MATHEMATICAL FICTION:

a list compiled by Alex Kasman (College of Charleston)

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Transition Dreams (1993)
Greg Egan
(click on names to see more mathematical fiction by the same author)
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Transition dreams, an old man learns in this story, are dreams that your new, robotic brain has as it is being "filled up" with the patterns copied from your old, organic brain. There is a good deal of discussion about the questions of how we know about these dreams and why we cannot know precisely what they will be. All of this discussion refers to "mathematical modeling", and the latter has a flavor very reminiscent of Turing's halting problem.

Originally published in Interzone #76, October 1993 and republished in the anthology "Luminous".

More information about this work can be found at www.amazon.com.
(Note: This is just one work of mathematical fiction from the list. To see the entire list or to see more works of mathematical fiction, return to the Homepage.)

Works Similar to Transition Dreams
According to my `secret formula', the following works of mathematical fiction are similar to this one:
  1. Wang's Carpets by Greg Egan
  2. The Planck Dive by Greg Egan
  3. Luminous by Greg Egan
  4. Oracle by Greg Egan
  5. Into Darkness by Greg Egan
  6. Unstable Orbits in the Space of Lies by Greg Egan
  7. The Infinite Assassin by Greg Egan
  8. Dark Integers by Greg Egan
  9. Border Guards by Greg Egan
  10. Glory by Greg Egan
Ratings for Transition Dreams:
RatingsHave you seen/read this work of mathematical fiction? Then click here to enter your own votes on its mathematical content and literary quality or send me comments to post on this Webpage.
Mathematical Content:
1/5 (1 votes)
..
Literary Quality:
3/5 (1 votes)
..

Categories:
GenreScience Fiction,
Motif
TopicComputers/Cryptography, Logic/Set Theory,
MediumShort Stories,

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Where are the new works of mathematical fiction?: As you can see from this chronological listing, this database includes many works of mathematical fiction for each year from 1990 to 2025. Strangely, only two are listed for 2026, so far. Either less mathematical fiction is being published than in previous years or I'm just having more trouble finding it. If you know of any works of fiction that should be added to this list, especially recently published ones, please let me know. (Keep in mind that I do not include self-published works or children's fiction that just covers elementary mathematical concepts.) Thanks!

(Maintained by Alex Kasman, College of Charleston)