Philip Ulbrich asked:

Is it just me, or does one of the characters seem profoundly like a current real-life Astronomer who is doing quite a bit popularizing and explaining science?

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148 likes · like
10 years ago
26 answers

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Patrick DiJusto Doob is such a Neal deGrasse Tyson expy that Stephenson should pay him a royalty

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Courtney I also saw a double for Elon Musk (hard-charging visionary entrepreneur/co-founder of Tesla, Space X, PayPal, etc.) in this book.

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Josh Also, Camela [sp?] is clearly based on Malala: (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...)

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Curtis Gibby The LA Times review said that Doob "might as well be named Deil TeGrasse Nyson" :) http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketco...

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Naveen Kumar Chowdari I can see sean probst as Elon musk, all through out the novel..!!

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Elizabeth Perez Am I the only one that was thinking Bill Nye?

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Bryan Neal deGrasse Tyson, Bill Nye, Michio Kaku, Bryan Cox, etc. There are several on whom Stephenson based the character.

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Sarah This kept me reading. What's not to love about Neil DeGrasse Tyson?

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Shawn I asked the author this question at a book signing. His answer was "If you like."

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Doug I get NdG Tyson, but Hillary Clinton? JBF is described as so middle of the road that she offended no one and both parties wanted her as VP on their tickets. While that is classic Stephenson, working hard to make sure his book does not get caught up in endless Red State/Blue State political BS, it hardly describes how HRC is perceived.

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David Benson Yeah, I pictured Neal every time I read Doob.

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Jesse Mcfadin Female POTUS also seemed familiar.

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Nicole I'm sure I'm alone here, but I pictured the female POTUS as Julia Louis-Dreyfus from her character on VEEP :)

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Nathan I imagine Carl Sagan, but definitely yes.

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Anne Sewell I also immediately thought of Neal deGrasse Tyson! And seeing the comment about Hillary Clinton... that reader could be right!

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LJ I really don't mind seeing where Stephenson gets his inspiration. It's kinda fun.

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A. Totally. There are a few similar "inspired-by-real-life" people. There are a few (tech) billionaries making private space companies. Richard Branson and Elon Musk

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Guilliam Wasn't it mentioned in the book that Doob Harris is a "black Canadian"?

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Steve So happy to see this thread! I literally saw NDT in my mind's eye and heard him in my brain voice whenever Doob was speaking.

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Hillarie Speziale People are people. There are examples of these current "stereotypes"(a poor word, but the best I could find) throughout history. Neal deGrasse is little different from Carl Sagan or Jacques Cousteau. Elan Musk has prototypes as well, such as Leonardo da Vinci, Hideo Shima, or Steve Jobs. I think the author simply did his job in developing characters we find completely believable. I loved the book, but that's just me.

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Phoghat.com/ Trust me, it's not "just you"

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Eric Shaffer No, man, itʻs just you. My personal astrophysicist told me so.

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Stephen Whom ever the Doob character is like he certainly typified the Climate Change argument by not allowing the argument. I was sure he'd end up being scorched in the story when coupled with his leaving his girl friend and child but to see him end up being emulated was a let down.

It kind of equaled solving any ethical debates on gene therapy in just a thirty minute board room discussion which seems to be the preferred way of handling important questions when it comes the elite. Or the dismissing of any talk of God from reigning down fire and brimstone on the earth as simply done by an Alien Agent and not at all discussed as a passing of judgement from a disgruntled supreme being. Mind you we were only promised no more floods.

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