science

Wil McCarthy

Wil McCarthy is a science 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 Wil McCarthy rather than just read about it. In short: Wil McCarthy (born September 16, 1966) is an American science fiction novelist, president and co-founder of RavenBrick (a solar technology company), and the science columnist for Syfy. He currently resides in Colorado.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Wil McCarthy (born September 16, 1966) is an American science fiction novelist, president and co-founder of RavenBrick (a solar technology company), and the science columnist for Syfy. He currently resides in Colorado. Rich Man's Sky won the 2022 Prometheus Award. Beggar's Sky is a finalist for the 2025 Prometheus Award. Wil McCarthy popularized the concept of programmable matter, which he calls wellstone.

Bibliography

Novels Flies from the Amber. 1995. Murder in the Solid State. 1996. Bloom (1998) ISBN 0-345-40857-8 Antediluvian (2019) ISBN 978-1481484312 Aggressor Six Aggressor Six (1994) ISBN 0-451-45405-7 The Fall of Sirius (1996) ISBN 0-451-45485-5 The Queendom of Sol

The Collapsium (2000) ISBN 0-345-40856-X The Wellstone (2003) ISBN 0-553-58446-4 Lost in Transmission (2004) ISBN 0-553-58447-2 To Crush the Moon. 2005. Rich Man's Sky Rich Man's Sky (2021) ISBN 9781982125295 Poor Man's Sky (2023) ISBN 9781982192341 Beggar's Sky (2024) ISBN 9781982193188 Thieves' Sky (forthcoming, July 2026) ISBN 9781668073322

Short fiction Stories

"Amerikano Hiaika", Aboriginal Science Fiction, May/June 1991. "Dirtyside Down", Universe 3, 1994. "The Dream of Houses", Analog, November 1995. "The Dream of Castles", Analog, April 1997. "The Dream of Nations", Analog, October 1998. "Once Upon a Matter Crushed", Science Fiction Age, May 1999. "No Job Too Small", Aboriginal Science Fiction, Spring 2001. "Pavement Birds", Analog, July/August 2002. "He Died that Day, in Thirty Years", Once Upon a Galaxy, 2002 "Garbage Day", Analog, December 2002.

Non-fiction "Programmable Matter" (AKA "Programmable Matter: A Retrospective"), Nature, October 6, 2000. doi:10.1038/35036656. "Ultimate Alchemy", Wired 9.10, October 2001 Hacking Matter (2003), ISBN 0-465-04428-X "This Looks Like a Job for...Superatoms", IEEE Spectrum, August 2005 ———————

Notes

Other media

Radio plays I Love Bees, writer

Radio appearances Coast to Coast AM, "Programmable Matter", April 18, 2003 Coast to Coast AM, "Quantum Dots", April 26, 2004

References

External links WilMcCarthy.com Wil McCarthy at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database Wil McCarthy at IMDb Wil McCarthy U.S. patents

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Wil McCarthy

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Wil McCarthy claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, 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 Wil McCarthy 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 Wil McCarthy 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 Wil McCarthy

In research: Wil McCarthy appears in science 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 Wil McCarthy 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: Wil McCarthy is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1966 births, 20th-century American male novelists, 20th-century American novelists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Wil McCarthy 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.

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How to study Wil McCarthy in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Wil McCarthy 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 Wil McCarthy out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Wil McCarthy in simple terms?

Why does Wil McCarthy matter?

Because it connects several science 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 Wil McCarthy?

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 Wil McCarthy.