ACM CFP 2005dsc278c.jpg

|imagesize = 150px

| caption = Brin at an Association for Computing Machinery conference in 2005

| birth_name = Glen David Brin

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1950|10|6|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Glendale, California, U.S.

| occupation = Novelist, NASA consultant

| website = {{URL|davidbrin.com}}

| education = University of California, San Diego (PhD, MS)
California Institute of Technology (BS)

| alma_mater =

| signature = David Brin signature (cropped).jpg

| father = Herb Brin

| module =

{{Infobox writer | embed=yes

| genre = Science fiction

| notableworks = Uplift series, The Postman, Earth, "The Transparent Society"

}}

| module2 =

{{Infobox scientist | embed=yes

| fields = {{ublist|Astronomy|Exobiology}}

| workplaces = {{ublist|Jet Propulsion Laboratory|University of California, San Diego}}

| thesis_title = Evolution of cometary nuclei as influenced by a dust component

| thesis_year = 1981

| thesis_url = https://www.proquest.com/docview/303005703/

| doctoral_advisor = D. Asoka Mendis

}}

Glen David Brin (born October 6, 1950) is an American science fiction author. He has won the Hugo,[http://www.thehugoawards.org/?page_id=35 1984 Hugo Awards] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071225194510/http://www.thehugoawards.org/?page_id=35 |date=2007-12-25 }}, Best Novel:Startide Rising by David Brin (Bantam, 1983), The Hugo Awards[http://reason.com/archives/2008/10/29/whos-getting-your-vote/singlepage Who's Getting Your Vote?] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716113811/http://reason.com/archives/2008/10/29/whos-getting-your-vote/singlepage |date=2011-07-16 }}, October 29, 2008, Reason Locus,[http://www.worldswithoutend.com/novel.asp?ID=31 Startide Rising] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090330013012/http://www.worldswithoutend.com/novel.asp?ID=31 |date=2009-03-30 }}, Science Fiction & Fantasy Books, WWEnd[http://www.worldswithoutend.com/novel.asp?ID=207 The Postman] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090329100334/http://www.worldswithoutend.com/novel.asp?ID=207 |date=2009-03-29 }}, Science Fiction & Fantasy Books, WWEnd[http://www.worldswithoutend.com/novel.asp?ID=35 The Uplift War] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090329095145/http://www.worldswithoutend.com/novel.asp?ID=35 |date=2009-03-29 }}, Science Fiction & Fantasy Books, WWEnd Campbell[http://www2.ku.edu/~sfcenter/campbell.htm 1986: 1st – The Postman, David Brin] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111025003140/http://www2.ku.edu/~sfcenter/campbell.htm |date=2011-10-25 }}, 2003: 2nd – Kiln People, David Brin, The John W. Campbell Memorial Award and Nebula Awards."[http://www.sfwa.org/nebula-award-winners-1965-2000/ Nebula Award Winners: 1965–2011] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150131225002/http://www.sfwa.org/nebula-award-winners-1965-2000 |date=2015-01-31 }}". Section: 1983. Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America. sfwa.org. "Best Novel: Startide Rising by David Brin". Retrieved 2018-02-04. His novel The Postman was adapted into a 1997 feature film starring Kevin Costner.{{cite web |url=https://mythaxis.com/2021/03/30/david-brin-the-postman |title=David Brin: The Postman |date=20 March 2021 |first=Fiona M |last=Jones |access-date=26 October 2021 |publisher=Mythaxis Review}}

Early life and education

Brin was born in Glendale, California, in 1950 to Selma and Herb Brin. He graduated from the California Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science in astronomy, in 1973."David Brin". Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2004. Retrieved via Biography in Context database, 2018-02-01. Available online [http://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/brin-david-1950 via Encyclopedia.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180203064236/http://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/brin-david-1950 |date=2018-02-03 }}.{{cite web |title=Caltech Commencement Program |url=http://caltechcampuspubs.library.caltech.edu/2550/1/June_8%2C_1973.pdf |date=June 8, 1973 |publisher=Caltech Campus Publications |page=5 |access-date=2013-03-29 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150209170147/http://caltechcampuspubs.library.caltech.edu/2550/1/June_8%2C_1973.pdf |archive-date=February 9, 2015 }} At the University of California, San Diego, he earned a Master of Science in electrical engineering (optics) in 1978 and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in astronomy in 1981."David Brin." St. James Guide to Science Fiction Writers. New York: St. James Press, 1996. Retrieved via Biography in Context database, 2018-02-01.{{cite thesis |title=Evolution of cometary nuclei as influenced by a dust component |date=1981 |publisher=University of California, San Diego |type=Ph.D. |last=Brin |first=Glen David |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/303005703/ |id={{ProQuest|303005703}} |url-access=subscription |oclc=8067212}}

Career

From 1983 to 1986, he was a postdoctoral research fellow at the California Space Institute, of the University of California, at the San Diego campus in La Jolla.

In 2010, Brin became a fellow of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies.{{cite web|url=http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/bio/brin/|title=David Brin|website=ieet.org|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100123053228/http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/bio/brin/|archive-date=23 January 2010}}{{Cite web |title=David Brin {{!}} Closer to Truth |url=https://www.closertotruth.com/contributor/david-brin/profile |access-date=2022-03-17 |website=www.closertotruth.com}} He helped establish the Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination at UCSD. He serves on the advisory board of NASA's Innovative and Advanced Concepts group and frequently does futurist consulting for corporations and government agencies.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

As of 2013, he served on the Board of Advisors for the Museum of Science Fiction.{{cite web |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/personal/2013/11/04/museum-of-science-fiction-indiegogo/3433947/ |title=Funds sought for science fiction museum lift-off |work=USA Today |date=3 November 2013 |first=Mike |last=Snider |access-date=7 September 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808155222/http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/personal/2013/11/04/museum-of-science-fiction-indiegogo/3433947/ |archive-date=8 August 2014}}

Personal life

Brin has Polish Jewish ancestry, from the area around Konin. His grandfather was drafted into the Russian army and fought in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905.{{cite web |url=http://www.slawcio.com/david.html |title=David Brin Revealed: A two-year-long interview with Slawek Wojtowicz |website=www.slawcio.com |year=2002 |first=Slawek |last=Wojtowicz |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002013604/http://www.slawcio.com/david.html |archive-date=2 October 2011}}

As of 2022, Brin was living in San Diego County, California, with his wife and children.{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=David Brin's biography |url=http://davidbrin.com/biography.html |access-date=2022-07-15 |website=davidbrin.com |language=en}}

Works

Most of Brin's fiction is categorized as hard science fiction, in that they apply some degree of plausible scientific or technological change as important plot elements. About half of Brin's works are in his Uplift Universe. These have twice won the Hugo Award for Best Novel.

Much of Brin's work outside the Uplift series focuses on technology's effects on human society.{{cite web|date=March 31, 2016|title=David Brin on future societies of transparency and freedom|url=http://futurethinkers.org/david-brin-future-societies-transparency/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107023446/http://futurethinkers.org/david-brin-future-societies-transparency/|archive-date=November 7, 2017|publisher=Future Thinkers}}

Bibliography

=Fiction=

==Uplift==

Novels:

Sundiver (1980), {{ISBN|0-553-13312-8}}
Startide Rising (1983), {{ISBN|0-553-23495-1}}. Hugo and Locus SF Awards winner, 1984;{{cite web |url=http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1984 |title=1984 Award Winners & Nominees | Science Fiction & Fantasy Books by Award | WWEnd |publisher=Worldswithoutend.com |access-date=2011-07-26 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716205347/http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1984 |archive-date=2011-07-16 }} Nebula Award winner, 1983{{cite web |url=http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1983 |title=1983 Award Winners & Nominees | Science Fiction & Fantasy Books by Award | WWEnd |publisher=Worldswithoutend.com |access-date=2011-07-26 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120722201338/https://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1983 |archive-date=2012-07-22 }}
The Uplift War (1987), {{ISBN|0-932096-44-1}}. Hugo and Locus SF Awards winner, 1988;{{cite web |url=http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1988 |title=1988 Award Winners & Nominees | Science Fiction & Fantasy Books by Award | WWEnd |publisher=Worldswithoutend.com |access-date=2011-07-26 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225022114/https://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1988 |archive-date=2012-02-25 }} Nebula Award nominee, 1987{{cite web |url=http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1987 |title=1987 Award Winners & Nominees | Science Fiction & Fantasy Books by Award | WWEnd |publisher=Worldswithoutend.com |access-date=2011-07-26 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225021751/https://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1987 |archive-date=2012-02-25 }}

Uplift trilogy, a.k.a. Uplift Storm:

Brightness Reef (1995) {{ISBN|0-553-10034-3}}. Hugo and Locus SF Awards nominee, 1996{{cite web |url=http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1996 |title=1996 Award Winners & Nominees | Science Fiction & Fantasy Books by Award | WWEnd |publisher=Worldswithoutend.com |access-date=2011-07-26 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419180530/https://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1996 |archive-date=2012-04-19 }}
Infinity's Shore (1996), {{ISBN|0-553-57777-8}}
Heaven's Reach (1998), {{ISBN|0-553-57473-6}}

Short fiction:

"Aficionado" (1998) was first published as "Life in the Extreme" in Popular Science magazine, republished in the 2003 limited-edition collection Tomorrow Happens, and included in Brin's 2012 novel Existence. It is available on Brin's website. "Aficionado" takes place before the novels.
"Temptation" (1999) appeared in Robert Silverberg's anthology Far Horizons: All New Tales from the Greatest Worlds of Science Fiction and is set after the events of Infinity's Shore.

Other works:

Contacting Aliens: An Illustrated Guide to David Brin's Uplift Universe (2002), {{ISBN|978-0553377965}} (co-written by Brin and Kevin Lenagh)

==High Horizon==

Colony High (February 2021) {{ISBN|978-1953034526}}; reprinted June 2023 {{ISBN|978-1961511132}}
Castaways of New Mojave (August 2021) {{ISBNT|978-1956015126}}; reprinted October 2023 {{ISBN|978-1961511514}} – with Jeff Carlson

==Stand-alone novels==

The Practice Effect (1984), {{ISBN|978-0-553-23992-8}}
The Postman (1985), {{ISBN|0-553-05107-5}} – Campbell and Locus SF Awards winner, Hugo Award nominee, 1986;{{cite web |url=http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1986 |title=1986 Award Winners & Nominees | Science Fiction & Fantasy Books by Award | WWEnd |publisher=Worldswithoutend.com |access-date=2011-07-26 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120722201634/https://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1986 |archive-date=2012-07-22 }} Nebula Award nominee, 1985.{{cite web |url=http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1985 |title=1985 Award Winners & Nominees | Science Fiction & Fantasy Books by Award | WWEnd |publisher=Worldswithoutend.com |access-date=2011-07-26 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716210931/http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1985 |archive-date=2011-07-16 }} Originally appeared, in substantially different form, as a three-part novella in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. Filmed by Kevin Costner as a major motion picture.
Heart of the Comet (1986), {{ISBN|0-553-25839-7}} (with Gregory Benford) – Locus SF Award nominee, 1987
Earth (1990), {{ISBN|0-553-07064-9}} – Hugo and Locus SF Awards nominee, 1991.{{cite web |url=http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1991 |title=1991 Award Winners & Nominees | Science Fiction & Fantasy Books by Award | WWEnd |publisher=Worldswithoutend.com |access-date=2011-07-26 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090215042922/http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1991 |archive-date=2009-02-15 }} Contains many successful predictions of current trends (such as email spam) and technologies.
Glory Season (1993), {{ISBN|0-553-07645-0}} – Hugo and Locus SF Awards nominee, 1994{{cite web |url=http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1994 |title=1994 Award Winners & Nominees | Science Fiction & Fantasy Books by Award | WWEnd |publisher=Worldswithoutend.com |access-date=2011-07-26 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091001225514/http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1994 |archive-date=2009-10-01 }}
Kiln People (2002; published in the UK as Kil'n People), {{ISBN|0-7653-0355-8}} – Campbell, Clarke, Hugo, and Locus SF Awards nominee, 2003.{{cite web |url=http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=2003 |title=2003 Award Winners & Nominees | Science Fiction & Fantasy Books by Award | WWEnd |publisher=Worldswithoutend.com |access-date=2011-07-26 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716210953/http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=2003 |archive-date=2011-07-16 }} It was shortlisted in four different awards for best SF/fantasy novel of 2002—the Hugo, the Locus, the John W. Campbell Award, and the Arthur C. Clarke Award; each time finishing behind a different book.
Existence, Tor Books (2012), {{ISBN|978-0-765-30361-5}}
The Ancient Ones, self-published (2020), {{ISBN|978-1-70798-865-5}}

==Comics==

Forgiveness (2002), {{ISBN|978-1563898501}} (Star Trek: The Next Generation graphic novel)
The Life Eaters (2003), {{ISBN|978-1401200985}} (published by the Wildstorm imprint of DC Comics, art by Scott Hampton)
Tinkerers (2010) (discussion of the causes of the decline of American manufacturing){{cite web |url=http://forward.msci.org/tinkerers/graphicnovel.html |title=Forward | Graphic Novel |publisher=Forward.msci.org |access-date=2011-07-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727100411/http://forward.msci.org/tinkerers/graphicnovel.html |archive-date=2011-07-27 }}

==Short fiction collections==

The River of Time (1986), {{ISBN|0-913165-11-5}}
Otherness (1994), {{ISBN|1-85723-310-7}}
Tomorrow Happens (2003), {{ISBN|978-1886778436}}
Insistence of Vision (2016), {{ISBN|978-1611882216}}
The Best of David Brin (2021), {{ISBN|978-1645240099}}

==Fiction set in worlds created by others==

Foundation's Triumph (1999), novel set in Asimov's Foundation Universe, {{ISBN|978-0-06-105639-0}}
"71" in Ring of Fire IV (2016) anthology, short story set in Eric Flint's 1632-verse, {{ISBN|978-1476781242}}

==Games==

Brin designed the game Tribes, published in 1998 by Steve Jackson Games,{{Cite book|author=Shannon Appelcline|title=Designers & Dragons|publisher=Mongoose Publishing|year=2011| isbn= 978-1-907702-58-7|pages=110}} and wrote the storyline for the 2000 Dreamcast video game Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future.

=Nonfiction=

Ongoing:

Articles in professional journals, including The Astrophysical Journal and Information Technology and Libraries; as well as popular magazines, such as Omni, Nature, and Popular Science.

Books:

Extraterrestrial Civilization by Thomas Kuiper and Glen David Brin, (1989) {{ISBN|0917853385}}
The Transparent Society: Will Technology Force Us to Choose Between Privacy and Freedom? (1998) {{ISBN|0-7382-0144-8}}—won the Eli M. Oboler Award for intellectual freedom from the American Library Association
Star Wars on Trial: Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Debate the Most Popular Science Fiction Films of All Time (2006) {{ISBN|1-932100-89-X}}
Polemical Judo: Memes for our Political Knife-fight (2019) {{ISBN|978-1704368030}}

Honors and awards

1984 Nebula Award for Best Novel{{cite book |title=The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1985 |publisher=Newspaper Enterprise Association, Inc. |location=New York |isbn=0-911818-71-5 |page=415|year=1985 }}
1984, 1988 Hugo Award for Best Novel
1985 Inkpot Award[https://www.comic-con.org/awards/inkpot Inkpot Award]
1984, 1986, 1988 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel
1985 Hugo Award for Best Short Story
Small Solar System body 5748 Davebrin, discovered by Eleanor Helin in 1991, is named in his honor.{{cite book |title=Dictionary of Minor Planet Names |chapter=(5748) Davebrin |publisher=Springer |date=2003 |pages=486 |isbn=978-3-540-29925-7 |doi=10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_5421 }}

References

External links

{{Official website|http://www.davidbrin.com/}}
David Brin's blog, [http://www.davidbrin.blogspot.com/ Contrary Brin]
{{IMDb name|0109432}}
{{isfdb name|id=David_Brin|name=David Brin}}
{{sfadb|David_Brin|David Brin}}
{{IBList|type=author|id=42|name=David Brin}}

;Interviews

[http://www.synaptic.bc.ca/ejournal/brin.htm Critical Resources :: David Brin]
[http://www.sffworld.com/interview/13p0.html Interview with David Brin] at SFFWorld.com (2002-07-19)
[http://www.actusf.com/spip/article-5739.html Interview with David Brin] at Actusf.com
[http://www.thefutureandyou.libsyn.com/?search_string=brin&Submit=Search&search=1 All of David Brin's audio interviews on the podcast The Future And You], in which he describes his expectations of the future
[http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/nonfiction/kilnpeople.htm Metareview, Kiln/Kil'n People]
[http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/7066 Video of conversation between David Brin] and James Pinkerton on Bloggingheads.tv
{{youTube|g74qdM8Kgdw|David Brin and Sheldon Brown on "Third Millennium Problem Solving" at Google.}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20040725075013/http://www.geocities.com/allianceforprogress/ Alliance for Progress Encyclopedia, encyclopedia of David Brin's Uplift Universe]

{{Hugo Award Best Short Story 1981–2000}}{{Inkpot Award 1980s}}{{Nebula Award Best Novel}}{{Locus Award Best SF Novel}}{{Authority control}}

Category:1950 births

Category:Living people

Category:20th-century American male writers

Category:20th-century American novelists

Category:21st-century American male writers

Category:21st-century American novelists

Category:American futurologists

Category:American graphic novelists

Category:American male novelists

Category:American male short story writers

Category:American science fiction writers