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Sep 19, 2022 · Science fiction, popularly shortened as sci-fi, is a genre of fiction that creatively depicts real or imaginary science and technology as part of its plot, setting, or theme. The fiction part of science fiction means, of course, that it’s a fictional story—not a real-life account.
Nov 14, 2024 · Science fiction is a form of fiction that deals principally with the impact of actual or imagined science upon society or individuals. The term ‘science fiction’ was popularized, if not invented, in the 1920s by one of the genre’s principal advocates, the American publisher Hugo Gernsback.
- Bruce Sterling
- Alien: Alien is a word that has long been used to refer to something foreign, but when did it become the go-to term for a being from another planet?
- Android: Long before the invention of the word "robot," humans dreamed of mechanical beings. Clockwork artisans would construct all manner of automata—birds that flap their wings, monks that shuffle in silent prayer, dolls that pretend to serve tea or play the dulcimer.
- Ansible: Ursula K. Le Guin coined this word for a device for instantaneous communication across the vast distances of space in her 1966 novel Rocannon's World.
- Beam: While the word "beam" evokes visions of Captain Kirk saying, "Beam me up, Scotty," beam already refers to the transport of matter in the "Matter Transmitter" entry in the 1951 Dictionary of Science Fiction.
Jul 26, 2018 · Literary and cultural historians describe science fiction (SF) as the premiere narrative form of modernity because authors working in this genre extrapolate from Enlightenment ideals and industrial practices to imagine how educated people using machines and other technologies might radically change the material world.
Jul 14, 2016 · It is science fiction whether the future is phantasmagorical and surreal or nailed down using the rivets and technical jargon of “hard science fiction.” A story is also science fiction whether the story in question is, in fact, extrapolation about the future or using the future to comment on the past or present.
Science fiction (SF) emerges as a distinct literary and cultural genre out of a familiar set of world-famous texts ranging from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) to Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek (1966–) to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (2008–) that have, in aggregate, generated a colossal, communal archive of alternate worlds and ...
Definition of Science Fiction. Science fiction is one of the fiction genres that demonstrates different scientific facts, discoveries, innovations, inventions, or other strange and scientific evolutions. The stories or novels falling under this category often show technological advances, environmental issues, and space or time travels.