In the year 2270, with travel to the nearby planets well established, a bizarre discovery is made on Callisto, the eighth moon of Jupiter. Dozens upon dozens of strange wheeled artifactswheelersare found buried beneath the icy surface. No one knows what they were used for and who left them in our solar system. At the same time, it is discovered that the moons of Jupiter have moved from their age-old positions. A quickly formed expedition finds that Jupiter is inhabited by a race of balloon-like aliens, who defend their world against comet strikes by moving their moons using gravitational technology. This time, though, their redirection is aiming an incoming comet directly at Earth! Communication at first proves impossible, but an Earth child who has an intuitive understanding of animal behavior becomes the key to contacting themand joining forces with them to save the world.
English mathematician Ian Stewart and reproductive biologist Jack Cohen are both notable in their fields and within science fiction.
**
From Publishers Weekly
Though Stewart, a mathematician, and Cohen, a reproductive biologist, have each written popular science books (they coauthored The Collapse of Chaos), this is the first SF novel either has attempted, with generally positive results. In the 23rd century, after a period of antitechnological sentiment on Earth, a small sect of Tibetan Buddhists gains a singular foothold in space, colonizing the moon and building a high-tech habitat and ore-processing facility called Cuckoo's Nest in the midst of the asteroid belt. Interplanetary travel and commerce thrive for those willing to take the risk, like discredited archeologist Prudence Odingo. No one believes her claim of recovering 100,000-year-old wheeled artifacts from the ice of Jupiter's moon CallistoAuntil one of the "wheelers" comes to "life." While the official research team is stymied by traditional scientific approaches, Odingo and her multitalented companions open communications with the intelligent, blimplike aliens they discover in great cities floating in Jupiter's dense atmosphere. Human contact leads to possibly catastrophic consequences for Earth. Although their characters and world-building lack believability, the authors wield scientific speculation with cheerful abandon, providing some real old-fashioned sense of wonder. Fans of hard SF authors Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle will get a kick out of Stewart and Cohen's SF debut. (Nov.)
From Booklist
It is the twenty-third-century, and Prudence Odingo is a promising assistant archaeologist who deciphers some mysterious inscriptions unearthed within the Sphinx. When Charlie Dunsmore, the dig's team leader, steals the credit for her work, she quits and leaves Earth to explore the moons of Jupiter. There, she makes an even more astounding find: a gear-shaped artifact, which is dubbed a wheeler. When the object comes to life, it leads to the discovery of a civilization living within the Jovian atmosphere. The abilities of these creatures are such that they can change the orbits of their moons in order to redirect an immense comet around their planet and, coincidentally, directly at Earth. A group, including Odingo and Dunsmore, must establish communications with the Jovians and convince them to change the path of the comet before Earth is destroyed. The authors provide a fascinating glimpse into our society and an alien one in this imaginative and well-written story. Highly recommended. Eric Robbins
Has Cover : Yes
ABC : 1
Number of Words in Auth: 2
Formats : EPUB
Number of Formats : 1
All Identifiers : amazon:B01N47FDW5, isbn:1540608654
Single Author : Ian Stewart
Original Source : New_Files_Oatmeal_06_17_PM
Sorted Author by LN, FN: Stewart, Ian
Title Length : 008
Title Parm D : Wheelers
Title Parm F : Wheelers
Num of Aut : 1
Title Parm B : (
ES Lib Name : NIRC 2019-06
Record ID : 13130
Uncomma Author : Ian Stewart
Title Parm A : Wheelers