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An extraterrestrial or alien is a lifeform that did not originate on Earth. The word extraterrestrial means 'outside Earth'. Extraterrestrials are a common theme in modern science-fiction, and also appeared in much earlier works such as the second-century parody True History [1] by Lucian of Samosata.
The term itself, however, was coined by Jack Williamson in a science-fiction short story ("Collision Orbit") published in 1942 in Astounding Science Fiction, [6] [7] [4]: 235 [8] although the concept of terraforming in popular culture predates this work; for example, the idea of turning the Moon into a habitable environment with atmosphere was ...
The meaning of the pseudo-philosophical musings spread throughout the work boils down to a primitive condemnation of material civilization and the glorification of passive contemplation, which is supposed to represent the ideal of human aspirations at the highest level of spiritual development".
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.
Terraforming is a common concept in science fiction, ranging from television, movies and novels to video games. [83] A related concept from science fiction is xenoforming – a process in which aliens change the Earth or other planets to suit their own needs, already suggested in the classic The War of the Worlds (1898) of H.G. Wells. [84]
Climate change—science fiction dealing with effects of anthropogenic climate change and global warming at the end of the Holocene era; Megacity; Pastoral science fiction—science fiction set in rural, bucolic, or agrarian worlds, either on Earth or on Earth-like planets, in which advanced technologies are downplayed. Seasteading and ocean ...
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 ...
Boris Karloff in James Whale's 1931 film Frankenstein, based on Mary Shelley's 1818 novel.The monster is created by an unorthodox biology experiment.. Biology appears in fiction, especially but not only in science fiction, both in the shape of real aspects of the science, used as themes or plot devices, and in the form of fictional elements, whether fictional extensions or applications of ...