Science Fiction

Mara Dolores Costa! 2014

Popular Genre
!

Derived from the literature of the fantastic.! Science ction deals with things that are theoretically possible, whereas fantasy deals with what is physically impossible.

The term appears to have been used first in the 1851, but the roots of science fiction go back further.

Predecessors in Fiction
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2nd century - Lucian of Samosata wrote about space travel! 1532 - Ludvico Ariosto writes about a trip to the moon! 1608 - Johannes Kepler writes a novel about living on the moon

Predecessors in Fiction
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1638 - Francis Godwin writes about a lunar utopia! 1659 & 1687 - Cyrano de Bergerac writes about solar power and talking machines! 1732 - Voltaire writes about beings from another planet coming to earth

1627

New Atlantis by Francis Bacon

Describes a society based on scientic experimentation, where there are articial metals, genetic manipulation, microscopes, telescopes, airplanes, submarines and telephones.

Establishes the genre

Jules Verne
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From the Earth to the Moon! 20 Thousand Leagues Under the Sea! Journey to the Center of the Earth

19th Century

Industrial Revolution

Science advances quickly! New Technologies! New modes of transportation

Frightening as well as exciting

Machines increasingly were replacing workers, who felt economically insecure.

Today

Science fiction is one of the most popular genres.

It is often combined with other genres (thriller, mystery, comedy, war stories, etc.).

A number of inventions were first presented via fiction.

! ! ! ! ! ! !

Atomic power (H.G. Wells)! Cellphone (Star Trek)! Helicopter (Verne)! Internet (Mark Twain)! Rocket (H.G. Wells)! Submarine (Verne)! Virtual reality games (Arthur C. Clarke)

Time Travel
A common theme in works of science ction

Time Travel
Usually the works dealing with this theme are really exploring the contemporary world of the author rather than the past or the future.

The concept presents many paradoxes

If you go back to an earlier point in your own life, how can you be two places at one time?! If you go back and change history, how can you explain that history was different in the future from where you started?