Submarines, spaceships, startups, and sci-fi—the life of Hannu Rajaniemi

At Ars Technica Live #4, Hannu Rajaniemi talks to Annalee Newitz and Tiffany Kelly about his double life as a scientist and a science fiction writer. (video link)

Last week at Oakland's legendary Longitude tiki bar, we filmed our fourth episode of Ars Technica Live, with special guest Hannu Rajaniemi. Born in a small town in Finland, Rajaniemi has had a fascinating career at the nexus of science, tech, and science fiction. He earned a degree in physics in Scotland and then founded a research consulting firm that worked with groups like the European Space Agency to solve what Rajaniemi called "math-related problems." And then he got inspired by sci-fi author (and neighbor) Charles Stross to start writing fiction. In 2010, he published the first book in his critically acclaimed Quantum Thief trilogy.

Ars contributor Tiffany Kelly and I asked him about his double career in science and sci-fi. He said it all started with a Jules Verne obsession. He wanted to build a vessel like Captain Nemo's Nautilus, so he decided to become a physicist. At the same time, he became fascinated by role-playing games and LARPing (live-action role-playing), which is treated like an art form in Finland and other Nordic countries. He told us some terrifying tales about gaming and then discussed his transition into a fiction writer and entrepreneur in Scotland. Along the way, he regaled us with stories about how his work in science and fiction have fed into each other in some surprising ways (he once got a gig because the hiring manager had read one of Rajaniemi's novels and wanted to develop some of the sci-fi tech in the book). We asked whether there's any science fiction that he's excited about, and Rajaniemi said he loved the Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2015 anthology, edited by John Joseph Adams and Joe Hill (he also liked Hill's new novel, The Fireman). As for TV, he recommended that everyone watch Person of Interest, the recently concluded CBS series about the emergence of AI.

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