Interview: Vernor Vinge

One of Stanisław Lem's chief criticisms of most SF in the 1960-70s was that it was being written by people who didn't know what they were talking about, most of them had no science or engineering background at all, yet they purported to imagine for their readers what "anti-gravity" or "time travel" could mean. I think people like Vinge immensely improve SF writing by actually having relevant expertise. The prologue of "A Fire Upon the Deep" in particular is in a sense the same lesson as Ken Thompson's non-fiction "Reflections on Trusting Trust" - but woven as dramatic fiction. Brilliant.