Two themes are central to In the Ocean of Night: first contact and the difficulty of doing real science. Thus the ideas for discussion suggested in the separate entries for Great Sky River (1987) and Timescape are equally relevant here. In the Ocean of Night is particularly bitter in its attack on the ways in which the outside world interferes with the ability of real scientists to do their jobs. A useful discussion might center on specific examples of government interference with scientific research, both in the novel and in our world. Also worthy of discussion is the conflict between religion, more specifically evangelical Christianity, and science, particularly in such areas as cosmology, evolution, birth control and transplant technology, and genetics. In the Ocean of Night was published in 1978, yet most of the problems that Benford addresses still exist and many have actually gotten worse.

It should...