astronomy

Hegira (novel)

Hegira (novel) is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Hegira (novel) rather than just read about it. In short: Hegira is a 1979 science fiction novel by American writer Greg Bear. It deals with themes including cyclic time, artificial intelligence, artificial life, and artificial structures of planetary scale.

Key takeaways

Hegira (novel) belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Hegira (novel) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Hegira (novel) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Hegira is a 1979 science fiction novel by American writer Greg Bear. It deals with themes including cyclic time, artificial intelligence, artificial life, and artificial structures of planetary scale.

Plot summary In the novel, "young" humans (recreations of the medieval originals) are transported through the Big Collapse, at the end of time, to seed the next cycle of the universe. They are transported to Hegira, an artificial environment of the scale of the planet Jupiter, which has habitats for several species on its surface. The habitats are protected and uncoupled from the universe's entropy by means of force fields projected by giant obelisks. In the human realm, these are inscribed with the recorded history of humankind, sorted chronologically from the bottom up, including the science that went with it. People try to understand and copy what they can read on the obelisks, using balloons in some places to reach higher points on the obelisks. A legend tells the protagonist that his beloved (frozen in stasis) will awaken if he goes on quest to the rim walls of the habitat, and he does so. On the way, he lands on an island with a good view of an obelisk (at least 1,000 mi (1,600 km) high) which is just tumbling down in the distance. Its fall causes a tsunami and devastates a continent. After the devastation, the inscriptions at the top of the fallen obelisk about human history are revealed. The hero's quest to the rim succeeds. He makes contact with an artificial intelligence guardian of Hegira, who tells him the story and advises him to go and populate the new universe since he has become part of the last one.

Reviews Review by Scott Edelman (1979) in Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Review, July 1979 Review by Richard E. Geis (1979) in Science Fiction Review, August 1979 Review by Michael Bishop (1980) in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, January 1980 Review by David Langford [as by Dave Langford] (1980) in Foundation, #18 January 1980 Review by Orson Scott Card (1980) in Destinies, February–March 1980 Review [German] by uncredited (1982) in Reclams Science Fiction Führer Review [German] by Michael Nagula [as by Maik] (1983) in Perry Rhodan, #291: Brücke zwischen den Sternen? Review by David Wingrove (1987) in Vector 139 Review by Paul Kincaid (1988) in Paperback Inferno, #72 Review by uncredited (2000) in Vector 210

References

External links Official website

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Hegira (novel)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Hegira (novel) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Hegira (novel) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Hegira (novel) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Hegira (novel)

In research: Hegira (novel) appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Hegira (novel) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Hegira (novel) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1970s science fiction novel stubs, 1979 American novels, 1979 English-language novels, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Hegira (novel) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Hegira (novel)” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Hegira (novel) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Hegira (novel) means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Hegira (novel) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Hegira (novel) in simple terms?

Why does Hegira (novel) matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Hegira (novel)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Hegira (novel).