Greg Bear Gregory Dale Bear ( born August 20 , 1951 ) is an American science fiction and mainstream author of the novel " Rogue Planet " . His work has covered themes of galactic conflict ( " " books ) , artificial universes ( " " series ) , consciousness and cultural practices , and accelerated evolution ( " " , " " , and " Darwin ' s Children " ) . Biography . Bear was born in San Diego , California . From 1968 to 1973 he attended San Diego State University , from which he received a Bachelor of Arts degree . In 1975 , he married Christina M . Nielson , but they divorced in 1981 . He remarried in 1983 , to Astrid Anderson , the daughter of science fiction author . They have two children , Erik and Alexandra . Erik is currently a Painting and Drawing major at the University of Washington . They live outside of , Washington . Career . Bear is often classified as a hard science fiction author , based on the scientific details in his work . His science fiction novels include " Eon " ( 1985 ) , " Queen of Angels " ( 1990 ) , " Moving Mars " ( 1993 ) winner of the 1994 Nebula Award for Best Novel , and " Darwin ' s Radio " ( 1999 ) , which also won the Nebula for Best Novel in 2000 . His story " Blood Music " , expanded into a novel in 1985 , won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards for best novella the previous year . His books are known for their rigorous scientific research and frequently ground - breaking scenarios in the fields of biology , nanotechnology , and evolution . Bear often addresses major questions in contemporary science and culture with fictional solutions . For example , " The Forge of God " offers an explanation for the , supposing that the galaxy is filled with potentially predatory intelligences , and that those young civilizations which survive are those which do not attract the attention of the predators — by staying quiet . In " Queen of Angels " Bear examines crime , guilt and punishment in society , framing these questions around an examination of consciousness and awareness , including the emergent self - awareness of highly - advanced computers in communication with humans . One of Bear ' s favorite themes is reality as a function of observers . In " Blood Music " reality becomes unstable as the number of observers — trillions of intelligent single - cell organisms — spirals higher and higher . Both " Anvil of Stars " — a sequel to " The Forge of God " — and " Moving Mars " postulate a physics based on information exchange between particles , capable of being altered at the " bit level " . ( Bear has credited the inspiration for this idea to Frederick Kantor ' s 1967 treatise , " Information Mechanics . " ) In " Moving Mars " this knowledge is used to remove Mars from the solar system and transfer it to an orbit around a distant star . " Blood Music " ( first published as a short story in 1983 , and expanded to a novel in 1985 ) has also been credited as being the first account of nanotechnology in science fiction . More certainly , the short story is the first in science fiction to describe microscopic medical machines , and to treat DNA as a computational system , capable of being reprogrammed - - that is , expanded and modified . In later works , beginning with " Queen of Angels " and continuing with its sequel , " Slant " , Bear gives a detailed description of a near - future nanotechnological society . This historical sequence continues with " Heads " — which may contain the first description of a so - called " quantum logic computer " — and with " Moving Mars " . This sequence also charts the historical development of self - awareness in AIs , with its continuing character , Jill , inspired in part by self - aware computer Mycroft Holmes ( " High - Optional , Logical , Multi - Evaluating Supervisor " ) in " " . More recent works such as the " Darwin ' s Radio " / " Darwin ' s Children " pair of novels , which deal with the impact of a strange disease which appears to drive evolutionary transitions , stick closely to the known facts of molecular biology of viruses and . While some fairly speculative ideas are entertained , they are introduced in such a rigorous and disciplined way that " Darwin ' s Radio " gained praise in the science journal " " . While most of Bear ' s work is science fiction , two of his early works , " The Infinity Concerto " and " The Serpent Mage " , which are now published together as one novel " Songs of Earth and Power " , are clearly fantasies , and " Psychlone " is horror . " Dead Lines , " which straddles the line between science fiction and fantasy was described by Bear as a " high - tech ghost story " . He has received many accolades , including five Nebula awards and two Hugo awards for science fiction . Bear , , and also wrote a trilogy of prequel novels to famous " " trilogy with Bear credited for the middle book in the trilogy .