Holiday gift ideas: The hard sci-fi starter kit

Hard science fiction is often code for "sci fi that requires the reader to do math" -- it's a label that turns off not just non-sci-fi fans, but even devout but nontechnical science fiction fanatics. Are there hard sci-fi books that not only overcome this label, but might imbue a nascent love of the subgenre?

The SF Signal Irregulars say yes (in podcast form).

Patrick Hester, Jeff Patterson, Paul Weimer and (sadly) me build a reading list to tempt even the staunchest hard sci-fi doubter. And, yes, Ringworld makes multiple appearances.

[BONUS: We stop mid-podcast to disabuse Patrick of the notion that The 13th Warrior is a good movie. I may have instigated this intervention. I also haven't been invited back to the podcast since. Coincidence? I think not.]

If you're looking for the nerdiest of all possible holiday gifts, this podcast is an ultra-geeky idea factory. Take a listen.

As always, my rap sheet of past SF Signal podcast transgressions is available here.

Related articles

• Ranked: 15 sci-fi books everyone should read
• Sci-fi books that are jam packed with ideas?
• 21 Pictures that Sum Up the Whole History of Science Fiction
• 100 Greatest Sci-Fi Movies - Video Supercut
• Dyson Spheres: The Ultimate Energy Shell Game

15 most popular links for October 2012

Below are the 15 links I shared on Twitter in Oct. 2012 that subsequently earned at least 100 clicks.

1. Why I got Fired from Facebook (a $100 Million dollar lesson) (1840) 
2. The science behind how your productivity is chosen by what you eat (915) 
3. How do our favorite tech companies make money? (661) 
4. Dark Social: We Have the Whole History of the Web Wrong (597) 
5. "CEO is a very unnatural job" (561) 
6. "In order to be a good programmer I need to adopt a certain mindset. That mindset is slowly making me unhappy." (498) 
7. The 9 Monsters That Kill Most Startups (486) 
8. How I automated the boring parts of life (471) 
9. The rise of the “successful” unsustainable company (396) 
10. BEST. ANALOGY. EVER. (352) 
11. "Splitting articles and photo galleries into multiple pages is evil. It should stop." (241) 
12. Surprising Hacker News Data Analysis (231) 
13. Meet the hexaflexagon. It's about to blow your mind. (189) 
14. 99 problems and a life hack for each one (153) 
15. The single best reason to save PBS you'll read today (129)

Stats gathered via Buffer.