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Cohen, Jack

(1933-2019) UK reproductive biologist, formerly with the University of Warwick, and author of several nonfiction books in which the relationship between speculative fiction and the speculative sciences are explored, all written in collaboration with Ian Stewart. The first of these is The Collapse of Chaos: Discovering Simplicity in a Complex World (1994). Of particular sf interest is the their exploration of possible Alien biologies and societies in Evolving the Alien: The Science of Extraterrestrial Life (2002; vt What Does a Martian Look Like: The Science of Extraterrestrial Life 2002). As an expert on various scientific issues, including Biology and world-building, Cohen was formally consulted by various writers, including Brian Aldiss, Anne McCaffrey, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, and James White, in the building of their more ambitious Alien ecologies. Again with Ian Stewart, Cohen wrote four volumes of popular science based on the "science" of Terry Pratchett's Discworld sequence: each book is centred on a novella-length Discworld story by Pratchett, whose chapters alternate with chapters of exposition by Cohen and Stewart.

Cohen also co-wrote two sf novels in the Wheelers sequence and contributed extensively input to the third. Wheelers (2000) with Ian Stewart, depicts the discovery of the eponymous levitating artefacts on the Jovian moon Callisto (see Jupiter), and of the Alien reaction that subsequently threatens twenty-third-century Earth with the Disaster of impact from a redirected Comet. The sequel Heaven (2004), also with Stewart, is a Space Opera in which an interstellar Religion threatens the stability of several worlds. The distant prequel Oracle (2021), which opens on Earth in 17,000 BCE but nevertheless features galaxy-wide action, was delayed by Cohen's failing health and written by Stewart solo from ideas generated by Cohen. [JC/DRL]

Jack Cohen

born Norwich, Norfolk: 19 September 1933

died Three Legged Cross, Dorset: 6 May 2019

works

series

Wheelers

• Wheelers (New York: Warner Aspect, 2000) with Ian Stewart [Wheelers: hb/Bob Eggleton]
• Heaven (New York: Warner Aspect, 2004) with Ian Stewart [Wheelers: hb/Steve Stone]
• Oracle (Coventry, Warwickshire: JOAT Enterprises, 2021) with Ian Stewart [Wheelers: pb/]

nonfiction

series

The Science of Discworld

• The Science of Discworld (London: Ebury Press, 1999) with Ian Stewart and Terry Pratchett [nonfiction: Discworld: Science of Discworld: hb/Paul Kidby]
  • The Science of Discworld (London: Ebury Press, 2002) with Ian Stewart and Terry Pratchett [exp of the above, with two new chapters: Discworld: Science of Discworld: hb/Paul Kidby]
• The Science of Discworld II: The Globe (London: Ebury Press, 2002) with Ian Stewart and Terry Pratchett [nonfiction: Discworld: Science of Discworld: hb/Paul Kidby]
• The Science of Discworld III: Darwin's Watch (London: Ebury Press, 2003) with Ian Stewart and Terry Pratchett [nonfiction: Discworld: Science of Discworld: hb/Paul Kidby]
• The Science of Discworld IV: Judgement Day (London: Ebury Press, 2013) with Ian Stewart and Terry Pratchett [nonfiction: Discworld: Science of Discworld: hb/Paul Kidby]

individual titles

• Are You Content in Your Context? (Birmingham, England: The Birmingham Science Fiction Group, 1990) [nonfiction: chap: pb/Dave Mooring]
• The Collapse of Chaos: Discovering Simplicity in a Complex World (New York: Viking, 1994) with Ian Stewart [nonfiction: hb/uncredited]
• Figments of Reality: The Evolution of the Curious Mind (Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1997) with Ian Stewart [nonfiction: hb/Steve Xerri]
• Evolving the Alien: The Science of Extraterrestrial Life (London: Ebury Press, 2002) with Ian Stewart [nonfiction: hb/Senate]
  • What Does a Martian Look Like? The Science of Extraterrestrial Life (New York: John Wiley, 2002) with Ian Stewart [nonfiction: vt of the above: hb/]

links

• Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Picture Gallery

Entry from The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (2011-current) edited by John Clute and David Langford.
Accessed 13:45 pm on 16 January 2025.
<https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/cohen_jack>