1. The History of Science Fiction
Don’t mess with me…
I’m made out of meat!

2. Images of Science Fiction.

3. define science fiction?
WHAT IF?
…how do we
define science fiction?

4. Science Fiction: a Definition
Fiction based on a plausible or possible change in society or technology

5. Magic is not science fiction.
It is fantasy.
No unicorns either!

6. PROTOSCIENCE FICTION
Fiction that LOOKS like science fiction or has science fiction
elements, but was written before there was a scientific sensibility.
HOMER: The Odyssey (a fantastic voyage with amazing creatures)
JONATHAN SWIFT: Gulliver’s Travels (strange lands, alien beings)
MARK TWAIN: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (magical time travel)
Fast Fact: The term “Science Fiction” wasn’t used until the 1930s.

7. Mary Shelley: The first SF author
, the author of Frankenstein
Fast fact: Frankenstein was written as a part of a bet between writers about who could tell the scariest story.
Fast fact: Mary Shelley was married to Percy Bysshe Shelley, a famous poet.

8. Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus
1816
Fast fact: The Frankenstein monster in Mary Shelley’s novel was not physically ugly.
His “ugliness” came from being made without a soul.

9. Fast fact: When Jules Verne was a child, he ran away to be a cabin boy on a merchant ship…
He became so wealthy from his writing that when he was older he bought a large yacht.
…he was caught.

10. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
1870
Fast fact: Verne’s books inspired many leading scientists, engineers, inventors and explorers.

11. Jules Verne: Other Titles
Five Weeks in a Balloon: 1863
Journey to the Center of the Earth: 1864
From the Earth to the Moon: 1865
Around the World in Eighty Days: 1873
The Mysterious Island: 1874

12. H.G. WELLS
Wells’ parents had him quit school at 13 to become a draper’s apprentice, a job he hated, so he went back to school.
Fast Fact: Wells is often called the “Father of Modern Science Fiction.”

13. Fast Fact: The Time Machine has been made into a movie twice (1960 and 2002)
1896

14. H.G. Wells: Other Titles The Island of Dr. Moreau: 1896
The Invisible Man: 1897
The War of the Worlds: 1898
The First Men in the Moon: 1900
The Food of the Gods: 1903
The Shape of Things
to Come: 1933

15. Pulp Magazines and Dime Novels
Science Fiction as popular literature

16. Growth of Popular Literature
The first dime novels sold in the 1860s. They were joined by
the “pulps” (cheaply produced magazines) and story papers.
Fast fact: The first pulp magazine has not been identified,
but it probably appeared in the 1880s (might have been The Argosy).

17. Popular Early Authors & Series
Tom Swift: starting in 1910…
…plus a 2nd series in the 1950s. And still in print with four series!

18. Popular Early Authors & Series
Edgar Rice Burroughs: author of Tarzan, the Martian
series and other SF titles, starting in 1912, and still in print…

19. Popular Early Authors & Series
H. Rider Haggard: She, King Solomon’s Mines, Allan
Quartermain, and other titles, starting in 1882 & still in print.
Fast fact: Sir Henry Haggard was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1919.

20. The First Science Fiction Magazines
Fast fact: The pulps grew and multiplied during the first 30 years
of the 20th century, and by 1930 there were hundreds of titles.

21. Golden Age Science Fiction Magazines
( )
Fast fact: The issue of Amazing Stories to the left is the 2nd issue ever produced, and a copy such as this (showing some wear) will cost the serious collector around $150. Notice that it includes stories by Wells, Verne, and Edgar Allen Poe.

22. Influential Early Editors
Magazine editors choose who to publish
and define what SF is
HUGO GERNSBACK: First editor of Amazing Stories, starting in The Hugo Award is named after him.
JOHN W. CAMPBELL: edited Astounding Science Fiction starting in He developed many new names who are now the classics. Edited Analog Science Fiction in the ’70s.

23. Authors who got their start in the 1930s and 1940s:
Golden Age Authors
Authors who got their start in the 1930s and 1940s:
ISAAC ASIMOV: most famous for The Foundation books and his robot stories (collected in I, Robot).
ROBERT SILVERBERG: numerous novels and short stories, and not writing today.
ARTHUR C. CLARKE: the author of 2001: A Space Odyssey. He’s lived in Sri Lanka.
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN: the author of Starship Troopers, Stranger in a Strange Land, and numerous others.
Many other authors also got their start at this time.

24. Science Fiction as “Literature” by mainstream authors
Some think of Science Fiction as “genre” and not “literary”
ALDOUS HUXLEY: Brave New World, 1932
GEORGE ORWELL: Animal Farm, , 1949.
KURT VONNEGUT: Slaughterhouse-Five, 1969.
MARGARET ATWOOD: The Handmaid’s Tale, 1986
Fast fact: Vonnegut’s most famous short story is…
…“Harrison Bergeron.”

25. The Book Market gradually replaces the magazines into the 1960s.
Influential Science Fiction Novels:
GEORGE STEWART: Earth Abides, 1949
RAY BRADBURY: The Martian Chronicles, 1950
ROBERT HEINLEIN: The Puppet Masters, 1951.
ALFRED BESTER: The Demolished Man, 1953
ARTHUR C. CLARKE: Childhood’s End, 1953
HAL CLEMENT: A Mission of Gravity, 1954
FRANK HERBERT: Dune, 1965
Fast fact: Only 2 of these books have not been adapted for film. Which ones?

26. Who will film these books?
GEORGE STEWART: Earth Abides, 1949
HAL CLEMENT: A Mission of Gravity, 1954
Fast fact: Childhood’s End and The Demolished Man have directors hired and are scheduled to be filmed in the very near future.

27. Science Fiction at the Movies
The history of science fiction as literature is hard to separate from its life in film.
Metropolis, 1926

28. Science Fiction at the Movies
The Invisible Man, 1933

29. Science Fiction at the Movies
Destination Moon, 1950
The Day the Earth
Stood Still, 1951

30. Science Fiction at the Movies
War of the Worlds, 1953
Creature From the Black Lagoon, 1954

31. Science Fiction at the Movies
Forbidden Planet, 1956

32. Science Fiction in Television
Captain Video, 1949
Buck Rogers, 1950
Flash Gordon, 1953
The Twilight Zone, 1959

33. Science
Fiction
In TV
1966
1993
2001
1987
1995

34. Where Science Fiction is Today:
Movies
Star Wars,
Alien, 1979

35. Where Science Fiction is Today:
Movies
Gattaca, 1997
The Matrix, 1999

36. Where Science Fiction is Today:
Movies
Pitch Black, 2000
The Hitchhiker’s Guide, 2005

37. Where Science Fiction is Today:
Movies
V for Vendetta, 2006
Serenity, 2005

38. Where Science Fiction is Today:
Movies
Looper, 2012
WALL-E, 2008

39. Where Science Fiction is Today:
Movies
GRAVITY, 2013
INCEPTION, 2010

40. Science Fiction Today: Authors

41. Science
Fiction
Today: TV
BABYLON 5

42. Science
Fiction
Today: TV
FARSCAPE

43. Science
Fiction
Today: TV
STARGATE

44. Science
Fiction
Today: TV
Battlestar Galactica

45. May the Future be with you…
always…