Starburst

I read this novel nearly 2 decades ago. While only a vague recollection of the plot remains with me, the sense of wonder I experienced from Pohl's idea of a "recreational math" program designed to provoke genius left a lasting impression.One scene in particular stands out. The supergenius crew has made several revolutionary engineering advances (among them controlled fusion), but rather than just send them back to Earth, convert the document describing them to a very large number (via a real technique, "Godelization"), then, ingeniously and intuitively, rewrite the number as a short arithmetic expression: (3.875*12^26)! + 1973^854 +331^852 + 17^2008 + 3^9606 + 2^88 - 78.The idea that such a thing is possible contradicts information theory, and has provoked some interesting discussion among number theorists, who generally agree that it is not. That the original document was "tweaked" slightly provides just enough of a loophole that I've yet to make up my mind about it.If you're a Math lover, even if you dislike science fiction, I highly recommend you find and read this book. Fred Pohl clearly loved Math, too.

A cute, not-very-long novel about a journey to Alpha Centauri by 8 of Earth's best and brightest. Catch: the President has agreed to use them as guinea pigs for a genius-making experiment. They are sent to visit a planet that doesn't exist, knowing they can't return and will all die in space. But, on the journey, they will be forced to become super geniuses, and perhaps solve Earth's problems as a side-product! Silly, but somehow, Pohl pulls it off convincingly. Pohl's English is sometimes quaint (e.g., 'Januarys'), but his obvious attempt to study hard science and put it in his sci-fi in a popular form is commendable. As a work of literature ... forget it; cut-out characters, made to serve the sci-fi.