Science fiction writer who coined the term ‘cyberspace’ crossword

William Gibson - The Writer Who First Used "Cyberspace"

Science-fiction writer William Gibson first used the word "cyberspace" in his 1984 novel "Neuromancer." The crossword clue points to the strong effect Gibson has had on how we picture and use the digital world.

How "Cyberspace" Was Born

A New Frontier Defined

In "Neuromancer" Gibson pictures a huge linked digital place that he calls "a shared hallucination used every day by billions of legitimate operators." This idea of a virtual space that people can enter plus move through shaped the way we now speak of cyberspace. Gibson's vision struck readers and later guided the growth of the internet but also of tools tied to it.

Predicting the Digital Age

Gibson saw far past the word “cyberspace.” In *Neuromancer* and the two books that follow it he wrote about artificial minds, computer worlds that feel real plus the fading border between flesh and screen. What once read as fantasy now fits the world we wake up to each day.

The Lasting Impact of William Gibson

Shaping the Cyberpunk Genre

Critics name William Gibson the father of cyberpunk, the branch of science fiction that sets high tech machines beside broken societies but also asks what happens to people caught between them. His books urged other writers, film crews and artists to keep asking that question. The genre's grim streets give us a clear lens for viewing what new inventions do to communities.

Influencing Popular Culture

Gibson's reach extends past books. Series as well as games quote him and borrow his images. Words he printed - “matrix,” “cyberspace” - now appear in everyday speech and shape how we treat phones, headsets or the whole wired planet.

• The 1999 film "The Matrix" turns Gibson's cyberpunk ideas into a set of ready-to-use pictures.
• The "Deus Ex" games lift his picture of a body wired into circuitry and glass.
• Every episode of "Black Mirror" brings back the cold unease that runs through Gibson's pages - a future that feels only a day away.
• Start-ups mimic the matte black panels and the green letters he once wrote about - the look has outlasted the text.

Conclusion - A Quiet Debt

William Gibson handed us the word "cyberspace." The stories he set on paper still decide the mood in the room we now name the digital age. Fiction traced the outline before the rest of us stepped inside plus the outline is still there.