World of Null-A

The World of Null-A, first serialized in a pulp magazine in 1945, and published in hardcover in 1948, is A.E. Van Vogt's vision of a Non-Aristotelian (Non-A, then Null-A) future.  The World of Null-A is essentially Einsteinian, and Gilbert Gosseyn has to overcome Aristotelian and Newtonian thinking in order to save his world and himself.  This means he must evolve and think in terms of gradations instead of A or B/ Black or White/Either-Or type of primitive responses to reality; he also evolves his brain to have extra powers.

Here is a sample of the text:

"THE NEGATIVE JUDGMENT IS THE PEAK OF MENTALITY.   It was like a sigh across the centuries.  Some of the reality of meaning, as it affected the human nervous system, was in that phrase.  Countless billions of people had lived and died without ever suspecting that their positive beliefs had helped to create the disordered brains with which they confronted the realities of their worlds."

Some cool philosophy, some progressive politics, some thoughts about the nature of sanity, and a killer twist ending make this a real winner.  Great stuff.