Author Interview: Andrew Fraknoi
JC – You are our only author who is a professional astronomer. What piqued your interest in astronomy as a child?
AF – Interesting that you should ask. My family left Eastern Europe when I was only eight, and eventually came to America, where I had to learn English. My mother (who spoke the language well) thought it would be easier to learn English if I had pictures to go with the words, and so we read comic books together to help me learn. I became fascinated with science fiction comics, and then, as my vocabulary grew, began to go to the library and take out many science fiction novels. It was reading about astronomical objects and processes in science fiction that first piqued my interest in becoming an astronomer. I remember that I was about 12 or 13 when I realized that thinking about outer space could be more than an after-school passion; it could actually be what I did for a living.
I have kept up an interest in science fiction throughout my career as an astronomy educator. I use science fiction stories in the college astronomy and physics courses I teach to illustrate points about the universe (and the human response to it) that come through especially well in fiction. I also keep a webpage with brief references to science fiction stories that contain good astronomy. It’s at: http://www.astrosociety.org/education/astronomy-resource-guides/science-fiction-stories-with-good-astronomy-physics-a-topical-index/
JC – You teach a course for non-science majors on the astronomy of the planets. How scientifically correct is the depiction of Mars in your story?
AF – My inspiration for this story came from reading astronomy papers and articles about the surface of Mars (which is one of my favorite planets), particularly about the idea of caves in the side of the giant volcano called Arsia Mons. Those “skylights” (or openings to the cave system) are real, and you can see a picture of them at: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/odyssey/gallery/martianterrain/20070921_Cave_02.html
I fudged a little bit on how easy the skylights were for the characters in my story to reach. In reality, these openings are pretty high up on a tall volcano. But since no one yet knows what the system of tunnels and caves inside the volcano looks like, once my characters were inside, I was free to use my imagination.
In the story, I also tried to make the Mars colony as realistic as possible. In many science fiction stories, there is a kind of cleanliness and organization in space habitats that sounds like a NASA public relations person’s dream. I suspect that, in reality, any future colonies off Earth are likely to be crowded, messy, and short on space and resources. So I tried to show a Mars colony in which there was constant worry about housing, smells, recycled waste products and other mundane concerns.
JC – You have written an astronomy textbook, several guides for teachers, and a children’s book on space. Which do you enjoy writing more: fiction or non-fiction?
AF – I have only been writing science fiction for about two years (although I kept a journal of story ideas for 30 years.) So it’s perhaps too early for me to say. But it seems to me that the two kinds of writing exercise somewhat different parts of my brain. In non-fiction, I am trying to explain what happens in astronomical events or processes in as clear and accessible a way as possible. My focus is on how to make the science both accessible and authoritative. I use lots of analogies and occasional humor to draw my reader in. If something takes a longer passage to explain well, I don’t grudge it the space.
When I write fiction, the focus has to be on characters and their motivation and advancing the plot, not just the science. As my writing group always reminds me, no one wants to read a science fiction story which is a thinly disguised astronomy lecture. Writing plot twists, and believable characters, comes much harder to me and requires many more drafts and periods of rethinking than a non-fiction piece.
JC – What books, stories, and authors inspire you?
AF – You will not be surprised to hear that I enjoy science fiction stories that get the science right, or at least begin their extrapolation based on our best current understanding of the universe. The author whose work has inspired me the most is Gregory Benford, a plasma physicist, who for many years worked and taught at the University of California, Irvine. His short stories and novels are wonderful combinations of science concepts with very human and fully imagined characters. I wish I could paint the kinds of landscapes of the imagination that come so easily to him, but I am trying to get better at it.
Other scientist authors I am jealous of… er… that I like learning from, include Alastair Reynolds, Paul McAuley, Geoff Landis, G. David Nordley (and from the old days, Isaac Asimov and Fred Hoyle.) You can see a discussion of what readings from my favorite authors I recommend at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261364023_Ten_Science_Fiction_Writers_for_Scientists_and_Science_Enthusiasts
JC – What other kind of writing do you do regularly, besides science fiction?
AF – I am continuing to write classroom activities for teachers in grades 3-12, and have a book coming out about the Sun from the National Science Teachers’ Association in 2016. I also write a blog on new developments in astronomy, explained in everyday language. It’s called “Exploring the Universe” and you can find it at: http://fraknoi.blogspot.com And I am editing a series of personal reminiscences by astronomers for the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (the column is called “Astronomy Beat.”)
Andrew Fraknoi is the chair of the astronomy department at Foothill College near San Francisco and was the 2007 California Professor of the Year. With the late Byron Preiss, he was co-editor of The Universe and The Planets, anthologies of science fact and fiction published by Bantam in the 1980’s. He is also the lead author on an introductory astronomy textbook, Voyages through the Universe, and wrote a children’s book, Disney’s Wonderful World of Space. Fraknoi serves on the Board of the SETI Institute and on the Lick Observatory Council. Asteroid 4859 has been named Asteroid Fraknoi by the International Astronomical Union, in recognition of his work in public education.
