Great hard science fiction novels

When science fiction fans talk about the big three they usually mean Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke. All three wrote what would today be called hard science fiction.

In addition to writing SF, Isaac Asimov wrote a LOT. He wrote nonfiction, mysteries, books of jokes, commentaries on the Bible, a two-volume autobiography and more. He also had a doctorate in biochemistry. Asimov's most famous science fiction includes the Foundation series, the Galactic Empire series and the Robot series. Finally, Asimov was editor of several anthologies of SF, and founded the magazine Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction.

Robert A. Heinlein was often called the "dean of science fiction". He started writing almost as a lark, after his military career ended due to medical issues. Much of his SF expresses his libertarian political views. Among Heinlein's most famous works are Stranger in a Strange Land (which is not really hard SF), the Moon is a Harsh Mistress.

Arthur C. Clarke is most famous as the author of the novel and co-screenwriter of the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. He also wrote Rendezvous with Rama, and several sequels to 2001, as well as many other books.

The 1960s were a time when SF started to diverge and become more multifaceted. I like a lot of the newer sub-genres of science fiction, but hard SF continued to be published and read. My favorite hard SF authors from this period include Frank Herbert, Larry Niven and Fred Pohl,

Frank Herbert is most famous as the author of Dune and some of its many sequels. Dune is set on a desert planet, and stresses the role of ecology in society. It features a struggle between the evil Harkonnens and the good Atreides, and the rise of a cult hero: Muad Dib.

Larry Niven's most famous SF creation is Ringworld - about a world that is a ribbon around a star. Ringworld also had several sequels.Niven is especially good at creating alien species, including the puppeteers and the kzinti. The puppeteers have amazing technology and are cowardly (to human ways of thinking). The kzinti possess technology about like that of humans at the time of the novel: They are bloodthirsty and aggressive to a fault.

Fred Pohl's most famous novel is Gateway. Pohl, born in 1919 and still alive and writing, has probably been writing SF longer than anyone else in history. Gateway is an asteroid that allows exploration of the galaxy. The hero of Gateway is Robinette Broadhead, who had many adventures from Gateway that left him colossally wealthy but psychologically damaged.

Hard science fiction continues to thrive to the present day. Some more recent favorites of mine are Greg Egan, Nancy Kress and Neal Stephenson.

Greg Egan is an Australian writer; my favorite novel of his is probably Diaspora, which tells of a far future in which humanity has evolved into three different species.

Nancy Kress is most famous for Beggars in Spain, which was both a novella and a novel. It is about humans designed to need no sleep, and the role that these new people play in future society.

Neal Stephenson writes in many different genres; by no means all of his books are hard SF. One that clearly is hard SF is The Diamond Age. The Diamond Age tells of the life of Nell, a girl in a future world that has been dramatically affected by nanotechnology and where society is dominated by phyles, which resemble city-states, each of which is based on very different notions of the right way to live.