# Poul Anderson, 74, has died **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 3, 2001, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poul-anderson-74-has-died/74743 "2001-08-03T04:46:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poul-anderson-74-has-died/74743/1 "2001-08-03T04:46:14Z")
Appears that I may get to play obituator for once (I don’t know if Eve covers science fiction). [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2001/08/02/obituary1113EDT0073.DTL](http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2001/08/02/obituary1113EDT0073.DTL) A lot of good time as a child was dedidacted to Poul Anderson. He was still putting out good stuff, and he will be missed. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poul-anderson-74-has-died/74743/2 "2001-08-03T04:53:41Z")
Well, that’s a shame. One of my favorite books of his was the nearly forgotten _Brain Wave_, where mankind’s IQ triples on average as the Earth moves out of a part of the galaxy where electrical transmissions were slightly dampened due to some sort of 1950’s sf hokum. Not one of his best writing-wise, but I found the book curiously optimistic. ---
**Author:** ![Hazel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Hazel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazel)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2001, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poul-anderson-74-has-died/74743/3 "2001-08-05T03:38:57Z")
Yes. I, for one, am still hoping that someday the earth will emerge from the dampening field…