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The Hunter

A Scientific Novel

  • Book
  • © 2014

Overview

Authors:
  1. Giancarlo Genta

    1. Department of Mechanics, Politecnico (Technical University) di Torino, Torino, Italy

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  • Introduces and illustrates the emergent topic of space colonization in form of a scientific novel
  • Authored by a leading expert in space science and robotics
  • Contains a nontechnical summary of the underlying science
  • Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Part of the book series: Science and Fiction (SCIFICT)

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Table of contents (2 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages I-VII
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  2. The Novel

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
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    2. The Hunter

      • Giancarlo Genta
      Pages 3-110

  3. The Science Behind the Fiction

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 111-111
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    2. Humankind on the Verge of Becoming a Spacefaring Civilization

      • Giancarlo Genta
      Pages 113-130
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Keywords

About this book

The 24th century: humankind has become a spacefaring civilization, colonizing the solar system and beyond. While no alien forms of life have yet been encountered in this expansion into space, colonists suddenly encounter machines of alien origin - huge robots able to reproduce themselves. Called replicators by the colonists, they seem to have but a single goal: to destroy all organic life they come in contact with.

Since the colonial governments have no means to fight this menace directly, they instead promise huge rewards to whoever destroys a replicator. As a result, the frontier attracts a new kind of adventurers, the Hunters, who work to find and destroy the replicators. Mike Edwards, a skilled young maintenance technician and robotics expert at a faraway outpost, will not only become one of them - but be the very first one to unlock the secret behind the replicators’ origin and mission.
 
The scientific and technical aspects underlying the plot - in particular space travel, robotics and self-replicating spacecraft - are introduced and discussed by the author in an extensive non-technical appendix.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Department of Mechanics, Politecnico (Technical University) di Torino, Torino, Italy

    Giancarlo Genta

About the author

Professor Giancarlo GENTA, an expert in space flight technology, holds degrees in Aeronautic Engineering and Space Engineering (his thesis was on electric propulsion orbital transfers). Until 1996 he was head of the Mechanics Department of the Politecnico (Technical University) of Turin, in Italy. He is Director of the Italian SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) study center and is a full member of the International Academy of Astronautics. He has written more than 300 scientific papers and 11 scientific books, some used as textbooks in Italian and American Universities and translated into Russian. Among his popular science book are Space: The Final Frontier?, published by Cambridge University Press in 2002, and Lonely Minds in the Universe - The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, published by Springer-Copernicus in June 2007.

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