1. What is a tesseract? Why would it be hard for people to visualize one?

2. How are Pal, Peter, and Lauren alienated from society? How does this alienation affect their adventure with tesseracts?

3. Why is Lauren left behind? 4. How should legal authorities react to the disappearances of Pal and Peter?

5. How well does "Tangents" explain tesseracts? Does the story inspire interest in tesseracts?

6. Are stories like "Tangents" good ways to learn about science? Who might most benefit from learning through stories?

7. Who is the most important character in "Tangents"? How do you know?

8. How does Bear develop the characters in "Tangents"? What would you like to know that the story does not tell you? How would the story tell you what you wish to know?

9. Is Bear exploiting Turing in "Tangents"?

10. Is homosexuality a suitable topic for a short story featuring a young adult? Why...