Prince George, B.C. - What it means to be human in the face of improbable circumstances is the theme being explored in Remembering the Future, a work of science fiction written by first-time literary author and UNBC Physics professor Mark Shegelski. The recently released work is a collection of fourteen science fiction stories that explore many universes, time travel, and seemingly impossible situations.

 

The book is already winning praise from Canadian science fiction literary icons such as Hugo and Nebula Award-winning writer Robert J. Sawyer, author of Hominids. “Fascinating, inventive stories from a stunning new talent,” writes Sawyer. “You’ll remember these futures.”

Dr. Shegelski, who has published 59 academic articles in a variety of scientific journals (the most recent will be published next month in the Canadian Journal of Physics), says it would be impossible for his expertise in Quantum Mechanics not to influence his writing.

“I think it gives a writer, particularly a writer of science fiction, a valuable awareness of the universe that can be expanded upon and explored creatively. A physicist has, perhaps, an enhanced understanding of what time travel might be like or of how multiple universes might actually work,” says Dr. Shegelski. “In physics, often what your intuition tells you to be true turns out to be false once the proper calculations are conducted. To some extent, this book is an exploration of the gap between presumption and fact in the context of the human condition.”

Dr. Shegelski says that there is much more creativity in physics than many people believe and adds that science fiction provides a platform for artistic exploration and creativity.

“To me, science fiction represents the ultimate arena to explore what it’s like and what it means to be human,” says Dr. Shegelski. “It makes it possible to question presumed notions in the most extreme settings.”

As for whether ideas that come about through science fiction can produce workable theories in the physics lab, Dr. Shegelski regards the notion as unlikely.

“It’s rare, but it does happen. Once in a blue moon an idea, which originally came up in science fiction does, years later, end up being a researchable phenomenon, but this is typically through the natural ever-evolving process of scientific method, not deliberate study inspired by fiction.”

Dr. Mark Shegelski has been a professor of Physics at UNBC since 1994. He lives in Prince George with his wife Gail and leaves on Wednesday, June 3, on a cross-Canada tour to promote the book, published by Scroll Press of Prince George. Dr. Shegelski will be giving a reading at 2:00 p.m. in the Canfor Theatre at UNBC during the Bridges Festival of Art and Culture in on Saturday, June 13.