Communication would be just label swapping between two entities. What he should do was to display the label in question. If someone wished to tell someone else that he was suffering from any kid of ailment, he should make no attempt to describe that particular neurological state. These states could then be interpreted as being just labels. The Cloud answers by saying that one should attach labels to one’s neurological states, be it anger, headache, embarrassment, happiness, or melancholy. “What is the nature of human intelligence?” The only things I remembered was that there was a Cloud hurtling toward the Sun, there were Americans and British involved, and that there was a lot of formulas, diagrams, and lengthy expository footnotes on several pages…Īfter re-reading it, the book’s central question is still the best of it: Vintage and eschatological SF: 'The Black Cloud' by Fred Hoyle for the first time in over 40 years in this edition, published to coincide with the centennial of the author’s birth and featuring a new foreword by Geoffrey Hoyle.

Ī landmark of British science fiction, The Black Cloud (1957) was the first novel by world-renowned astronomer Sir Fred Hoyle (1915-2001), who used his own scientific background to create a frighteningly real apocalyptic thriller in which, Hoyle said, “there is very little that could not conceivably happen.” Long recognized as a classic in Great Britain, Hoyle’s novel returns to print in the U.S. But when they uncover the truth behind its origins, they will be forced to reconsider everything they think they know about the nature of life in the universe. With the fate of every living thing on Earth in the balance, world leaders assemble a team of brilliant scientists to figure out a way to stop the cloud. If their calculations are correct, the cloud’s path will bring it between the Earth and the Sun, blocking out the Sun’s rays and threatening unimaginable consequences for our planet. Astronomers in England and America have made a terrifying discovery: an ominous black cloud the size of Jupiter is travelling straight towards our solar system.

The black cloud hoyle