Robert L Forward

Robert L Forward (August 15, 1932 - September 21, 2002) was a United States physicist and science fiction writer.

Robert L Forward earned his doctorate from the University of Maryland in 1965, for the development of a bar antenna for the detection of gravitational radiation. He then went to work at Hughes Aircraft's research labs, where he continued his research on gravity measurement and received 18 patents. He took early retirement in 1987, to focus on his fiction writing and consulting for such clients as NASA and the U.S. Air Force.

Much of his research focused on the leading edges of speculative physics, but was always grounded in what he believed humans could accomplish. He worked on such projects as space tethers and space fountains, solar sails (including Starwisp), antimatter propulsion, and other spacecraft propulsion technologies, and did further research on more esoteric possibilities such as time travel and negative matter. In addition to over 200 papers and articles, he published 11 novels. He described his first novel, Dragon's Egg, as "A textbook on neutron star physics disguised as a novel." His novel Rocheworld describes a double-planet system with a single ocean.

Robert L Forward's treatment of hard-science topics in fictional form is highly reminiscent of the work of Hal Clement.

Forward and his wife, Martha Dodson Forward, co-authored two of the Rocheworld novels.

Forward's son, also named Robert, has led a successful career as a storyboard artist and writer in television animation, including in He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and more famously, Beast Wars. He is also the author of two novels, The Owl and The Owl 2: Scarlet Serenade.

Forward's oldest daughter, Mary Lois Mattlin, is a teacher and homemaker.

Julie Fuller, Robert L Forward's second daughter, co-authored two of the Rocheworld novels with her father.

Selected Bibliography

Series

• Dragon's Egg
  • 1 Dragon's Egg (1980)
  • 2 Starquake (1985)

• Rocheworld
  • 1 The Flight of the Dragonfly (1984)
    • Variant Title: Rocheworld (1990) (1984)
  • 2 Return to Rocheworld (1993) with Julie Forward Fuller
  • 3 Marooned on Eden (1993) with Martha Dodson Forward
  • 4 Ocean Under the Ice (1994) with Martha Dodson Forward
  • 5 Rescued from Paradise (1995) with Julie Forward Fuller

Novels

• The Owl (1984)
• Martian Rainbow (1991)
• Timemaster (1992)
• Camelot 30K (1993)
• Saturn Rukh (1996)

Collections

• Indistinguishable from Magic (1995)

Nonfiction

• Mirror Matter: Pioneering Antimatter Physics (1988) with Joel Davis
• Future Magic (1988)

Return from Robert L Forward to Biographies

Image borrowed from quarante-deux.org