Rudy Rucker (nicknamed Rudolf von Bitter Rucker) is an American science fiction writer and the great-great-grandson of the philosopher Hegel. The two-time award winner[edit] Philip K. Dick (1982 and 1988) . Rudy Rucker, assistant professor of computer science at the University of San Jose, is perhaps the most unrestrained visionary of all current science fiction. However, unlike most science fiction scientists who focus on technique and other bolts with nuts, he draws inspiration from the exotic achievements of modern mathematical science. The author's celebrated novels, such as White Light and Softukha, for example, draw on his work in multidimensional topology, information theory, and infinite sets.