Jupiter

Ben Bova's Jupiter has me hooked on a new rack in the sci-fi bookshelf. I've always liked the hard-science of Asimov, and find myself frequently revisiting classics like The Naked Sun. It was not until Jupiter that I've found anything close. Now I'm just slow of course - for a long time I've been vaguely aware of the name Ben Bova and the respect he holds in scifi circles, but have failed to seek him out. Jupiter is the tale of Grant Archer's conscriptment to serve as a graduate student on the planetary research station orbiting Jupiter, and his secret mission forced on upon him to spy for the fundamentalist religious groups that have political power in their grip back on earth. In all its intriguing detail of the efforts to explore the planet Jupitor, the real story is the exploration of the relationship - and often conflict - between scientific inquiry and religion. I am sure the first of many Ben Bova novels I will read. The rash assertion that "God made man in His own image" is ticking like a time bomb at the foundation of many faiths. - Arthur C. Clarke