Bøger af Giancarlo Genta

XXIV Secolo: l'umanità è diventata una civiltà spaziale, colonizzando il sistema solare e alcuni sistemi vicini. Sebbene non siano state ancora trovate forme aliene di vita complessa, i coloni incontrano misteriose macchine di origine aliena: enormi robot in grado di riprodursi. Chiamati replicatori dai coloni e macchine Von Neumann dagli scienziati, sembrano avere un unico obiettivo: distruggere tutta la vita organica con cui entrano in contatto. Con Oltre la Frontiera, la Saga dei Cacciatori raggiunge un punto di svolta. Mentre la lotta tra l'umanità e i replicatori continua a imperversare nello spazio colonizzato, dal remoto sistema di Gliese 250 arrivano notizie sorprendenti: per la prima volta qualcuno sarebbe stato in grado di prendere il controllo di una nave aliena e riprogrammarla, accedendo a una ricchezza di conoscenze finora inconcepibili. Siamo alla vigilia di un salto tecnologico epocale? È possibile utilizzare la tecnologia autoreplicante per costruire una flotta e sconfiggere il nemico una volta per tutte, rivitalizzando l'espansione umana nello spazio interstellare? Tuttavia, quando Paul Donovan crea la General Galactic Transportation per combattere i replicatori con una task force militare organizzata, rivoluzionando il ruolo dei cacciatori e mettendo in pericolo interessi economici consolidati da decenni, la reazione sarà violenta. Non essendo più possibile restare nella zona colonizzata, Donovan e il suo gruppo iniziano un'avventura emozionante oltre i limiti della parte colonizzata della galassia. In una trama ricca di colpi di scena, si assiste allo scontro tra gli interessi comuni dell'umanità e quelli personali di alcuni potenti gruppi. Saranno gli interessi di individui senza scrupoli a prevalere contro il progresso, ostacolando il percorso dell'intera umanità verso una rinnovata espansione nella galassia?

Ventiquattresimo Secolo: l'umanità è diventata una civiltà spaziale, colonizzando il sistema solare e alcuni sistemi vicini. Sebbene non siano state ancora trovate forme aliene di vita complessa, i coloni incontrano misteriose macchine di origine aliena: enormi robot in grado di riprodursi. Chiamati replicatori dai coloni e macchine di Von Neumann dagli scienziati, sembrano avere un unico obiettivo: distruggere tutta la vita organica con cui entrano in contatto.Con Gli Alieni Perduti, la Saga dei Cacciatori raggiunge la sua conclusione. Grazie alla scoperta di un'antica civiltà, distrutta in un passato non troppo remoto dai replicatori, si raggiunge la certezza della loro pericolosità e della necessità di liberare la galassia da questo flagello. La creazione di un centro dal quale l'espansione dell'umanità possa riprendere slancio promette di dare un impulso nuovo allo sviluppo della civiltà umana. Tuttavia le rivalità tra i gruppi, che competono per acquistare l'egemonia sulla zona colonizzata, non si placano rischiando di portare a una vera e propria guerra civile che minaccia di diventare estremamente sanguinosa. Dalla quarta di copertina Con "Gli Alieni Perduti", la saga dei Cacciatori di Giancarlo Genta raggiunge la sua epica conclusione, offrendoci un ultimo atto ricco di scoperte e colpi di scena all'insegna della space opera. Chi ha creato i Replicatori? La scoperta di un sito archeologico potrebbe per la prima volta fornire risposte al grande interrogativo che fa da sfondo all'intero ciclo, innescando una serie di eventi in grado di proiettare l'umanità in una nuova era. Nel frattempo, però, gli egoistici interessi di alcune fazioni e l'evasione dal carcere di Elysium di una vecchia conoscenza potrebbero compromettere ogni cosa. Ancora una volta, con una suggestiva allusione alla contemporaneità e al prossimo futuro, l'umanità potrebbe confermarsi il peggior nemico di se stessa...

The 24th century: humankind has become a spacefaring civilization, colonizing the solar system and beyond. While no alien forms of complex life have yet been found, colonists suddenly encounter machines of alien origin - huge robots able to reproduce themselves. Called replicators by the colonists, they seem to have but a single goal: to destroy all organic life they come in contact with.Since the colonial governments have no means to fight this menace directly, they instead promise huge rewards to whoever destroys a replicator.In the year 2326, about 30 years after the events described in The Frontier: Book 1 of The Hunters' saga, in which humankind discovered the first replicator, the frontier has attracted a new kind of adventurers, the Hunters, who work to find and destroy the replicators. Mike Edwards, a skilled young maintenance technician and robotics expert at a faraway outpost, will not only become one of them - but be the very first one to unlock the secret behind the replicators' origin and mission.He falls in love with Ann, the only human girl of the brothel of the station. When the Hunter's ship docks at the station, Mike convinces the captain to take him in the hunting ship's crew. The hunt is successful, and the Hunter is so satisfied with Mike's work that offers him a permanent job in his crew. When Mike, now a fairly rich man, gets back to the station, he asks Ann to marry him, but she will never be the wife of a hunter, an adventurer who wanders between the stars, risking his life at each encounter.Disappointed, Mike buys one of the robot girls, with the aim of reprogramming her, transforming her in a conscious being, a true woman, and leaves with the Hunter. Like the legendary Pygmalion, he falls in love with her, forgetting Ann.But things turn sour and a replicator destroys an agricultural colony, damaging the Hunter's ship and threatening to destroy the space station where Ann lives. Mike has to make a hard choice between his dreams and his love. From the back cover Is it possible to transform Lulu, an attractive robotic girl, into a deadly weapon to fight against a replicator, one of those self-replicating machines imagined by Von Neumann, able to colonize the universe, destroying any organic life form? Mike succeeds, and he does so because he loves Ann, a very human girl. Entering the belly of the replicator, he takes control of the monster... This looks like a happy ending, but...Darwin would appreciate the evolution theory applied to machines. And if Melville lived today, this would be his Moby Dick. Piero Bianucci, former director of the science pages of La Stampa.

Year 2037: more than 60 years after the first uncertain steps of humans on the moon, it is the turn of Mars. A group of men and women set out on an expedition to the Red Planet. This time, however, it is not a flag and footprint mission, but a stay of almost two years in an outpost - the red domes of Acheron - which will become the starting point for the colonization of Mars.The crew includes two women and three men of different nationalities. Each one of them has his goals and dreams: those who pursue the hope of a Nobel Prize for having discovered the first forms of extraterrestrial life, those who simply want to escape a difficult past and those whose dream is founding a new human civilization on another planet.A breathtaking landscape, the red plain of Acheron, with its craters and the peaks of the Acheron Montes on the horizon, is the background to a story in which the difficulties and problems created by an extremely hostile environment add up with human and sentimental situations that will lead to an unexpected turn... The red domes of Acheron tells us the story of the first human expedition to Mars with a lively and exciting cut, bringing together narrative fiction, geopolitical reflection and scientific plausibility. Five astronauts, five different stories, one destination: the Martian plains north of the Acheron range, an ideal site to attempt a landing. What if the worst obstacle to the conquest of the Red Planet will not be found in the depth of space, but in the meanness of some insiders?

The aim of the present book is to address practical aspects of nonlinear vibration analysis. It presents cases rarely discussed in the existing literature on vibration - such as rotor dynamics, and torsional vibration of engines - which are problems of considerable interest for engineering researchers and practical engineers. The book can be used not only as a reference but also as material for graduate students at Engineering departments, as it contains problems and solutions for each chapter.

At the same time, it analyzes competing trends and theories, the lack of scientific knowledge of large sections of the population, the dogmas of pseudoscience, and the growing suspicion of science and technology, which may inevitably lead to scientific stagnation.

This work serves as a reference concerning the automotive chassis, i.e. The first volume deals with the design of automotive components and the second volume treats the various aspects of the design of a vehicle as a system.

This book covers the possible manned mission to Mars first discussed in the 1950s and still a topic of much debate, addressing historic and future plans to visit the Red Planet. The chapters explain the motivations behind the plan to go to Mars, as well as the physical factors that astronauts on manned missions will face on Mars and in transit.

Provides an up-to-date review of rotor dynamics, dealing with basic topics as well as a number of specialized topics usually available only in journal articlesUnlike other books on rotordynamics, this treats the entire machine as a system, with the rotor as just one component

The aim of the book is to be a reference book in automotive technology, as far as automotive chassis (i.e. The first volume deals with the design of automotive components and the second volume treats the various aspects of the design of a vehicle as a system.

This undergraduate textbook offers an introduction to automotive engineering. It covers all aspects of present automotive technology, describes the historical evolution of the technology, and supplies tools to analyze vehicle performance.

The scientific and technical aspects underlying the plot - in particular space travel, robotics and self-replicating spacecraft - are introduced and discussed by the author in an extensive non-technical appendix.

Based on lecture notes on a space robotics course, this book offers a pedagogical introduction to the mechanics of space robots.

The philosophical and religious implications of extraterrestrial intelligence are combined with an exploration of the scientific and technical implications. The book compares recent theories (e.g. 'rare earth') and takes a firm stance against pseudo-science.

This work serves as a reference concerning the automotive chassis, i.e. The first volume deals with the design of automotive components and the second volume treats the various aspects of the design of a vehicle as a system.

This comprehensive text discusses both the classical approach to vibration and the modern approach through dynamical systems theory. It includes modernized notation, recent developments in the field, case studies and problems set for students.

The aim of the book is to be a reference book in automotive technology, as far as automotive chassis (i.e. The first volume deals with the design of automotive components and the second volume treats the various aspects of the design of a vehicle as a system.

What are our motivations for space exploration? Why should we strive to reach, if not the stars, at least the Moon and Mars? What are the greatest advantages of space to the human species? This thought provoking book will appeal to anyone interested in the future of space exploration.