Lightman, Alan
Entry updated 13 July 2025. Tagged: Author.
(1948- ) US physicist and author, currently a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is relevant to sf for four reasons. First, he is best known for his novels, especially Einstein's Dreams (1993), which is of associational interest because it fictionalizes Albert Einstein's experiences while he was working on his groundbreaking theories (see Relativity), sometimes describing dreams with fantastic elements. Two other novels, Ghost (2007) and Mr. g: A Novel about the Creation (2012), are Fantasies displaying Lightman's deep interest in Religion. Second, writing as "Alan P Lightman", he earned a Rhysling Award for his sf poem "In Computers" (June 1982 Science 82) (see Poetry). Third, in some of his scientific essays, he employs the device of introducing his presumably fictional great-grandfather "Papa Joe", who mysteriously materializes in Lightman's house, smoking a pipe and engaging in discussions about recent scientific developments. While he is probably a ghost (see Supernatural Creatures), his appearances could also be explained as the result of a Timeslip. Finally, Lightman wrote introductions to new editions of two classic sf works: H G Wells's The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896; vt [with textual omissions] The Island of Dr Moreau: A Possibility 1896) in 1994, and Edwin A Abbott's Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions (1884; rev 1884) in 1998. [GW]
Alan Paige Lightman
born Memphis, Tennessee: 1948
works (selected)
- Einstein's Dreams (New York: Pantheon Books, 1993) [hb/]
- Ghost (New York: Pantheon Books, 2007) [hb/]
- Mr. g.: A Novel about the Creation (New York: Pantheon Books, 2012) [hb/]
nonfiction
- Time Travel and Papa Joe's Pipe: Essays on the Human Side of Science (New York: Penguin, 1984) [nonfiction: coll: hb/nonpictorial]
- A Modern Day Yankee in a Connecticut Court and Other Essays on Science (New York: Penguin, 1986) [hb/Rockwell Kent]
links
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