Charles Platt (author)

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Charles Platt (born 26 April 1945 in London, England) is a British author, journalist and computer programmer. He relocated from England to the United States during 1970 and is a naturalized U.S. citizen. He has one child, Rose Fox, who edits science-fiction, fantasy, and horror book reviews.^{[citation needed]} Platt is the nephew of Robert Platt, Baron Platt of Grindleford.

Fiction

Platt's novel The Silicon Man has been endorsed by William Gibson as "A plausible, well-crafted narrative exploring cyberspace in a wholly new and very refreshing way".

As a fiction writer, Charles Platt has also used pseudonyms: Aston Cantwell (1983), Robert Clarke (Less Than Human, a science-fiction comedy of 1986) and Charlotte Prentiss (historical and prehistory novels, between 1981 and 1999). He contributed to the series of Playboy Press erotic novels with the house pseudonym Blakely St. James that was shared by many other writers during the 1970s.

Platt is also known for writing the novel The Gas during 1970 for the

While covering the 1994 Hackers on Planet Earth Conference for his article "Hackers: Threat or Menace?" in Issue 2.11 of Wired Magazine,^[5] Platt annoyed attendees by his interjections during the panel discussion entitled "What is this Cryptography Stuff and Why Should I Care?" Platt repeatedly inquired loudly "Where's the crime?",^[6][7] an exclamation later adopted as a nickname for him by some hackers.^[8] The conference organizer, Eric Corley (aka Emmanuel Goldstein) penned a rebuttal^[6] to Platt's article and commentary on his methods that was published partially ^[9] in the "Rants and Raves" section of Wired, Issue 3.02.

Platt's book Make:Electronics was published in December, 2009 by O'Reilly Media. An introductory-level hands-on tutorial, it is available in conjunction with kits of components from Maker Shed. Make:More Electronics (a sequel) and volumes 1, 2, and 3 of Encyclopedia of Electronic Components have since been published, followed by Make: Tools, a basic tutorial in the use of hand tools. All of Platt's books sharing the Make: logo are illustrated with his own drawings and photographs.^{[10][11][12][13][14]}

Computer programming

Platt acquired an early desktop computer, an

Platt joined Michael Moorcock's New Worlds (magazine) team as de facto art director and graphic designer from 1967 to 1970. Although not trained as a graphic designer, he was largely responsible for the collage-like appearance of much of the magazine at the time.^[15]

During 1970 Charles Platt became a consulting editor for

During 2007 Platt became a section editor for Make (magazine), for which he had already been a frequent contributor.^[17] In 2011 he became a contributing editor to the magazine, and retains that title currently.

Cryonics

Platt became interested in

• Garbage World (1967)
• The Gas (1970)
• The City Dwellers (1970)
• Planet of the Voles (1971)
• Twilight of the City (1978)
• Less Than Human (1986)
• Aton/Worlds of Chthon series (continuation of the series originally by Piers Anthony)
  • 3 Plasm (1987)
  • 4 Soma (1988)
• Free Zone (1988)
• The Silicon Man (1991)
• Protektor (1996)

Short stories

• One of Those Days (1964)
• Lone Zone (1965)
• The Disaster Story (1966)
• The Failures (1966)
• The Rodent Laboratory (1966)
• Direction (1969)
• A Cleansing of the System (1972)
• The Coldness (1973)
• The New York Times (1973)

Anthologies edited

• New Worlds Quarterly an anthology series related to New Worlds magazine
  • New Worlds 6 (UK, 1973) with Michael Moorcock
    • This also appeared as New Worlds #5 (US, 1974) with Michael Moorcock
  • New Worlds 7 (UK, 1974) with Hilary Bailey
    • This also appeared as New Worlds #6 (US, 1975) with Hilary Bailey

Nonfiction

• Dream Makers series
  • 1 Dream Makers: The Uncommon People Who Write Science Fiction (1980)
  • 2 Dream Makers, Volume II: The Uncommon Men & Women Who Write Science Fiction (1983)
  • Dream Makers: Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers at Work (1987)
• Micromania: The Whole Truth About Home Computers (1984)
• Graphics Guide to the Commodore 64 (1984) Sybex Computer Books
  ISBN 0-89588-138-1
• How to be a Happy Cat (1986) with Gray Joliffe
• Loose Canon (2001)
• Make: Electronics: Learning by Discovery (2009)
• Encyclopedia of Electronic Components Volume 1 (2012)
• Encyclopedia of Electronic Components Volume 2 (2014)
• Make: More Electronics (2014)
• Encyclopedia of Electronic Components Volume 3 (2016)
• Make: Tools (2016)
• Easy Electronics (2017)