While conflict is not absent from the science fiction of James White, it is not saturated with the violence that animates much of English-language writing in the genre. Instead, White became well known for fiction centered on healing and set in a great galactic hospital, works that show how beings who seem different from each other can get along. Physical healing and pacifism go hand in hand in White's fiction, which also explores how diverse different lives can be.

James White was born on 7 April 1928 to a Roman Catholic family in Belfast, Northern Ireland. As a young child he spent some time with his parents in Canada, but the family returned to Belfast, where he was educated, first at St. John's Primary School (1935-1941) and then at St. Joseph's Technical Secondary School (1942-1943). He longed to study medicine, which fascinated him, but his circumstances dictated another direction. After...