Terry Pratchett

[[file:Terry Pratchett at Powell's 2007-cropped.jpg|right|thumb|165px|Sir Terry]]
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'''Sir Terry Pratchett''' {{lived|1948|2015}} (sometimes called Pterry) was a [[United Kingdom|British]] [[fantasy]]/[[science fiction]] [[Author|writer]] and humorist/satirist.

==Literary works==
His best known books revolve around Discworld, a world controlled by numerous [[god]]s, where [[magic]] and narrative causality take the place of [[physics]], where a million-to-one chance is always a sure thing (but not a million-and-one-to-one chance, because that'd just be silly). Discworld is supported in space on the backs of four elephants, which in turn stand on the back of the Great A'Tuin, a gigantic turtle swimming through the vastness of space. Starting with ''The Colour of Magic'', the series features such characters as a scythe-carrying Death and a deadly piece of luggage with legs. Unseen University - named after the Invisible College, the forerunner to the Royal Society - is where wizards receive their training in magic, or specifically, how to ''not'' use magic, as Pratchett himself found the concept fundamentally boring so took a more satirical stance on the traditional world of spells and sorcery.

His earlier works, such as ''The Colour of Magic'' and ''The Light Fantastic'' were straight parodies of the fantasy genre. However, as his writing matured he began to parody other genres, within a fantasy setting; these included: mysteries, crime fiction, political fiction (The City Watch series), horror (''Reaper Man''), sports fiction (''Unseen Academicals''), action/adventure novels (''The Last Continent'', ''Reaper Man''), westerns and a little bit of hacker fiction (''Going Postal''). More importantly, his novels changed from being largely parodies to being satires as well, taking on a wide variety of subjects with incisive wit and humour. Topics touched upon in his later works included [[rock music]] and the price of fame, "headology" (folk psychology), "lies-to-children", technological development, engineering, startups, war, diplomacy, the essential con trick behind [[fractional reserve banking]], the [[operational independence]] of the police and the judiciary, corporate corruption... all without being the least bit boring or heavy-handed. The number of hidden allusions in his works to other cultural works and real-world events is remarkable.

[[File:Bowlworld2.jpg|thumb|left|200px||People think that it is strange to have a turtle ten thousand miles long and an elephant more than two thousand miles tall, which just shows that the human brain is ill-adapted for thinking and was probably originally designed for cooling the blood. It believes mere size is amazing. <br/>
There's nothing amazing about size. Turtles are amazing, and elephants are quite astonishing. But the fact that there's a big turtle is far less amazing than the fact that there is a turtle anywhere.<ref>[http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/63095 Good Reads - Terry Pratchett quotes.]</ref>]]
It is not impossible to say that the Discworld series was one of the influences absorbed by the author of the popular [[Harry Potter]] series, and may well be one of the most influential fictional series of all time. At least the most influential without a multi-million dollar movie franchise based on it (there are a few made-for-TV adaptations and cartoons, however), which may or may not be a good thing.  One of the earlier Discworld books centered around a young child entering into a school for wizards, but Pratchett didn't think there was a future in basing a book series around a wizard boarding school.

Mr. Pratchett also wrote, along with Neil Gaiman, the only nice and accurate description of the coming [[Armageddon|Apocalypse]] under the title ''Good Omens''. To date, Mr. Pratchett is the only author to have spoken directly with Death, and on further examination has deemed him to be a sensible fellow, if not with a dark sense of humour.
===Science of Discworld===
Science of Discworld is a quadrilogy of [[popular science]] books, first published between 1999 and 2013, written by Terry Pratchett in collaboration with [[mathematics|mathematician]] Ian Stewart and [[Biology|biologist]] Jack Cohen. Each book includes a Discworld-based story by Pratchett interwoven with chapters on real world science by Stewart and Cohen.

Each book has the recurring theme of looking at the origins of the [[Universe]], the [[Solar System]] and [[life]] itself. The focus throughout is on explaining [[Scientific method|how scientific theories and methods work]], and how common misconceptions about science arise. As one book says, "shouting at the monkeys in the next tree, that's what our [[brain]]s were [[Evolution|evolved]] to do; not mathematics and [[physics]]!" One of the major recurring themes, even stated as practically the "motto" of the series is "people think in stories". This is related to the shouting at monkeys idea in the sense that people ''really'' don't think in terms of facts or figures but weaving narratives. Narratives have characters, sides, aims, intentions and countless other implied features that don't necessarily exist in [[reality]]. This realisation has a profound effect on understanding why people believe what they believe and why they often act irrationally.

The first book, ''The Science of Discworld'' (ISBN 9780091865153), covers the origins of the Universe, [[Earth]] and life. The second book, ''The Globe'' (ISBN 0091888050), concentrates mainly on [[history]] and the development of modern society. The third book ''Darwin's [[Argument from design|Watch]]'' (ISBN 0091898234), concentrates on evolution with the Discworld-based story following wizards as they attempt to get [[Charles Darwin]]'s ''[[On the Origin of Species]]'' written. The fourth book, ''Judgement Day'' (ISBN 9780091949792), examines the role of [[religion]] in people's lives with the Discworld story revolving around a [[Fundamentalism|fundamentalist]] Omnian sect.

==Charitable works==

Terry Pratchett was also a figurehead of a campaign to save the orangutan. The librarian of the Unseen University is a wizard who was changed into an orangutan in one of the accidents that frequently take place among the careless and somewhat incompetent university wizards. Uniquely, the Librarian has no wish to be returned to human form and has gone to considerable lengths to ensure that such can't happen.

News was released on 12 December 2007 that Terry Pratchett was suffering from Early Onset Alzheimers.  Following his diagnosis, he made notable monetary donations and worked to aid Alzheimers research. He also became an outspoken supporter of assisted dying, giving an impassioned speech on the subject (albeit via his friend Tony Robinson) entitled "Shaking Hands With Death" for the 2010 Richard Dimbleby Lecture.<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/feb/02/terry-pratchett-assisted-suicide-tribunal ''[[The Guardian]]'' - Terry Pratchett: my case for a euthanasia tribunal]</ref><ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUE3pBIuAGk 2010 Dimbleby Lecture on YouTube] (If you don't laugh and cry while watching this you are ''dead inside'')</ref> Following this, he also worked on a documentary about assisted suicide for the [[BBC]] entitled ''Choosing to Die'' that televised the death of a man who took his own life in the Swiss Dignitas clinic.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-13758286 BBC News - Sir Terry Pratchett unswayed by assisted suicide film]</ref> The film attracted some [[manufactroversy]] from opponents of assisted suicide, claiming that televising both the documentary and the lecture amounted to extreme pro-suicide [[bias]] on behalf of the BBC.<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2003256/Anti-euthanasia-backlash-hits-BBC-Terry-Pratchett-shows-death-Dignitas.html Daily Mail - Peers in attack on BBC over Dignitas death as they accuse bosses of campaigning to change law on assisted suicide]</ref>

==Other details==
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*On one of his [[Usenet]] postings, Terry Pratchett mused that not before the computer video game ''Doom'' did anyone ever think of the shotgun as an appropriate way to stop a demon.<ref>http://www.discworldmonthly.co.uk/tpquote.php?find=bat&mode=find</ref>

*He was knighted for services to literature on New Year's Day, 2009.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wiltshire/7804771.stm Fantasy author Pratchett knighted] BBC News, December 31, 2008</ref> He commemorated the occasion by forging his own sword out of meteorite iron.<ref>[http://www.geekosystem.com/terry-pratchett-sword/ Just how freakin' ''cool'' is that, huh?]</ref>

*Sir Terrence was a confirmed [[Atheism|atheist]].  And a self-described "bad [[Humanism|humanist]]".<ref>BBC Interview with Mike Lawson</ref>

*Following his death, fans created code to keep Terry Pratchett's name alive on the internet, emulating a plot device in ''Going Postal''. <ref>[http://www.gnuterrypratchett.com/ GNU Terry Pratchett "A man is not dead while his name is still spoken."]</ref>

==See also==
*[[Flat Earth]] — people who ''[[Belief|believe]]'' the fantasy
*[[Science fiction]]
*[[Fun:Scientific Geoterrapinism]]
*[[Pascal's Wager]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

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[[Category:Authors]]
[[Category:British people]]
[[Category:Science fiction]]

Categories: Authors, British people, Science fiction