1. Science Fiction
Realm of the Possible

2. Definition:
Literature of the human species encountering change, whether it arrives via scientific discoveries, technological innovations, natural events, or societal shifts.

3. It is also… Provides an approach to understanding the universe
Literature of ideas and philosophy
Provides an approach to understanding the universe
“What if?”
“If this goes on…”
Exploring ideas of what would happen to us as a group rather than developing a plot or character or what might happen to the individual
We can safely simulate experiments that we cannot or should not conduct in the real world.
Brave New World- we are not going to purposely dumb down people in order to work menial jobs
1984- we are not going to take away emotion
Cast with believable characters, and we can speculate what might happen if it were real

4. And again… Literature of the Other
A community of thinkers and creatives
Provides alternative points of view on familiar topics in order to give us a clearer perspective
All come together to better understand and share our visions of how humans might be changed.
Members must feel welcome, free, and safe to express true selves in our exploration of the human condition encountering change.

5. EARLY developments
Before 1500’s- elements found in early fantasy works
1500’s-1700’s (ish)- scientific discoveries that characterized the Enlightenment
Thomas More’s Utopia
Johannes Kepler's Somnium (The Dream, 1634)
Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels (1726)

6. OK…so. 1800’s 19th Century sees science propelled forward Mary Shelley
Frankenstein (1818) – “mad scientist” genre which experiments with putting human bodies together
 The Last Man (1826)- apocalyptic novel - future world that has been ravaged by a plague

7. The Grandaddies of Science Fiction - Verne and Wells
Jules Verne
H.G. Wells
Mixed adventure with technology in the modern day or propelled into the future
 Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864)
 From the Earth to the Moon(1865)
 Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1869) 
Uses science fiction to critique his society
Uses Darwinian evolution and Marxism
The Time Machine (1895)
The War of the Worlds (1898)