Jerry Pournelle was an American polymath: scientist in the
area of operations research and human factors research, science fiction writer,
essayist, journalist, and one of the first bloggers. In the 1960s and early
1970s, he worked in the aerospace industry, but eventually focused on his
writing career. In an obituary in Gizmodo, he is described as "a tireless
ambassador for the future."
His hard science fiction writing received multiple awards.
In addition to his solo writing, he wrote several novels with collaborators
including Larry Niven. Pournelle served a term as President of the Science
Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.
Pournelle's journalism focused primarily on the computer
industry, astronomy, and space exploration. From the 1970s until the early
1990s, he contributed to the computer magazine Byte, writing from the viewpoint
of an intelligent user, with the oft-cited credo, "We do this stuff so you
won't have to." He created one of the first blogs, entitled "Chaos
Manor", which included commentary about politics, computer technology,
space technology, and science fiction.
He held paleoconservative political views, which were
sometimes expressed in his fiction. He was one of the founders of the Citizens'
Advisory Council on National Space Policy, which developed some of the Reagan
Administration's space initiatives, including the earliest versions of what
would become the Strategic Defense Initiative.
