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(? - ) Egyptian-born computer scientist, entrepreneur and author, in the USA from infancy. Much of his work has been in the application of Information Theory in the development of Communication technologies, a focus which informs his Nexus 5 sequence comprising Nexus (2012), Crux (2013) and Apex (2015). Nexus itself is a dangerously subornable Drug-born Nanotechnology designed to link (and to cognitively enhance) human brains, in order to create profits and a better world. The tale, as intrigues put the technology at risk, slides at points into Technothriller riffs, but Naam continually injects speculative suggestions into the action, savingly. The book tied for the Prometheus Award. In the second volume, there is a growing sense that Nexus may be creating (and may as a network comprise) a new Posthuman species. Though warning signs are duly posted, an overall sense of technofuturist optimism gives a sense that the tale may be meant to convey an underlying mission statement about the ultimate virtues of enhancement. Some of the book's implied arguments are made more clearly in the nonfiction More than Human: Embracing the Promise of Biological Enhancement (2005). The third volume, Apex, won the Philip K Dick Award. [JC]
born Cairo, Egypt
works
series
Nexus 5
nonfiction
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Entry from The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (2011-current) edited by John Clute and David Langford.
Accessed 23:20 pm on 24 April 2024.
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