Rudy Rucker

**Rudolf von Bitter Rucker** (born March 22, 1946 in Louisville, Kentucky) is an American mathematician, computer scientist, science fiction author, and philosopher. He is one of the founders of the cyberpunk literary movement. He writes both fiction and non-fiction books and articles. He is best known for the novels in the Ware Tetralogy (series of four books). The first two books (_Software_ and _Wetware_) both won Philip K. Dick Awards. Now he edits the science fiction webzine called _Flurb_.

## Early life

Rucker is the great-great-great-grandson of the philosopher Georg Hegel.

Rucker attended St. Xavier High School. Then he completed a B.A. in mathematics from Swarthmore College. Next, he earned Master's and Ph.D. degrees in mathematics from Rutgers University.

## Career

He taught at the State University of New York at Geneseo from 1972 to 1978. He got a grant (money to support scholarship) from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, so he went to teach math at the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg from 1978 to 1980. He then taught at Randolph-Macon Women's College in Lynchburg, Virginia from 1980 to 1982. Next, he tried being as a full-time author for four years. Inspired by an interview with Stephen Wolfram, Rucker became a computer science professor at San José State University in 1986. He retired from SJSU in 2004. He is a mathematician who is also interested in philosophy. He has written books connecting these two areas, for example: _The Fourth Dimension_; _Geometry, Relativity and the Fourth Dimension_; and _Infinity and the Mind_. Princeton University Press published new editions of _Infinity and the Mind_ in 1995 and in 2005, both with new prefaces; the first edition is cited with fair frequency in academic literature.

As his "own alternative to cyberpunk," Rucker developed a writing style he calls Transrealism. He gave a brief explanation of Transrealism in his 1983 essay, _The Transrealist Manifesto_. It is science fiction based on the author's own life and immediate perceptions, mixed with fantastic elements that symbolize psychological change. Many of Rucker's novels and short stories apply these ideas. One example of Rucker's Transrealist works is _Saucer Wisdom_, a novel in which the main character is abducted by aliens. Rucker and his publisher marketed the book as non-fiction as a kind of joke.

Rucker wrote his first Transrealist novel, _White Light,_ while he was at Heidelberg. This Transrealist novel is based on his experiences at SUNY Geneseo.

Rucker often uses his novels to explore scientific or mathematical ideas. For example, _White Light_ examines the concept of infinity. Parts of the Ware Tetralogy (written from 1982 through 2000) are an explanation of using natural selection to develop computer software (a subject also developed in his _The Hacker and the Ants_, written in 1994). His novels also show a mystical philosophy. Rucker explained this philosophy in an essay called _The Central Teachings of Mysticism_. There may be some irony in this tiitle (The essay is included in _Seek!_, 1999).

He recently published a book called _The Lifebox, the Seashell, and the Soul: What Gnarly Computation Taught Me About Ultimate Reality, the Meaning Of Life, and How To Be Happy_. This book summarizes the various philosophies he's believed over the years. It ends with the tentative conclusion that people might get some benefit by thinking about the world as made of computations. His final remark in the book is, "perhaps this universe is perfect."

### Fiction

- The Ware Tetralogy http://www.rudyrucker.com/wares/
    - _Software_ (1982)
    - _Wetware_ (1988)
    - _Freeware_ (1997)
    - _Realware_ (2000)
- Transrealist novels
    - _White Light_ (1980)
    - _Spacetime Donuts_ (1981)
    - _The Sex Sphere_ (1983)
    - _The Secret of Life_ (1985)
    - _The Hacker and the Ants_ (1994) (Revised 'Version 2.0' 2003)
    - _Saucer Wisdom_ (1999) novel marketed as non-fiction
- Other Novels
    - _Master of Space and Time_ (1984)
    - _The Hollow Earth_ (1990)
    - _Spaceland_ (2002)
    - _As Above, So Below: A Novel of Peter Bruegel_ (2002)
    - _Frek and the Elixir_ (2004)
    - _Mathematicians in Love_ (2006)
    - _Postsingular_ (Fall 2007)
    - _Hylozoic_  (sequel to _Postsingular, May 2009)_
- Story collections
    - _The Fifty-Seventh Franz Kafka_ (1983)
    - _Transreal!_, also includes some non-fiction essays (1991)
    - _Gnarl!_ (2000), complete short stories
    - _Mad Professor_ (2006)

### Non-fiction

- _Geometry, Relativity and the Fourth Dimension_ (1977)
- (editor), _Speculations on the Fourth Dimension: Selected Writings of Charles H. Hinton_, Dover (1980),
- _Infinity and the Mind_ (1982)
- _The Fourth Dimension_ (1984)
- _Mind Tools_ (1987)
- _All the Visions_ (1991), memoir
- _Seek!_ (1999), collected essays
- _Software Engineering and Computer Games_ (2002), textbook
- _The Lifebox, the Seashell, and the Soul_ (2005)

List  on Rucker's SJSU web page. With links to each book's web page.

## Other websites

- The Rudy Rucker website
- Rudy Rucker's SJSU Home Page
- Rudy Rucker's Twitter page
- Rudy Rucker's autobiography, written for _Contemporary Authors_ in 2004
- A story in a San Jose newspaper regarding Rucker
- The Transrealist Manifesto
- Flurb, a Webzine of Astonishing Tales (Rudy Rucker, editor)
- Rudy Rucker: Everything is Computation - 3/1/2007
- Radio interview  on Philosophy Talk

## Infobox (person)

- **name**: Rudy Rucker
- **image**: Rudyrucker.jpg
- **image size**: 222px
- **caption**: Rudy Rucker, Fall 2004, photo by Georgia Rucker
- **birth name**: Rudolf von Bitter Rucker
- **birth place**: Louisville, Kentucky
- **nationality**: United States, American
- **known for**: Ware Tetralogy
- **alma mater**: St. Xavier High School, Louisville, Kentucky, St. Xavier High School, Swarthmore College, Rutgers University
- **occupation**: Author
- **relatives**: Georg Hegel, G.W.F. Hegel
- **website**: [http://www.rudyrucker.com/ Rudy Rucker]