Transhuman Page
Transhumanist Reading
Transhumanists as a rule tend to read a lot. This is just a small sample of texts that are of transhumanist interest, are written by transhumanists or otherwise relate to transhumanism.
Sections
Literature
The
Integration of Literature and neuroscience... And Its Inhibitors by
Dan Engber (The Harvard Brain, Spring 1996. PDF
version). On the meeting between neuroscience and literature, and
the problems that ensue.
Literature
The Myth of Prometheus, by Jean Lang. One
of the central myths in transhumanism (and western culture).
Clarke's 2001. A explanation by Greg Burch about
why he regards 2001 as one of the best transhumanist visions. Includes
a very transhuman quote from the book. 
Quotes from 'Neverness' by David Zindell
On-Line Texts
Short Stories
Steelhead
by St. Boniface (CT 2:4).
Kadath in the Cold
Waste by Edward Keyes. Short story covering many transhuman questions;
both utopic and dystopic, depending on view.
Quicksilver by Anders Sandberg. A small
nanotech nightmare.
Uploading -- A Little
Wishful Fiction by Robert Munafo.
Charles Stross
Charles Stross has written several rather dark stories with themes of transhuman interest; see his Fiction Page.
The Boys.
A disturbing science fiction story about a run-down posthuman space habitat.
Generation
Gap Transhuman juvenile delinquents?
Greg Egan
The Extra
by Greg Egan. What about using clone bodies as easy sources for transplants?
(French translation as le
Réserviste)
Closer
by Greg Egan. Identity and intimacy can get rather bizarre in a transhuman
society.
The Moral
Virologist by Greg Egan. What happens when genetinc engineering gets
in the hands of people with a cause? (Italian translation as Il
Virologo Morale)
The
Planck Dive by Greg Egan. Posthumans exploring the nature of spacetime
- but can they stand the poet?
Yeyuka
by Greg Egan. Are there medical problems that cannot be solved with a
nanodevice that can cure nearly any disease?
TAP by Greg
Egan. An implant enabling people to communicate entire concepts directly,
who could object to that?
The
Planck Dive by Greg Egan. Posthumans exploring the nature of spacetime
- but can they stand the poet?
See also the list at Greg Egan's own home page.
Electronic Books
Out
of Control: The Rise of Neobiological Civilization About how our technology
is becoming more like biology, turning away from the old industrial era
paradigm of rigidity and control towards a networked world of adaptability.
Scratch
monkey by Charlie Stross. A dark novel set in a future where von
Neumann probes build a growing interstellar computer network to house
the uploaded minds of dead people,
ruled by artificial intelligences. Mail
the author for password.
Moths
to the Flame: The Seductions of Computer Technology by J. E. Rawlins.
See especially the final chapter A
Creation Unknown.
The World, the Flesh
& the Devil, an Enquiry into the Future of the Three Enemies of
the Rational Soul, by J. D. Bernal (1929). A classic text that describes
an early vision of transhumanism.
Engines of Creation:
The Coming Era of Nanotechnology by Eric K. Drexler. The classic book
on nanotechnology and its possibilities. 
Unbounding
the Future: the Nanotechnology Revolution by Eric Drexler and Chris
Peterson, with Gayle Pergamit.
Review of
Unbounding the Future by John Murray.
Authors and Reviews of Transhumanist Books
Nonfiction
Review
of The World of 2044 (in gzipped LaTeX), by Phil
Goetz.
Review of Rifkin's The Biotech Century by Charles
Platt. A kind of warning against Rifkin and his followers.
Freeman Dyson
World-class physicist and thinker, showing that science and humanism can be combined into a whole. In many ways he represents the humanist side of transhumanism.
Books of transhuman interest include Disturbing the Universe, Infinite in all Directions, Imagined Worlds and Time Without End: Physics and Biology in an Open Universe
Who is Freeman
Dyson? in the Dyson Sphere FAQ.
Marshall T. Savage
Founder of The First Millennial Foundation, an organisation devoted to his Millennial Project, a program for space colonisation based on first developing artificial islands, then ground-orbit accelerators, space colonies and in the long run a galactic civilization.
Review
of the Millenial Project, by Phil
Goetz.
Review
of the Millennial Project by Jonathan Burns
Ed Regis
Review of The
Great Mambo Chicken and the Transhuman Condition by Ed Regis, by Howard
Rheingold.
Kevin Kelly
Out
of Control: The Rise of Neobiological Civilization About how our technology
is becoming more like biology, turning away from the old industrial era
paradigm of rigidity and control towards a networked world of adaptability.
Review of ``Out of
Control'' by Melanie Mitchell. (Postscript)
Review
by Alison Stuebe (The Chronicle Online).
Review
by Anders Sandberg (Extropy Magazine)
Mark Dery
Escape Velocity by Mark
Dery. A critique of cyberculture. A tonic for Wired? See also Geert Lovink's
interview with
Mark Dery.
Damien Broderick
Books of transhumanist interest The Spike and The White Abacus.
Review of The
Spike by Race Mathews.
Gregory Stock
Review of Metaman by Gregory
Stock by Keith Schengili-Roberts.
Review
of Metaman by Hans Moravec
Hans Moravec
Roboticist at Carnegie Mellon University, one of the most vocal proponents of strong AI and uploading.
Books of transhumanist interest Mind Children and Robot, Being.
Robot,
Being: mere machine to transcendent mind, About Hans Moravec's forthcoming
book.
Virginia Postrel
Dynamist.com.
Website for Virginia Postrel's The Future and It's Enemies.
Fiction
Science fiction is relevant to transhumanism because it addresses questions raised by science about the possibilities and limits of technological (and other forms of) advancement.Greg Egan
Greg Egan is one of the rising hard science fiction authors. Many of his stories touch themes or problems close to transhumanism, such as identity, ethics, uploading, genetics and modification of the mind.
Books of transhuman interest include Axiomatic, Quarantine, Permutation City, Distress and Diaspora
Eidolon
on Egan. Links to interviews, fiction, nonfiction etc.
Danny
Yee's Reviews of Greg Egan.
Interveiw
with Greg Egan in Ibn Qirtaiba September 1996.
Review of Diaspora by Anders Sandberg.
Vernor Vinge
Vernor Vinge is a favorite of many transhumanists and the originator of the singularity concept.
Works of transhuman interest include True Names and Other Dangers, Across Realtime, A Fire Upon the Deep.
Reviews
of Vinge's Books at Lysator
Charles Stross
Works of transhuman interest: Scratch Monkey, several short stories.
James P. Hogan
Linda Nagata
Books of transhuman interest: The Bohr Maker, Tech Heaven, Deception Well and Vast.
Review of Tech heaven, The Bohr Maker and Deception
Well.
Bruce Sterling
Works of transhuman interest: Schismatrix, the Shaper/Mechanist stories.
The Shapers --
and Mechanists -- of things to come. Review by Curt Wohleber of Schismatrix
Plus by Bruce Sterling.
Walter John Williams
Works of transhuman interest: Aristoi.
David Zindell
Epic and philosophical science fiction set in a remote future where mankind has diverged into many nearly incomprehensible cultures and species, ranging from neo-neanderthals to jupiter brains.
Works of transhuman interest: Neverness, The Broken God, The Wild, War in Heaven.
Seekers
of the Ineffable Flame. A David Zindell homepage.
Review
of Neverness by David Zindell by Eric S. Raymond.
Stanislaw Lem
Polish philosophical science fiction author. His large production covers many areas of transhuman interest such as the development of technology, artificial intelligence, philosophy, science, nanotechnology, the singularity and alien intelligence. His works are frequently satirical and very funny, while at the same time deeply inte llectual.
Vitrifax: The writing
of Stanislaw Lem by Matt McIrvin.
Iain Banks
Iain Banks is known both for his science fiction and non-sf works. In many of his sf works he describes the Culture, a transhuman interstellar civilization and how it interacts with other civilizations.
Culture Shock - the unofficial Iain
Banks web site.
A Few Notes on the
Culture by Iain M Banks. A discussion of Banks' imaginary transhuman
Culture and how it works. Contains many interesting transhuman ideas.
Greg Bear
Paul Di Filippo
Ribofunk:
The Manifesto by Paul Di Filippo. Speculative acknowledging biology
as the most relevant area of development. While the ribofunk movement
so far has not taken off, it is a fun manifesto.
Reviews
Book of the Week at Hedweb.
Mark/Space Interplanetary
Review:
Booklists
Sarah Marr's Transhumanist
Booklist. An excellent booklist, with contributions from the subscribers
of the transhuman and extropian mailinglists.
GBN Book Club selections.
Many books here seem (or are) quite interesting. My own recommendations
from their list:
Extropian Reading List by Richard Johnson.
Important
Literature Page by Damien
Sullivan. I agree that most of these are important.
See also
Anders Sandberg / asa@nada.kth.se 2000-03-11