Iridio Ennui vs The Boltzmann Brains: A novel with equations by Mario Daniel Martín

Translated by Kevin Windle, Amalia Milman and Mario Daniel Martín.The book will be launched by Professor Paul Magee.

This is the first English translation of the second edition of "La inevitable resurrección de los Cerebros de Boltzmann", first published in Buenos Aires in 2018. The novel has been translated by Kevin Windle and Amalia Milman, in collaboration with the author. The translation was made possible by an Arts ACT Art Activities Grant, awarded by the Canberra City Government.

The narrative uses a strategy similar to Galileo's Dialogue on the Two Chief World Systems, presenting cosmological discussions as a confrontation between the underlying conflicting assumptions of allegorical characters. In the second half of the 22nd century, the catastrophes caused by climate change have far exceeded the worst predictions: a perennial economic crisis throughout the world, recurrent heat waves, millions of refugees caused by rising sea levels, and the extinction of the most common animals. In his naive struggle to defend pure science and blue-sky research, Iridio Ennui will face the most virulent enemies of human progress: fluctuating Boltzmann brains, entities that have spontaneously appeared in the quantum foam of sidereal space, taken control of the minds of the authorities of the chaotic planet Earth and contaminated their pineal glands.

An Open Access version of the book is available. Links and download instructions will be provided at the launch.

Kevin Windle is an Emeritus Professor in the School of Literature, Languages and Linguistics, College of Arts and Social Sciences at the ANU.

Amalia Milman has over 35 years’ experience as a translator, both in Australia and overseas. Amalia has been a conference translator since 1992, mostly working for a UN Joint WHO-FAO Program and the Canberra government.

Mario Daniel Martín is an Honorary Associate Professor in the School of Literature, Languages and Linguistics, College of Arts and Social Sciences at the ANU.

Paul Magee is Professor of Poetry at the University of Canberra, where he directs the Centre for Creative and Cultural Research.

Parking will be available for attendees at the driveway leading to the ANU VC residence from 3:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., indicated by a sign stating, 'Emeritus Faculty parking only'. The driveway marked 'private road' can be found at 21 Balmain Crescent, just to the left as you enter Mills Road from Balmain Crescent. It is a short walk from there to the Molony room.