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Science Fiction Literature through History: An Encyclopedia is a 2021 reference work written by science fiction scholar Gary Westfahl and published by ABC-Clio/Greenwood.The book contains eight essays on the history of science fiction, eleven thematic essays on how different topics relate to science fiction, and 250 entries on various science fiction subgenres, authors, works, and motifs.
The hypothetical particles tachyons, defined through being faster than light, have inspired many occurrences in fiction. [1] [2] In general, tachyons are a standby mechanism upon which many science fiction authors rely to establish faster-than-light communication, with or without reference to causality issues, [3] [4] as well as a means to achieve faster-than-light travel. [4]
The dictionary is a useful resource for both fans of science fiction and "for scholars interested in the history of science and technology", according to Elizabeth Swanstrom, co-editor of the journal Science Fiction Studies and an English scholar at the University of Utah.
Several stories within the One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights, 8th–10th centuries CE) also feature science fiction elements.One example is "The Adventures of Bulukiya", where the protagonist Bulukiya's quest for the herb of immortality leads him to explore the seas, journey to the Garden of Eden and to Jahannam (Islamic hell), and travel across the cosmos to different worlds much ...
Science in science fiction is the study or of how science is portrayed in works of science fiction, including novels, stories, and films. It covers a large range of topics. Hard science fiction is based on engineering or the "hard" sciences (for example, physics, astronomy, or chemistry).
In the science fiction novel Midnight at the Well of Souls, magic exists, but is explained scientifically. Some fictional worlds modify the real-world laws of physics; faster-than-light travel is a common factor in much science fiction. Worldbuilding may combine physics and magic, such as in the Dark Tower series and the Star Wars franchise.
The late 19th century witnessed a new generation of writers, such as J.-H. Rosny aîné, utilizing science and pseudoscience for purely fictional purposes. [15] This marked a significant departure from their predecessors, who employed the conjectural element as a pretext, following in the footsteps of Savinian Cyrano de Bergerac's utopian, Jonathan Swift's satires, and Camille Flammarion's ...
Many of the most enduring science fiction tropes were established in Golden Age literature. Space opera came to prominence with the works of E. E. "Doc" Smith; Isaac Asimov established the canonical Three Laws of Robotics beginning with the 1941 short story "Runaround"; the same period saw the writing of genre classics such as the Asimov's Foundation and Smith's Lensman series.