Sci-Fi Storm

Author and technology pundit Dr. Jerry E. Pournelle passed away earlier today, according to messages from his son Alex and daughter Jennifer.

I cam across him in so many ways over the years, although we never had the chance to meet in person. I remember his columns in Byte magazine, one of my favorite parts of the magazine, where he discussed using the various things he was sent to review. And like Larry Niven he provided world building in his fiction stories. I was particularly enthralled by the CoDomunium setting, which I discovered through his collaboration with Niven in [asin=0671741926]The Mote In God’s Eye[/asin] and the sequel [asin=B005KSL45M]The Gripping Hand[/asin], where each author played off each other’s strengths.

I’d later encounter Pournelle again in the tech world through the This Week In Tech podcasts, where he was an occasional panel member.

We will certainly miss him.