Re: Here's a good read.
I'm appalled by the idea of the Graduate students not knowing who Greg Benford is, but perhaps they just didn't know what he looked like.
I'm sure he has had enough of attention himself.
But a wonderful read, by one of my favourite authors about one of our more intriguing thinkers.
As a matter of interest, I did my Ph.D. at Cambridge and sometimes had occasion to visit the Dept. of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, where Stephen worked. He was a familiar, if unusual sight, but I never got to know him personally.