in conversation with Alastair Reynolds
August marked the arrival Loncon 2014, the annual science fiction convention which visits a different city every year. There\u2019s also a lot of science fact presented at such meetings \u2013 we were showcasing the results from Herschel and Planck, for example. In fact there are a lot of places where, to a greater or lesser degree, science fiction meets science fact.\nIt\u2019s not just the stories where the two meet, either, but also the people involved in producing them.\xa0For this month\u2019s instalment of Pythagoras\u2019 Trousers, I spoke to Alastair Reynolds, a science fiction author who used to be an astronomer. Having worked in St Andrews University and in ESA, Alastair is now based in Wales. Most of his novels, not to mention the many short stories, are set in worlds based on the science we know about today \u2013 albeit extrapolated centuries into the future. Our conversation ranged from his astronomical career, how novels are written and the importance of scientific accuracy. We even even touched on some of the latest technological innovations taking place in Africa \u2013 where some of the action of his latest trilogy is set.\xa0You can listen to the extended version of the astronomy segment below.