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Inside Iowa State
March 8, 1996

Snow Crash sci fi writer to give seminar

by Steve Sullivan

Science fiction writer Neal Stephenson will discuss "Nano- technology" on Thursday, March 21. The 1977 Ames High graduate and former Ames Laboratory research assistant will speak at 11 a.m. in 171 Durham Center as part of the chemical engineering seminar series.

Stephenson, whose father, Dave, is an associate professor of electrical engineering, is the author of several science fiction novels, including The Big U, Zodiac, The Diamond Age and his most well-known work, Snow Crash.

Stephenson, who earned a degree in geography from Boston University, spent the summers of 1978 and 1979 as a research assistant at Ames Laboratory. He began writing novels in 1979

Stephenson also has written two science fiction novels in collaboration with George Jewsbury. The books, Interface and The Cobweb, which was published last year, were written under the pen name Stephen Bury.

Stephenson also has written for WIRED and Time magazines. He now lives in Seattle.

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