The Black Cloud is a
science fictionScience fiction is a genre of fiction. It differs from fantasy in that, within the context of the story, its imaginary elements are largely possible within scientifically-established or scientifically-postulated laws of nature...
novelA novel is a long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
written by
astrophysicistAstrophysics is the branch of astronomy that deals with the physics of the universe, including the physical properties of celestial objects such as galaxies, stars, planets, exoplanets, and the interstellar medium, as well as their...
Sir Fred Hoyle. Published in
1957The year 1957 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* Lawrence Durrell publishes the first volume of The Alexandria Quartet. The final of the four volumes will be published in 1960....
, the book details the arrival of an enormous
cloud of gasA molecular cloud, sometimes called a stellar nursery if star formation is occurring within, is a type of interstellar cloud whose density and size permits the formation of molecules, most commonly molecular hydrogen ....
that enters the solar system and threatens to destroy most of the life on Earth by blocking the Sun's radiation.
In 1964, astrophysicists on earth become aware of an immense cloud of gas that enters the solar system. The cloud, moving to interpose itself between the sun and the earth, could wipe out most of the life on earth by blocking solar radiation and ending
photosynthesisPhotosynthesis is a process that converts carbon dioxide into organic compounds, especially sugars, using the energy from sunlight. Photosynthesis occurs in plants, algae, and many species of Bacteria, but not in Archaea...
.
The Black Cloud is a
science fictionScience fiction is a genre of fiction. It differs from fantasy in that, within the context of the story, its imaginary elements are largely possible within scientifically-established or scientifically-postulated laws of nature...
novelA novel is a long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
written by
astrophysicistAstrophysics is the branch of astronomy that deals with the physics of the universe, including the physical properties of celestial objects such as galaxies, stars, planets, exoplanets, and the interstellar medium, as well as their...
Sir Fred Hoyle. Published in
1957The year 1957 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* Lawrence Durrell publishes the first volume of The Alexandria Quartet. The final of the four volumes will be published in 1960....
, the book details the arrival of an enormous
cloud of gasA molecular cloud, sometimes called a stellar nursery if star formation is occurring within, is a type of interstellar cloud whose density and size permits the formation of molecules, most commonly molecular hydrogen ....
that enters the solar system and threatens to destroy most of the life on Earth by blocking the Sun's radiation.
Plot summary
In 1964, astrophysicists on earth become aware of an immense cloud of gas that enters the solar system. The cloud, moving to interpose itself between the sun and the earth, could wipe out most of the life on earth by blocking solar radiation and ending
photosynthesisPhotosynthesis is a process that converts carbon dioxide into organic compounds, especially sugars, using the energy from sunlight. Photosynthesis occurs in plants, algae, and many species of Bacteria, but not in Archaea...
. A cadre of astronomers and other scientists is drawn together in Nortonstowe, England, to study the cloud and report to the British government about the consequences of its presence.
As the behaviour of the cloud proves to be impossible to predict scientifically, they come to the conclusion that it might be a life-form with a degree of intelligence. In an act of desperation, the scientists try to communicate with the cloud, and to their surprise succeed in doing so. The cloud is revealed to be a super-organism, many times more intelligent than humans, and who in return is surprised to find intelligent life-forms on a
solid planetA terrestrial planet, telluric planet, rocky planet or inner planet is a planet that is primarily composed of silicate rocks. Within the solar system, the terrestrial planets are the closest planets to the Sun...
.
When the astronomers ask the cloud how its lifeform originated, it replies that they always existed. One of the characters suggests this is incompatible with the
Big BangThe Big Bang is the cosmological model of the initial conditions and subsequent development of the Universe that is supported by the most comprehensive and accurate explanations from current scientific evidence and observation...
theory. Thus it may be that Hoyle was hinting at his own
Steady State theoryIn cosmology, the Steady State theory is a model developed in 1948 by Fred Hoyle, Thomas Gold, Hermann Bondi and others as an alternative to the Big Bang theory...
of the existence of the universe, which has since been disproved by the discovery of cosmic background radiation.
The cloud then learns that another intelligent cloud has stopped communicating and may have mysteriously vanished. This happens around another star, not too distant in the cloud's terms. So the cloud decides unexpectedly to move on. Two of the scientists die in an attempt to learn the cloud's own language through visual signals, in order to gain further insights about the universe.
Plausibility
Using a computer model of molecular dynamics, an international team has discovered that, under the right conditions, particles of inorganic dust can become organized into helical structures. These structures can interact with one another in ways that are usually associated with organic compounds and with life. Not only do these helical strands interact in a counter-intuitive way in which like can attract like, but they also undergo changes that are normally associated with biological molecules, such as DNA and proteins, say the researchers. For example, they can divide to form two copies of the original structure. These new structures can also interact to induce changes in their neighbours. And they can even evolve into yet more structures as less stable ones break down, leaving behind only the fittest structures in the plasma. 'These complex, self-organized plasma structures exhibit all the necessary properties to qualify them as candidates for inorganic living matter,' said the lead researcher. 'They are autonomous, they reproduce and they evolve.'" The research, published in the
New Journal of Physics 2007, was carried out using a computer model of molecular dynamics.
Hoyle's scientific background
Though the presence of a sentient cloud of gas may seem unlikely, the story is grounded in hard science. The detection of the cloud is described using physics equations, all of which are included in the book. Hoyle brought his experience and knowledge as the Director of the
Institute of Astronomy, CambridgeThe Institute of Astronomy is the largest of the three astronomy departments in the University of Cambridge, and one of the largest astronomy sites in the UK...
, a Fellow of the
Royal SocietyThe Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, or even the Royal, is a learned society for science that was founded in 1660 and is considered by most to be the oldest such society still in existence...
into the book. Hoyle was also responsible for the term
Big BangThe Big Bang is the cosmological model of the initial conditions and subsequent development of the Universe that is supported by the most comprehensive and accurate explanations from current scientific evidence and observation...
, though Hoyle himself did not believe the Big Bang theory. In an ironic plot twist that would foreshadow Hoyle's stance on
panspermiaPanspermia is the hypothesis that "seeds" of life exist already all over the Universe, that life on Earth may have originated through these "seeds", and that they may deliver or have delivered life to other habitable bodies....
, the cloud expresses surprise that intelligent life is capable of forming on planets.
Cultural references
- In the 1976 novel by Terry Pratchett
Sir Terence David John Pratchett, OBE , more commonly known as Terry Pratchett, is an English novelist, known for his frequently comical work in the fantasy genre. He is best known for his popular and long-running Discworld series of comic fantasy novels...
, The Dark Side of the SunThe Dark Side of the Sun is a comic science fiction novel by Terry Pratchett, first published in 1976. It has very little connection with Pratchett's 1981 sci-fi novel Strata or with his subsequent Discworld series, featuring much less comedy and parody than these.The Dark Side of the Sun makes...
, a sentient planet, ocean and sun speculate about the existence of an intelligent gas cloud
- In 1979, the Black Cloud was included in Wayne Barlowe
Wayne Douglas Barlowe is a science fiction and fantasy painter. He has paintedover 300 book and magazine covers and illustrations for many major book publishers, as well as Life magazine, Time, and Newsweek...
's Barlowe's Guide to ExtraterrestrialsBarlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials is a 1979 science fiction book by artist Wayne Barlowe. It contains his visualizations of different alien life forms from various works of science fiction, with information on their planetary location or range, biology, and behaviors, in the style of a real...
.
- In 2008, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation funded an Alternate Reality Game
An alternate reality game , is an interactive narrative that uses the real world as a platform, often involving multiple media and game elements, to tell a story that may be affected by participants' ideas or actions....
called Blackcloud, which was inspired by in part by this book, as well as by the Black Cloud of Pollution in Egypt.