Gregory Benford. Matter’s End (1995)

     Gregory Benford. Matter’s End (1995) A collection of Benford’s short stories, some dating back to the 60s, and most featuring straight SF, done with an engineer’s and physicist’s knowledge. Benford, as befits a modern physicist, likes to play with reality: in several of his stories realities turn in on themselves and fold over one another. He also manages to give his characters enough solidity that we believe the society which shapes them. The title story raises some nice philosophical issues about the relationship of the observer (us) to the universe, and how our supposed knowledge of reality may in fact shape it. I didn’t know much of Benford before reading this collection; I will look at a couple of his novels. ** to **** (2004)