Author and professor of mathematics Vernor Vinge, who "was noted for introducing the technological singularity concept (AKA the Singularity) and known for his gripping hard science fiction," died March 20, Locus magazine reported. He was 79.
His first published work of science fiction was "Apartness" in 1965. Other notable short fiction includes "Bookworm, Run!" (1966) and "The Peddler's Apprentice," which was written with his wife, Joan D. Vinge (1975). He also published two Hugo Award-winning novellas: Fast Times at Fairmont High (2001) and The Cookie Monster (2003).
Vinge’s debut novel, Grimm's World, was published in 1969. A Fire Upon the Deep (1992), the first book in the Zones of Thought series, won the Hugo Award, while the second title in the series, A Deepness in the Sky (1999), took the Hugo Award, John W. Campbell Memorial Award, and Prometheus Award. The Children of the Sky (2011) was the third novel in the series. Other notable books include Hugo Award winner Rainbows End (2006).
His nonfiction work included the 1993 paper "The Coming Technological Singularity: How to Survive in the Post-Human Era," which introduced the concept and greatly influenced post-singularity SF, Locus noted.
In a Facebook post, author David Brin wrote, in part: "A titan in the literary genre that explores a limitless range of potential destinies, Vernor enthralled millions with tales of plausible tomorrows, made all the more vivid by his polymath masteries of language, drama, characters and the implications of science.... Accused by some of a grievous sin--that of 'optimism'--Vernor gave us peerless legends that often depicted human success at overcoming problems... those right in front of us... while posing new ones! New dilemmas that may lie just ahead of our myopic gaze."