Herbert W. Franke

Herbert W. Franke (born May 14, 1927 in Vienna) is one of the most important science fiction authors in the German language.He is also active in the fields of future research, speleology as well as computer graphics and digital art.

Biography

Franke studied physics, mathematics, chemistry, psychology and philosophy in Vienna. He received his doctorate in theoretical physics in 1950 by writing a dissertation about electron optics.

Since 1957, he has worked as a freelance author. From 1973 to 1997 he held a lectureship in "Cybernetical Aesthetic" at Munich University (later computer graphics - computer art). In 1979, he co-founded Ars Electronica in Linz/Austria. In 1979 and 1980, he lectured in "introduction to perception psychology" at the Art & Design division of the Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences. Also in 1980 he became a selected member of the German PEN club.

A collection of short stories titled "The Green Comet" was his first book publication. In 1998, Franke attended a SIGGRAPH computer graphics conference in Orlando and was a juror at the "VideoMath Festival" Berlin [ [http://page.mi.fu-berlin.de/polthier/Events/VideoMath/committee.html VideoMath festival jury page] ] . He also took part in innumerable performances and presentations.

Publications

* 1964 "The Magic of Molecules" (Magie der Moleküle, 1958)
* 1973 "The Orchid Cage" (Der Orchideenkäfig, 1961)
* 1974 "The Mind Net" (Das Gedankennetz, 1961)
* 1974 "Zone Null" (Zone Null, 1972)
* 1979 "Ypsilon minus" (Ypsilon Minus, 1976)
* 1971 "Computer Graphics: Computer Art" (Computergraphik - Computerkunst, 1971)
* 2003 "Vorstoß in die Unterwelt - Abenteuer Höhlenforschung" (Approach to the Underworld - Adventure Cave Research) was published.
* 2004 "Sphinx_2" released.
* 2005 "Cyber City Süd" released.
* 2006 "Auf der Spur des Engels" released.
* 2007 "Flucht zum Mars" released.

The well-known weekly German newspaper "Die Zeit" calls him "the most prominent German writing Science Fiction author".

References

External links

* [http://www.dam.org/franke/index.htm Franke at the Digital Art Museum]
* [http://www.ava-international.de/autoren/hfranke_en.php Franke at the AVA International agency]
* [http://www.google.com/u/siggraph?sa=go&q=herbert+w.+franke%0D%0A&domains=siggraph.org&sitesearch=siggraph.org Franke at Siggraph]
* [http://www.goethe.de/wis/fut/thm/deb/en3010868.htm Interview with Franke] by the Goethe-Institut
* [http://www.biologie.uni-muenchen.de/~franke/ Franke's home page at the University of Munich] de icon