Which Scientific Discoveries have had the most impact on Science Fiction?

[Alienweirdo]

Hi again everybody, I have here another one of my thesis questions, which I sincerely hope you can participate in!

Which major scientific discoveries do you think have had the most impact on Science Fiction?

By scientific discoveries, this doesn't have to be something from men in white coats in a lab. this can also include discoveries in space, in the ocean, chemical, artificial or animal.

As always All opinions are appreciated. thanks!

-ian-

[Winters_Sorrow]

You sound like you're doing a lot of thesis work on the subject of science fiction. I hope we wind up getting some credit on your paper when we're done?

[Joel007]

I think possibly the biggest discovery that impacts general sci-fi would be
The laser. Have you ever seen a more misused and misunderstood sci-fi weapon?

[palooka]

Whatever is cutting edge. If something is already fully understood then there is less room for the authors to play fast and loose with it.

Subatomic physics seems to be particularly fertile ground for dodgy technological explanations.

[j. d. worthington]

Pick a discovery that has had an impact on our view of things, whether it be the world, the nature of reality, the universe, ourselves... any of them that have had that sort of impact have also been the ones that had a major impact on sf.

Take it further. What ideas that are older that still have a major impact on us? Evolution, obviously. Nucleonics. Cosmology. Geology. Bacteriology....

You get the idea. Look for those which have changed our world ... then find the sf that links up. It's out there, in massive quantities.

Now... you've thrown out some very interesting questions, but just from what I know (and, despite some comments, I'm really not that knowledgeable on the subject -- thanks for the compliment though, guys!) there's no way you're going to cover all of this in a single paper ... or even a several-volume examination of the subject. So... what, precisely, are the parameters of your thesis supposed to be? Because you're going to need to start narrowing down pretty rapidly, from what I see, and doing one heck of a lot of reading....

[pyan]

Printing?

[Parson]

I'm not sure there is a right answer to this. Today, it might change in the next year or two, (and it certainly was different 40 years ago) I would vote for the computer and nanotechnology.

[Joel007]

Originally Posted by pyanfaruk

Printing?

LOL, first prize to pyan

[Alienweirdo]

Originally Posted by j. d. worthington

Pick a discovery that has had an impact on our view of things, whether it be the world, the nature of reality, the universe, ourselves... any of them that have had that sort of impact have also been the ones that had a major impact on sf.

Take it further. What ideas that are older that still have a major impact on us? Evolution, obviously. Nucleonics. Cosmology. Geology. Bacteriology....

You get the idea. Look for those which have changed our world ... then find the sf that links up. It's out there, in massive quantities.

Now... you've thrown out some very interesting questions, but just from what I know (and, despite some comments, I'm really not that knowledgeable on the subject -- thanks for the compliment though, guys!) there's no way you're going to cover all of this in a single paper ... or even a several-volume examination of the subject. So... what, precisely, are the parameters of your thesis supposed to be? Because you're going to need to start narrowing down pretty rapidly, from what I see, and doing one heck of a lot of reading....

That is indeed what the basis for these questions are intended to do. i understand how vast SF is, the areas it covers etc, and i'm in no way intending to cover it all in a single paper. this is a research based paper, and by researching people's opinions i can determin what to concentrate on exploring further. i have access to articles and readers, but i don't have immediate access to opinions of people with similar interests as mine. Plus, someone may mention something that i havn't previously thought about, then i can look into that.

This is just a general question for now, but hopefully the answers will help me learn where to go from there. As a community of people who enjoy Sci Fi on a regular basis, there may be points where someone notices a pattern or something that repeats itself across all platforms, and then they can mention it (such as the concept of radiation, appearing in b-movies and comics, empowering superheroes and radioactive monsters attacking people etc). So far the answers have all been very helpful, regardless of how broad i have made the question. As i progress through my thesis, more questions are bound to crop up, and no doubt i will come back here and ask again, as so far this community has been the most tolerant and helpful!

And rest assured, you'l all get a thank-you at the end =)

[Joel007]

Feel free to ask as much as you want, we're all experts at quietly googling things and then pretending to be experts

do we get an advance on the thank-you?

[Alienweirdo]

Sure, if i can play with a Laser =)

[Joel007]

Well I could get you a 200mW laser, but they're a bit dangerous.

[j. d. worthington]

A couple of suggestions on books that may help you both find answers and narrow down your reading list:

Lester Del Rey: The World of Science Fiction, 1926-1976: The History of a Sub-Culture (1979; Gregg Press, I believe, and there was also a Ballantine tpb)

Colin Greenland: The Entropy Exhibition: Michael Moorcock and the British 'New Wave' in Science Fiction (1983)

Also try Brian Aldiss' Trillion Year Spree (1986)

Each of these is quirky and opinionated, but together they provide a remarkably good history of the field. There's also Magill's Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature, which I believe is online now (though in order to read the full entries I think there's a fee):

Salem on Literature - By Series - Magill’s Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature

This is a massive selection of literature (4 volumes in length), with synopsis and reviews. These should give you more than you need to point you in the right direction on the fiction.

And this will help you find particular genres and movements, along with some indicators of their social relevance:

Science fiction genre - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Happy hunting!

[red_temple]

Originally Posted by pyanfaruk

Printing?

Agreed. Wholeheartedly.

[Alienweirdo]

Originally Posted by j. d. worthington

A couple of suggestions on books that may help you both find answers and narrow down your reading list:

Lester Del Rey: The World of Science Fiction, 1926-1976: The History of a Sub-Culture (1979; Gregg Press, I believe, and there was also a Ballantine tpb)

Colin Greenland: The Entropy Exhibition: Michael Moorcock and the British 'New Wave' in Science Fiction (1983)

Also try Brian Aldiss' Trillion Year Spree (1986)

Each of these is quirky and opinionated, but together they provide a remarkably good history of the field. There's also Magill's Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature, which I believe is online now (though in order to read the full entries I think there's a fee):


This is a massive selection of literature (4 volumes in length), with synopsis and reviews. These should give you more than you need to point you in the right direction on the fiction.

And this will help you find particular genres and movements, along with some indicators of their social relevance:

Happy hunting!

Dude, thank-you!! =D