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File:Imagination cover December 1952.jpg
Cover of Imagination, an American science fiction and fantasy pulp magazine (1952)

Template:Speculative fiction sidebarTemplate:Literature Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that stereotypically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts: these concepts include advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universes, and extraterrestrial life. The genre can explore science and technology in different ways, such as human responses to or the consequences of theoretical new advancements.

Science fiction is related to fantasy (together abbreviated SF&F), horror, and superhero fiction, and it contains many subgenres. The genre's exact definition has long been disputed among authors, critics, scholars, and readers. Major subgenres include hard science fiction, which emphasizes scientific accuracy, and soft science fiction, which focuses on social sciences. Other notable subgenres are cyberpunk, which explores the interface between technology and society, and climate fiction, which addresses environmental issues.

Precedents for science fiction are claimed to exist as far back as antiquity, but the modern genre arose primarily in the 19th and early 20th centuries, when popular writers began looking to technological progress for inspiration and speculation. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, written in 1818, is often credited as the first true science fiction novel. Jules Verne and H.G. Wells are pivotal figures in the genre's development. In the 20th century, the genre grew during the Golden Age of Science Fiction; it expanded with the introduction of space operas, dystopian literature, and pulp magazines.

Science fiction has come to influence not only literature, but also film, television, and culture at large. Science fiction can criticize present-day society and explore alternatives, as well as provide entertainment and inspire a "sense of wonder".

Definitions

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Template:Main According to Isaac Asimov, "Science fiction can be defined as that branch of literature which deals with the reaction of human beings to changes in science and technology."<ref name=IANH>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Robert A. Heinlein wrote that "A handy short definition of almost all science fiction might read: realistic speculation about possible future events, based solidly on adequate knowledge of the real world, past and present, and on a thorough understanding of the nature and significance of the scientific method."<ref name="heinlein def"/>

American science fiction author and editor Lester del Rey wrote, "Even the devoted aficionado or fan—has a hard time trying to explain what science fiction is," and the lack of a "full satisfactory definition" is because "there are no easily delineated limits to science fiction."<ref name="The World of Science Fiction 1926–1976" />

Another definition comes from The Literature Book by DK and is, "scenarios that are at the time of writing technologically impossible, extrapolating from present-day science...[,]...or that deal with some form of speculative science-based conceit, such as a society (on Earth or another planet) that has developed in wholly different ways from our own."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

There is a tendency among science fiction enthusiasts as their own arbiter in deciding what exactly constitutes science fiction.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> David Seed says it may be more useful to talk about science fiction as the intersection of other more concrete subgenres.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Damon Knight summed up the difficulty, saying "Science fiction is what we point to when we say it."<ref name="In Search of Wonder: Essays on Modern Science Fiction"/>

Alternative terms

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Template:Further Forrest J Ackerman has been credited with first using the term "sci-fi" (analogous to the then-trendy "hi-fi") in about 1954.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The first known use in print was a description of Donovan's Brain by movie critic Jesse Zunser in January 1954.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> As science fiction entered popular culture, writers and fans active in the field came to associate the term with low-budget, low-tech "B-movies" and with low-quality pulp science fiction.<ref>Template:Cite bookTemplate:Full citation needed</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> By the 1970s, critics within the field, such as Damon Knight and Terry Carr, were using "sci fi" to distinguish hack-work from serious science fiction.<ref name="wood skiffy"/>

Peter Nicholls writes that "SF" (or "sf") is "the preferred abbreviation within the community of sf writers and readers."<ref name="nicholls sf"/>

Robert Heinlein found even "science fiction" insufficient for certain types of works in this genre, and suggested the term speculative fiction to be used instead for those that are more "serious" or "thoughtful".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

History

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File:Bacon 1628 New Atlantis title page wpreview.png
New Atlantis by Francis Bacon (1626)

Some scholars assert that science fiction had its beginnings in ancient times, when the line between myth and fact was blurred.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Written in the 2nd century CE by the satirist Lucian, A True Story contains many themes and tropes characteristic of modern science fiction, including travel to other worlds, extraterrestrial lifeforms, interplanetary warfare, and artificial life. Some consider it the first science fiction novel.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Some of the stories from The Arabian Nights,<ref name="The Arabian Nights: A Companion"/><ref name="Richardson" /> along with the 10th-century The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter<ref name="Richardson"/> and Ibn al-Nafis's 13th-century Theologus Autodidactus,<ref name="Roubi"/> are also argued to contain elements of science fiction.

Several books written during the Scientific Revolution and later the Age of Enlightenment are considered true works of science-fantasy. Francis Bacon's New Atlantis (1627),<ref name="The Harmony of the Worlds" /> Johannes Kepler's Somnium (1634), Athanasius Kircher's Itinerarium extaticum (1656),<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Cyrano de Bergerac's Comical History of the States and Empires of the Moon (1657) and The States and Empires of the Sun (1662), Margaret Cavendish's "The Blazing World" (1666),<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite bookTemplate:Dead link</ref> Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels (1726), Ludvig Holberg's Nicolai Klimii Iter Subterraneum (1741) and Voltaire's Micromégas (1752).<ref>Khanna, Lee Cullen. "The Subject of Utopia: Margaret Cavendish and Her Blazing-World". Utopian and Science Fiction by Women: World of Difference. Syracuse: Syracuse UP, 1994. 15–34.</ref>

Isaac Asimov and Carl Sagan considered Johannes Kepler's Somnium the first science fiction story; it depicts a journey to the Moon and how the Earth's motion is seen from there.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Kepler has been called the "father of science fiction".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Following the 17th-century development of the novel as a literary form, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1818) and The Last Man (1826) helped define the form of the science fiction novel. Brian Aldiss has argued that Frankenstein was the first work of science fiction.<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Edgar Allan Poe wrote several stories considered to be science fiction, including "The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall" (1835), which featured a trip to the Moon.<ref>Tresch, John (2002). "Extra! Extra! Poe invents science fiction". In Hayes, Kevin J. The Cambridge Companion to Edgar Allan Poe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 113–132. Template:ISBN.</ref><ref name="poe moon" />

Jules Verne was noted for his attention to detail and scientific accuracy, especially in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas (1870).<ref name="Roberts48">Template:Citation</ref><ref>Template:Citation</ref><ref name="thomas196112">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1887, the novel El anacronópete by Spanish author Enrique Gaspar y Rimbau introduced the first time machine.<ref>La obra narrativa de Enrique Gaspar: El Anacronópete (1887), María de los Ángeles Ayala, Universidad de Alicante. Del Romanticismo al Realismo : Actas del I Coloquio de la S. L. E. S. XIX, Barcelona, 24–26 October 1996 / edited by Luis F. Díaz Larios, Enrique Miralles.</ref><ref>El anacronópete, English translation (2014), www.storypilot.com, Michael Main, accessed 13 April 2016</ref> An early French/Belgian science fiction writer was J.-H. Rosny aîné (1856–1940). Rosny's masterpiece is Les Navigateurs de l'Infini (The Navigators of Infinity) (1925) in which the word astronaut, "astronautique", was used for the first time.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Arthur B. Evans (1988). Science Fiction vs. Scientific Fiction in France: From Jules Verne to J.-H. Rosny Aîné (La science-fiction contre la fiction scientifique en France; De Jules Verne à J.-H. Rosny aìné) Template:Webarchive. In: Science fiction studies, vol. 15, no. 1, p. 1-11.</ref>

File:The War of the Worlds by Henrique Alvim Corrêa, original graphic 15.jpg
Alien invasion featured in The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells (1897), illustrated by Henrique Alvim Corrêa (1906)

Many critics consider H. G. Wells one of science fiction's most important authors,<ref name="Roberts48" /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> or even "the Shakespeare of science fiction".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> His works include The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), and The War of the Worlds (1898). His science fiction imagined alien invasion, biological engineering, invisibility, and time travel. In his non-fiction futurologist works he predicted the advent of airplanes, military tanks, nuclear weapons, satellite television, space travel, and something resembling the World Wide Web.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Edgar Rice Burroughs's A Princess of Mars, published in 1912, was the first of his three-decade-long planetary romance series of Barsoom novels, which were set on Mars and featured John Carter as the hero.<ref>Porges, Irwin (1975). Edgar Rice Burroughs. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press. Template:ISBN.</ref> These novels were predecessors to YA novels, and drew inspiration from European science fiction and American Western novels.<ref name="Encyclopedia Britannica">Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1924, We by Russian writer Yevgeny Zamyatin, one of the first dystopian novels, was published.<ref>Brown, p. xi, citing Shane, gives 1921. Russell, p. 3, dates the first draft to 1919.</ref> It describes a world of harmony and conformity within a united totalitarian state. It influenced the emergence of dystopia as a literary genre.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

In 1926, Hugo Gernsback published the first American science fiction magazine, Amazing Stories. In its first issue he wrote:

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In 1928, E. E. "Doc" Smith's first published work, The Skylark of Space, written in collaboration with Lee Hawkins Garby, appeared in Amazing Stories. It is often called the first great space opera.<ref name="Dozois">Template:Cite book</ref> The same year, Philip Francis Nowlan's original Buck Rogers story, Armageddon 2419, also appeared in Amazing Stories. This was followed by a Buck Rogers comic strip, the first serious science fiction comic.<ref name="guide">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref>

Last and First Men: A Story of the Near and Far Future is a "future history" science fiction novel written in 1930 by the British author Olaf Stapledon. A work of unprecedented scale in the genre, it describes the history of humanity from the present onwards across two billion years.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1937, John W. Campbell became editor of Astounding Science Fiction, an event that is sometimes considered the beginning of the Golden Age of Science Fiction, which was characterized by stories celebrating scientific achievement and progress.<ref name="sf history nvcc" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The "Golden Age" is often said to have ended in 1946, but sometimes the late 1940s and the 1950s are included.<ref>Nicholls, Peter (1981) The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, Granada, p. 258</ref>

In 1942, Isaac Asimov started his Foundation series, which chronicles the rise and fall of galactic empires and introduced psychohistory.<ref name="From Robots to Foundations" >Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The series was later awarded a one-time Hugo Award for "Best All-Time Series".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Theodore Sturgeon's More Than Human (1953) explored possible future human evolution.<ref>"Time and Space", Hartford Courant, 7 February 1954, p.SM19</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Aldiss & Wingrove, Trillion Year Spree, Victor Gollancz, 1986, p.237</ref> In 1957, Andromeda: A Space-Age Tale by the Russian writer and paleontologist Ivan Yefremov presented a view of a future interstellar communist civilization and is considered one of the most important Soviet science fiction novels.<ref name="sps">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1959, Robert A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers marked a departure from his earlier juvenile stories and novels.<ref name="gale196010">Template:Cite magazine</ref> It is one of the first and most influential examples of military science fiction,<ref name="Mcmilllan">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Liptak">Template:Cite news</ref> and introduced the concept of powered armor exoskeletons.<ref name="Intersections">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The German space opera series Perry Rhodan, written by various authors, started in 1961 with an account of the first Moon landing<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and has since expanded in space to multiple universes, and in time by billions of years.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It has become the most popular science fiction book series of all time.<ref>Mike Ashley (14 May 2007). Gateways to Forever: The Story of the Science-Fiction Magazines from 1970–1980. Liverpool University Press. p. 218. Template:ISBN.</ref>

In the 1960s and 1970s, New Wave science fiction was known for its embrace of a high degree of experimentation, both in form and in content, and a highbrow and self-consciously "literary" or "artistic" sensibility.<ref name="McGuirk">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In 1961, Solaris by Stanisław Lem was published in Poland.<ref>Peter Swirski (ed), The Art and Science of Stanislaw Lem, McGill-Queen's University Press, 2008, Template:ISBN</ref> The novel dealt with the theme of human limitations as its characters attempted to study a seemingly intelligent ocean on a newly discovered planet.<ref>Stanislaw Lem, Fantastyka i Futuriologia, Wedawnictwo Literackie, 1989, vol. 2, p. 365</ref><ref>Benét's Reader's Encyclopedia, fourth edition (1996), p. 590.</ref> Lem's work anticipated the creation of microrobots and micromachinery, nanotechnology, smartdust, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence (including swarm intelligence), as well as developing the ideas of "necroevolution" and the creation of artificial worlds.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1965, Dune by Frank Herbert featured a much more complex and detailed imagined future society than had previously in most science fiction.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1967 Anne McCaffrey began her Dragonriders of Pern science fantasy series.<ref>Dragonriders of Pern, ISFDB.</ref> Two of the novellas included in the first novel, Dragonflight, made McCaffrey the first woman to win a Hugo or Nebula Award.<ref name="first">Publishers Weekly review of Robin Roberts, Anne McCaffrey: A Life with Dragons (2007). Quoted by Amazon.com Template:Webarchive. Retrieved 16 July 2011.</ref>

In 1968, Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? was published. It is the literary source of the Blade Runner movie franchise.<ref name="Sammon">Sammon, Paul M. (1996). Future Noir: the Making of Blade Runner. London: Orion Media. p. 49. Template:ISBN.</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1969, The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin was set on a planet in which the inhabitants have no fixed gender. It is one of the most influential examples of social science fiction, feminist science fiction, and anthropological science fiction.<ref>Stover, Leon E. "Anthropology and Science Fiction" Current Anthropology, Vol. 14, No. 4 (Oct. 1973)</ref><ref>Reid, Suzanne Elizabeth (1997). Presenting Ursula Le Guin. New York, New York, USA: Twayne. Template:ISBN, pp=9, 120</ref><ref>Spivack, Charlotte (1984). Ursula K. Le Guin (1st ed.). Boston, Massachusetts, USA: Twayne Publishers. Template:ISBN., pp=44–50</ref>

In 1979, Science Fiction World began publication in the People's Republic of China.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It dominates the Chinese science fiction magazine market, at one time claiming a circulation of 300,000 copies per issue and an estimated 3–5 readers per copy (giving it a total estimated readership of at least 1 million), making it the world's most popular science fiction periodical.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1984, William Gibson's first novel, Neuromancer, helped popularize cyberpunk and the word "cyberspace", a term he originally coined in his 1982 short story Burning Chrome.<ref>Fitting, Peter (July 1991). "The Lessons of Cyberpunk". In Penley, C.; Ross, A. Technoculture. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. pp. 295–315</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="gibson cyber" /> In the same year, Octavia Butler's short story "Speech Sounds" won the Hugo Award for Short Story. She went on to explore in her work of racial injustice, global warming, women's rights, and political conflict.<ref>Pfeiffer, John R. "Butler, Octavia Estelle (b. 1947)." in Richard Bleiler (ed.), Science Fiction Writers: Critical Studies of the Major Authors from the Early Nineteenth Century to the Present Day, 2nd edn. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1999. 147–158.</ref> In 1995, she became the first science-fiction author to receive a MacArthur Fellowship.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1986, Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold began her Vorkosigan Saga.<ref name="Tor Shards">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Kelso">Template:Cite web</ref> 1992's Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson predicted immense social upheaval due to the information revolution.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2007, Liu Cixin's novel, The Three-Body Problem, was published in China. It was translated into English by Ken Liu and published by Tor Books in 2014,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and won the 2015 Hugo Award for Best Novel,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> making Liu the first Asian writer to win the award.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Emerging themes in late 20th and early 21st century science fiction include environmental issues, the implications of the Internet and the expanding information universe, questions about biotechnology, nanotechnology, and post-scarcity societies.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Recent trends and subgenres include steampunk,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> biopunk,<ref name="Pulver 1998">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> and mundane science fiction.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="dwalter">Template:Cite news</ref>

Film

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File:Maria from the film Metropolis, on display at the Robot Hall of Fame.jpg
The Maschinenmensch from Metropolis

The first, or at least one of the first, recorded science fiction film is 1902's A Trip to the Moon, directed by French filmmaker Georges Méliès.<ref name=Dixon12>Template:Citation</ref> It was influential on later filmmakers, bringing a different kind of creativity and fantasy.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Méliès's innovative editing and special effects techniques were widely imitated and became important elements of the cinematic medium.<ref name=1001Movies>Template:Citation</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

1927's Metropolis, directed by Fritz Lang, is the first feature-length science fiction film.<ref>SciFi Film History – Metropolis (1927) Template:WebarchiveThough most agree that the first science fiction film was Georges Méliès' A Trip to the Moon (1902), Metropolis (1926) is the first feature length outing of the genre. (scififilmhistory.com, retrieved 15 May 2013)</ref> Though not well received in its time,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> it is now considered a great and influential film.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="bfi">Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1954, Godzilla, directed by Ishirō Honda, began the kaiju subgenre of science fiction film, which feature large creatures of any form, usually attacking a major city or engaging other monsters in battle.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

1968's 2001: A Space Odyssey, directed by Stanley Kubrick and based on the work of Arthur C. Clarke, rose above the mostly B-movie offerings up to that time both in scope and quality, and influenced later science fiction films.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>In Focus on the Science Fiction Film, edited by William Johnson. Englewood Cliff, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1972.</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

That same year, Planet of the Apes (the original), directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and based on the 1963 French novel La Planète des Singes by Pierre Boulle, was released to popular and critical acclaim, its vivid depiction of a post-apocalyptic world in which intelligent apes dominate humans.<ref>Russo, Joe; Landsman, Larry; Gross, Edward (2001). Planet of the Apes Revisited: The Behind-The Scenes Story of the Classic Science Fiction Saga (1st ed.). New York: Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Griffin. Template:ISBN.</ref>

In 1977, George Lucas began the Star Wars film series with the film now identified as "Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope."<ref>Template:Citation</ref> The series, often called a space opera,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> went on to become a worldwide popular culture phenomenon,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the third-highest-grossing film series of all time.<ref name="boxofficemojo.com">Template:Cite web</ref>

Since the 1980s, science fiction films, along with fantasy, horror, and superhero films, have dominated Hollywood's big-budget productions.<ref> Escape Velocity: American Science Fiction Film, 1950–1982, Bradley Schauer, Wesleyan University Press, 3 January 2017, page 7</ref><ref name="boxofficemojo.com" /> Science fiction films often "cross-over" with other genres, including film noir (Blade Runner - 1982), family film (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial - 1982), war film (Enemy Mine - 1985), comedy (Spaceballs - 1987, Galaxy Quest - 1999), animation (WALL-E – 2008, Big Hero 6 – 2014), Western (Serenity – 2005), action (Edge of Tomorrow – 2014, The Matrix – 1999), adventure (Jupiter Ascending – 2015, Interstellar – 2014), mystery (Minority Report – 2002), thriller (Ex Machina – 2014), drama (Melancholia – 2011, Predestination – 2014), and romance (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – 2004, Her – 2013).<ref name="JohnsonSFF">Science Fiction Film: A Critical Introduction, Keith M. Johnston, Berg, 9 May 2013, pages 24–25. Some of the examples are given by this book.</ref>

Television

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File:Al Hodge Don Hastings Captain Video.JPG
Don Hastings (left) and Al Hodge in Captain Video and His Video Rangers

Science fiction and television have consistently been in a close relationship. Television or television-like technologies frequently appeared in science fiction long before television itself became widely available in the late 1940s and early 1950s.<ref name = Telotte> Science Fiction TV, J. P. Telotte, Routledge, 26 March 2014, pages 112, 179</ref>

The first known science fiction television program was a thirty-five-minute adapted excerpt of the play RUR, written by the Czech playwright Karel Čapek, broadcast live from the BBC's Alexandra Palace studios on 11 February 1938.<ref name="r.u.r.">Template:Cite book</ref> The first popular science fiction program on American television was the children's adventure serial Captain Video and His Video Rangers, which ran from June 1949 to April 1955.<ref name="cpt video">Template:Cite web</ref>

The Twilight Zone (the original series), produced and narrated by Rod Serling, who also wrote or co-wrote most of the episodes, ran from 1959 to 1964. It featured fantasy, suspense, and horror as well as science fiction, with each episode being a complete story.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Critics have ranked it as one of the best TV programs of any genre.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The animated series The Jetsons, while intended as comedy and only running for one season (1962–1963), predicted many inventions now in common use: flat-screen televisions, newspapers on a computer-like screen, computer viruses, video chat, tanning beds, home treadmills, and more.<ref>Template:Cite episode</ref>

In 1963, the time travel-themed Doctor Who premiered on BBC Television.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The original series ran until 1989 and was revived in 2005.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It has been extremely popular worldwide and has greatly influenced later TV science fiction.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Moran">Template:Cite news</ref>

Other programs in the 1960s included The Outer Limits (1963–1965),<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Lost in Space (1965–1968), and The Prisoner (1967).<ref>British Science Fiction Television: A Hitchhiker's Guide, John R. Cook, Peter Wright, I.B.Tauris, 6 January 2006, page 9</ref><ref>Gowran, Clay. "Nielsen Ratings Are Dim on New Shows". Chicago Tribune. 11 October 1966: B10.</ref><ref>Gould, Jack. "How Does Your Favorite Rate? Maybe Higher Than You Think." New York Times. 16 October 1966: 129.</ref>

Star Trek (the original series), created by Gene Roddenberry, premiered in 1966 on NBC Television and ran for three seasons.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> It combined elements of space opera and Space Western.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Only mildly successful at first, the series gained popularity through syndication and extraordinary fan interest. It became a very popular and influential franchise with many films, television shows, novels, and other works and products.<ref name="STPitch1">Roddenberry, Gene (11 March 1964). Star Trek Pitch Template:Webarchive, first draft. Accessed at LeeThomson.myzen.co.uk.</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref> Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–1994) led to six additional live action Star Trek shows: Deep Space Nine (1993–1999), Voyager (1995–2001), Enterprise (2001–2005), Discovery (2017–2024), Picard (2020–2023), and Strange New Worlds (2022–present), with more in some form of development.<ref>Template:Citation</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The miniseries V premiered in 1983 on NBC.<ref>Bedell, Sally (4 May 1983). "'V' SERIES AN NBC HIT". The New York Times. p. 27</ref> It depicted an attempted takeover of Earth by reptilian aliens.<ref name="EW 2005">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Red Dwarf, a comic science fiction series aired on BBC Two between 1988 and 1999, and on Dave since 2009.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The X-Files, which featured UFOs and conspiracy theories, was created by Chris Carter and broadcast by Fox Broadcasting Company from 1993 to 2002,<ref name="BehindTheXFiles">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and again from 2016 to 2018.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Stargate, a film about ancient astronauts and interstellar teleportation, was released in 1994. Stargate SG-1 premiered in 1997 and ran for 10 seasons (1997–2007). Spin-off series included Stargate Infinity (2002–2003), Stargate Atlantis (2004–2009), and Stargate Universe (2009–2011).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Other 1990s series included Quantum Leap (1989–1993) and Babylon 5 (1994–1999).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Syfy, launched in 1992 as The Sci-Fi Channel,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> specializes in science fiction, supernatural horror, and fantasy.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The space-Western series Firefly premiered in 2002 on Fox. It is set in the year 2517, after the arrival of humans in a new star system, and follows the adventures of the renegade crew of Serenity, a "Firefly-class" spaceship.<ref name="torontosun">Template:Cite web</ref> Orphan Black began its five-season run in 2013, about a woman who assumes the identity of one of her several genetically identical human clones. In late 2015, Syfy premiered The Expanse to great critical acclaim, an American TV series about humanity's colonization of the Solar System. Its later seasons would then be aired through Amazon Prime Video.

Social influence

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File:Imagination 195808.jpg
Space exploration was predicted in August 1958 by the science fiction magazine Imagination.

Science fiction's rapid rise in popularity during the first half of the 20th century was closely tied to the popular respect paid to science at that time, as well as the rapid pace of technological innovation and new inventions.<ref name = "AWonder">Astounding Wonder: Imagining Science and Science Fiction in Interwar America, John Cheng, University of Pennsylvania Press, 19 March 2012 pages 1–12.</ref> Science fiction has often predicted scientific and technological progress.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Some works predict that new inventions and progress will tend to improve life and society, for instance the stories of Arthur C. Clarke and Star Trek.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Others, such as H.G. Wells's The Time Machine and Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, warn about possible negative consequences.<ref name="Greenwood">The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Themes, Works, and Wonders, Volume 2, Gary Westfahl, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2005</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2001 the National Science Foundation conducted a survey on "Public Attitudes and Public Understanding: Science Fiction and Pseudoscience".<ref name="NSF"/> It found that people who read or prefer science fiction may think about or relate to science differently than other people. They also tend to support the space program and the idea of contacting extraterrestrial civilizations.<ref name="NSF" /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Carl Sagan wrote: "Many scientists deeply involved in the exploration of the solar system (myself among them) were first turned in that direction by science fiction."<ref name = growing>Template:Cite news</ref>

Science fiction has predicted several existing inventions, such as the atomic bomb,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> robots,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and borazon.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In the 2020 series Away astronauts use a Mars rover called InSight to listen intently for a landing on Mars. In 2022 scientists used InSight to listen for the landing of a spacecraft.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Science fiction can act as a vehicle to analyze and recognize a society's past, present, and potential future social relationships with the other. Science fiction offers a medium and representation of alterity and differences in social identity.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Brian Aldiss described science fiction as "cultural wallpaper".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> This widespread influence can be found in trends for writers to employ science fiction as a tool for advocacy and generating cultural insights, as well as for educators when teaching across a range of academic disciplines not limited to the natural sciences.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Scholar and science fiction critic George Edgar Slusser said that science fiction "is the one real international literary form we have today, and as such has branched out to visual media, interactive media and on to whatever new media the world will invent in the 21st century. Crossover issues between the sciences and the humanities are crucial for the century to come."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

As protest literature

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File:Feliz 1984.JPG
"Happy 1984" in Spanish or Portuguese, referencing George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, on a standing piece of the Berlin Wall (sometime after 1998)

Science fiction has sometimes been used as a means of social protest. George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) is an important work of dystopian science fiction.<ref name=BenetReader>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=aaron>Template:Cite news</ref> It is often invoked in protests against governments and leaders who are seen as totalitarian.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> James Cameron's 2009 film Avatar was intended as a protest against imperialism, and specifically the European colonization of the Americas.<ref name=npr>Template:Cite web</ref> Science fiction in Latin America and Spain explore the concept of authoritarianism.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Robots, artificial humans, human clones, intelligent computers, and their possible conflicts with human society have all been major themes of science fiction since, at least, the publication of Shelly's Frankenstein. Some critics have seen this as reflecting authors' concerns over the social alienation seen in modern society.<ref name = "Schelde1994">Androids, Humanoids, and Other Science Fiction Monsters: Science and Soul in Science Fiction Films, Per Schelde, NYU Press, 1994, pages 1–10</ref>

Feminist science fiction poses questions about social issues such as how society constructs gender roles, the role reproduction plays in defining gender, and the inequitable political or personal power of one gender over others. Some works have illustrated these themes using utopias to explore a society in which gender differences or gender power imbalances do not exist, or dystopias to explore worlds in which gender inequalities are intensified, thus asserting a need for feminist work to continue.<ref name="encyclopedia3"/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Climate fiction, or "cli-fi", deals with issues concerning climate change and global warming.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="DanBloom">Template:Cite news</ref> University courses on literature and environmental issues may include climate change fiction in their syllabi,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and it is often discussed by other media outside of science fiction fandom.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Libertarian science fiction focuses on the politics and social order implied by right libertarian philosophies with an emphasis on individualism and private property, and in some cases anti-statism.<ref name="Raymond">Template:Cite web</ref> Robert A. Heinlein is one of the most popular authors of this subgenre, including The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Stranger in a Strange Land.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Science fiction comedy often satirizes and criticizes present-day society, and sometimes makes fun of the conventions and clichés of more serious science fiction.<ref name="Fantasy, Bruce Shaw 2010, page 19">The Animal Fable in Science Fiction and Fantasy, Bruce Shaw, McFarland, 2010, page 19</ref><ref name="Comedy Science Fiction">Template:Cite web</ref>

Sense of wonder

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File:William Strang spider battle in 1894 True History.jpg
1894 illustration by Aubrey Beardsley for Lucian's A True Story

Science fiction is often said to inspire a "sense of wonder". Science fiction editor, publisher and critic David Hartwell wrote:<ref>Hartwell, David. Age of Wonders (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1985, page 42)</ref>

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Carl Sagan said:<ref name = growing/> Template:Quote

In 1967, Isaac Asimov commented on the changes then occurring in the science fiction community:<ref>Asimov, Isaac. 'Forward 1 – The Second Revolution' in Ellison, Harlan (ed.). Dangerous Visions (London: Victor Gollancz, 1987)</ref> Template:Quote

Science fiction studies

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File:Victoria Building, University of Liverpool 2019.jpg
The centrepiece of the university estate, the Victoria Building, University of Liverpool, as a science fiction degree-granting program.

The science fiction studies is the critical assessment interpretation, and discussion of science fiction literature, film, TV shows, new media, fandom, and fan fiction.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Science fiction scholars study science fiction to better understand it and its relationship to science, technology, politics, other genres, and culture-at-large.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Science fiction studies began around the turn of the 20th century, but it was not until later that science fiction studies solidified as a discipline with the publication of the academic journals Extrapolation (1959), Foundation: The International Review of Science Fiction (1972), and Science Fiction Studies (1973),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the establishment of the oldest organizations devoted to the study of science fiction in 1970, the Science Fiction Research Association and the Science Fiction Foundation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The field has grown considerably since the 1970s with the establishment of more journals, organizations, and conferences, as well as science fiction degree-granting programs such as those offered by the University of Liverpool.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Classification

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Template:Further Science fiction has historically been sub-divided between hard science fiction and soft science fiction, with the division centering on the feasibility of the science.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However, this distinction has come under increasing scrutiny in the 21st century. Some authors, such as Tade Thompson and Jeff VanderMeer, have pointed out that stories that focus explicitly on physics, astronomy, mathematics, and engineering tend to be considered "hard" science fiction, while stories that focus on botany, mycology, zoology, and the social sciences tend to be categorized as "soft", regardless of the relative rigor of the science.<ref name="tor.com">Template:Cite web</ref>

Max Gladstone defined "hard" science fiction as stories "where the math works", but pointed out that this ends up with stories that often seem "weirdly dated", as scientific paradigms shift over time.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Michael Swanwick dismissed the traditional definition of "hard" SF altogether, instead saying that it was defined by characters striving to solve problems "in the right way–with determination, a touch of stoicism, and the consciousness that the universe is not on his or her side."<ref name="tor.com"/>

Ursula K. Le Guin also criticized the more traditional view on the difference between "hard" and "soft" SF: "The 'hard' science fiction writers dismiss everything except, well, physics, astronomy, and maybe chemistry. Biology, sociology, anthropology—that's not science to them, that's soft stuff. They're not that interested in what human beings do, really. But I am. I draw on the social sciences a great deal."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Literary merit

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Engraving showing a naked man awaking on the floor and another man fleeing in horror. A skull and a book are next to the naked man and a window, with the moon shining through it, is in the background
Illustration by Theodor von Holst for 1831 edition of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein<ref>Template:Cite ODNB</ref>

Many critics remain skeptical of the literary value of science fiction and other forms of genre fiction, though some accepted authors have written works argued by opponents to constitute science fiction. Mary Shelley wrote a number of scientific romance novels in the Gothic literature tradition, including Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818).<ref name="introduction"/> Kurt Vonnegut was a highly respected American author whose works have been argued by some to contain science fiction premises or themes.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Other science fiction authors whose works are widely considered to be "serious" literature include Ray Bradbury (including, especially, Fahrenheit 451 (1953) and The Martian Chronicles (1951)),<ref name="NYT-20120606">Template:Cite news</ref> Arthur C. Clarke (especially for Childhood's End),<ref>Barlowe, Wayne Douglas (1987). Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials. Workman Publishing Company. Template:ISBN.</ref><ref>Baxter, John (1997). "Kubrick Beyond the Infinite". Stanley Kubrick: A Biography. Basic Books. pp. 199–230. Template:ISBN.</ref> and Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger, writing under the name Cordwainer Smith.<ref>Gary K. Wolfe and Carol T. Williams, "The Majesty of Kindness: The Dialectic of Cordwainer Smith", Voices for the Future: Essays on Major Science Fiction Writers, Volume 3, Thomas D. Clareson editor, Popular Press, 1983, pages 53–72.</ref> Doris Lessing, who was later awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, wrote a series of five SF novels, Canopus in Argos: Archives (1979–1983), which depict the efforts of more advanced species and civilizations to influence those less advanced, including humans on Earth.<ref name="Hazelton">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Galin">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Donoghue">Template:Cite news</ref>

David Barnett has pointed out that there are books such as The Road (2006) by Cormac McCarthy, Cloud Atlas (2004) by David Mitchell, The Gone-Away World (2008) by Nick Harkaway, The Stone Gods (2007) by Jeanette Winterson, and Oryx and Crake (2003) by Margaret Atwood, which use recognizable science fiction tropes, but which are not classified by their authors and publishers as science fiction.<ref name="guardian4"/> Atwood in particular argued against the categorization of works like the Handmaid's Tale as science fiction, labeling it, Oryx, and the Testaments as speculative fiction<ref name=Wilderness>Template:Cite web</ref> and deriding science fiction as "talking squids in outer space."<ref name="langford">Langford, David, "Bits and Pieces", SFX magazine No. 107, August 2003. Template:Webarchive</ref>

In his book "The Western Canon", literary critic Harold Bloom includes Brave New World, Stanisław Lem's Solaris, Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle, and The Left Hand of Darkness as culturally and aesthetically significant works of western literature, though Lem actively spurned the Western label of "science fiction".<ref name="SFWA">Template:Cite web in Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America FAQ, "paraphrasing Jerry Pournelle" who was SFWA President 1973–74</ref>

In her 1976 essay "Science Fiction and Mrs Brown", Ursula K. Le Guin was asked: "Can a science fiction writer write a novel?" She answered: "I believe that all novels ... deal with character... The great novelists have brought us to see whatever they wish us to see through some character. Otherwise, they would not be novelists, but poets, historians, or pamphleteers."<ref name="harpercollins"/>

Orson Scott Card, best known for his 1985 science fiction novel Ender's Game, has postulated that in science fiction the message and intellectual significance of the work are contained within the story itself and, therefore, does not require accepted literary devices and techniques he instead characterized as gimmicks or literary games.<ref name="google" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Jonathan Lethem, in a 1998 essay in the Village Voice entitled "Close Encounters: The Squandered Promise of Science Fiction", suggested that the point in 1973 when Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow was nominated for the Nebula Award and was passed over in favor of Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama, stands as "a hidden tombstone marking the death of the hope that SF was about to merge with the mainstream."<ref name="encounters"/> In the same year science fiction author and physicist Gregory Benford wrote: "SF is perhaps the defining genre of the twentieth century, although its conquering armies are still camped outside the Rome of the literary citadels."<ref name="september"/>

Community

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Authors

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Template:See also Science fiction has been written by diverse authors from around the world. According to 2013 statistics by the science fiction publisher Tor Books, men outnumber women by 78% to 22% among submissions to the publisher.<ref>Template:Cite web (See full statistics)</ref> A controversy about voting slates in the 2015 Hugo Awards highlighted tensions in the science fiction community between a trend of increasingly diverse works and authors being honored by awards, and reaction by groups of authors and fans who preferred what they considered more "traditional" science fiction.<ref name="The A.V. Club 6 April 2015">Template:Cite web</ref>

Awards

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Template:Main Among the most significant and well-known awards for science fiction are the Hugo Award for literature, presented by the World Science Fiction Society at Worldcon, and voted on by fans;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the Nebula Award for literature, presented by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and voted on by the community of authors;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel, presented by a jury of writers;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for short fiction, presented by a jury.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> One notable award for science fiction films and TV programs is the Saturn Award, which is presented annually by The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

There are other national awards, like Canada's Prix Aurora Awards,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> regional awards, like the Endeavour Award presented at Orycon for works from the U.S. Pacific Northwest,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and special interest or subgenre awards such as the Chesley Award for art, presented by the Association of Science Fiction & Fantasy Artists,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> or the World Fantasy Award for fantasy.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Magazines may organize reader polls, notably the Locus Award.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Conventions

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File:Sfcon-reading-ddb.jpg
Writer Pamela Dean reading at the Minneapolis convention known as Minicon in 2006

Conventions (in fandom, often shortened as "cons", such as "comic-con") are held in cities around the world, catering to a local, regional, national, or international membership.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Encyclopedia Britannica" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> General-interest conventions cover all aspects of science fiction, while others focus on a particular interest like media fandom, filking, and others.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Most science fiction conventions are organized by volunteers in non-profit groups, though most media-oriented events are organized by commercial promoters.<ref>Mark A. Mandel (7–9 January 2010). Conomastics: The Naming of Science Fiction Conventions. Template:Webarchive</ref>

Fandom and fanzines

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Science fiction fandom emerged from the letters column in Amazing Stories magazine. Soon fans began writing letters to each other, and then grouping their comments together in informal publications that became known as fanzines.<ref name="fanzine history"/> Once in regular contact, fans wanted to meet each other and organized local clubs.<ref name="fanzine history" /><ref name="fancyclopedia con" /> In the 1930s, the first science fiction conventions gathered fans from a wider area.<ref name="fancyclopedia con"/>

The earliest organized online fandom was the SF Lovers Community, originally a mailing list in the late 1970s with a text archive file that was updated regularly.<ref name="sf-lovers hist" /> In the 1980s, Usenet groups greatly expanded the circle of fans online.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In the 1990s, the development of the World-Wide Web increased the community of online fandom by of websites devoted to science fiction and related genres for all media.<ref name="fan clubhouse" />Template:Not in source

The first science fiction fanzine, The Comet, was published in 1930 by the Science Correspondence Club in Chicago, Illinois.<ref name="first fanzine" /><ref>Template:Citation</ref> One of the best known fanzines today is Ansible, edited by David Langford, winner of numerous Hugo awards.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Other notable fanzines to win one or more Hugo awards include File 770, Mimosa, and Plokta.<ref name="The Hugo Awards-2007">Template:Cite web</ref> Artists working for fanzines have frequently risen to prominence in the field, including Brad W. Foster, Teddy Harvia, and Joe Mayhew; the Hugos include a category for Best Fan Artists.<ref name="The Hugo Awards-2007" />Template:Clear

Elements

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File:Future Birthplace of Captain James T Kirk.jpg
Plaque at Riverside, Iowa, to honor the "future birth" of Star TrekTemplate:'s James T. Kirk

Science fiction elements can include, among others:

International examples

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Subgenres

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General and cited sources

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