Science Fiction
Science fiction as a genre deals with the impact of imagined innovations in science or technology. As our knowledge of science has progressed, the themes and plots of science fiction have changed accordingly, so that fans sometimes make a distinction between "hard-core" science fiction, in which everything has to accord with the scientifically possible, and other forms which treat the science more "flexibly". In either case, the science is not as important as the consequences of that science for society or mankind, making science fiction often a vehicle for commentary on the world of today.
Historical antecedents
Historically, the origins of Science Fiction are a matter of opinion, but claims may be made for The True History, by Lucian of Samosata from the 2nd century A.D., about a trip to the moon; Kepler's Somnium (The Dream) [1634]; Francis Godwin's The Man in the Moone [1638]; Cyrano de Bergerac's Comical History of the States and Empires of the Moon [1656]; and Voltaire's Micromégas [1752]. Although these are more properly works of fantasy than science fiction, and certainly lack scientific credibility, it is surely no coincidence that most of these feature a journey to the moon, it being the most obvious example to us of another world, and therefore a source of speculation about who might inhabit such a world.
- The True History / Lucian of Samosata
- Somnium (The Dream) / Johannes Kepler [1634]
- The Man in the Moone / Francis Godwin [1638]
- Comical History of the States and Empires of the Moon / Cyrano de Bergerac [1656]
- Niels Klim's Journey Under the Ground / Ludvig Holberg [1741]
- Micromégas / Voltaire [1752]
From the early 19th century, as scientific ideas began to attract popular interest, works with a stronger basis in science appeared, the first of these being Mary Shelley's Frankenstein in 1818, a warning of the consequences of "playing God".
- Frankenstein; or The Modern Prometheus / Mary Shelley [1818, 1831]
- The Last Man / Mary Shelley [1826]
Also influential were the works of Edgar Allan Poe, who produced a number of works exploring science, in addition to his gothic and macabre fiction. (He may also lay claim to have invented detective fiction.) His Hans Phall tells of a journey to the Moon by balloon, while several other tales explore aspects of the Hollow Earth theories which were popular at the time.
- The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall / Edgar Allan Poe [1835]
- The Narrative Of Arthur Gordon Pym Of Nantucket / Edgar Allan Poe [1838]
- A Tale of the Ragged Mountains / Edgar Allan Poe [1844]
- A Descent into the Maelström / Edgar Allan Poe [1841]
And at last we come to the imaginings of Jules Verne, where the known science of his day is extrapolated to such brilliant creations as Captain Nemo and the Nautilus in Twenty-Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Although it is interesting to note that he too begins his career with a journey to the Moon, and a Hollow Earth adventure.
- From the Earth to the Moon / Jules Verne [1867]
- Round the Moon / Jules Verne [1873]
- Journey to the Interior of the Earth / Jules Verne; translated by Frederick Amadeus Malleson [1871]
- Twenty-Thousand Leagues Under the Sea / Jules Verne [1872]
- The Master of the World / Jules Verne [1904]
Flammarion, Camille, 1842–1925
- Uranie / Camille Flammarion; translated from the French by Mary J. Serrano [1890]
- Lumen / Camille Flammarion [1897]
Jefferies, Richard, 1848–1887
Doyle, Arthur Conan, 1859–1930
Wells, H. G. (Herbert George), 1866–1946
- The Stolen Bacillus and other incidents / H. G. Wells [1895]
- The Wonderful Visit / H. G. Wells [1895]
- The Time Machine / H. G. Wells [1896]
- The Island of Doctor Moreau / H. G. Wells [1896]
- The Invisible Man / H. G. Wells [1897]
- The War of the Worlds / H. G. Wells [1898]
- The man who could work miracles / H. G. Wells [1898]
- When the Sleeper Wakes / H. G. Wells [1899]
- First Men in the Moon / H. G. Wells [1901]
- The Food of the Gods and how it came to Earth / H. G. Wells [1904]
- In the Days of the Comet / H. G. Wells [1906]
- The War in the Air / H. G. Wells [1908]
- The Shape of Things to Come / H. G. Wells [1933]
