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What if we're all designed to be smarter than we actually are? That is, in short, the premise of master science fiction novelist Poul Anderson's 1954 debut work, Brainwave. Unbeknownst to its inhabitants, the solar system has, for millions of years, been caught in a force field that has had the effect of suppressing intelligence. When, in the course of normal galactic movement the solar system finally breaks free of the force field and its inhibiting effects, a remarkable change begins to sweep across the earth. In fact, the entire world is turned upside-down, and Anderson's novel is devoted to detailing the sometimes-surprising, sometimes-chilling aftereffects of this watershed event. In one of the novel's opening scenes, Archie Brock, a mentally disabled man, finds himself suddenly awash in new kinds of thoughts as he looks up at the night sky. In another scene, a young boy on summer break works out the basic foundations of calculus before breakfast. Human life is dramatically transformed, as people with IQ's of 400 find themselves living within social structures and institutions designed for people of considerably less intelligence. There are also those who refuse to accept what has happened and band together to rebel against the new order. In another interesting twist, human relationships with other creatures on the planet are also thrown into upheaval, as animals rediscover their native intelligence. Archie Brock, for instance finds working on a farm with intelligent animals a frustrating, comic and confounding experience, as some animals band together and escape while others befriend their former masters.A fascinating "what if" novel, Brainwave is really an exploration into the ways human society is organized and the assumptions that are made about how life is valued. It is also a novel about equality and what happens when the hierarchical structures by which we arrange our daily lives disappear.
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Previews available in: English
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Brainwave : The Greatest Masterpiece by the Science Fiction Grandmaster
September 1, 2003, I Books
Paperback
in English
0743474864 9780743474863
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Brainwave: His Enduring Masterpiece
October 25, 2003, IBooks, Inc.
Paperback
in English
1596872209 9781596872202
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Brain wave
1977, New English Library
Paperback
in English
- (1st ed. reprinted) / introduction by Brian W. Aldiss.
0450030040 9780450030048
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Brain wave
1976, New English Library
Hardcover
in English
- (1st ed. reprinted) / introduction by Brian W. Aldiss.
0450029816 9780450029813
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Brain Wave
December 12, 1973, Ballantine Books
Mass Market Paperback
in English
0345236688 9780345236685
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- Created April 29, 2008
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August 6, 2010 | Edited by IdentifierBot | added LibraryThing ID |
October 17, 2009 | Edited by WorkBot | add edition to work page |
April 29, 2008 | Created by an anonymous user | Imported from amazon.com record |