the fictional treatment in print, motion pictures, television, or other media of the effects of science or future events on human beings. More precisely, science fiction deals with events that did not happen or have not yet happened; it considers these events rationally in terms both of explanation and of consequences; and it is concerned with the impact of change on people, often with its consequences for the human race. The most common subjects for science fiction are the future, travel through space or time, life on other planets, and crises created by technology or alien creatures and environments.

Progenitors.

The subjects of science fiction have been touched upon by fantastic literature since ancient times. The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic dealt with a search for ultimate knowledge and immortality, the Greek myths of Daedalus with the technology of flying, and the True History (about ad 160) of Lucian of Samosata with a trip to the moon. Imaginary voyages and tales of strange people in distant lands were common in Greek and Roman literature and found new expression in the 14th-century book of travels written in French by the pseudonymous Sir John Mandeville. Trips to the moon were described by figures as diverse as the French writer Cyrano de Bergerac and the German astronomer Johannes Kepler in the 17th century and the British philosopher and novelist William Godwin in the 19th, among others. Another subject, the structure of better societies or better worlds, which goes back at least to the 4th century bc with Plato's Republic, was reintroduced and given a generic name when Sir Thomas More wrote Utopia (1516). Stories of an imaginary voyage were usually written for satirical purposes; perhaps the finest example is Gulliver's Travels (1726) by the English satirist Jonathan Swift.

Nevertheless, science fiction could not have existed in its present form without the recognition of social change at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution (c. 1750). The Gothic novel of the 18th century culminated in Frankenstein (1818) by the British novelist Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, a work permeated by a belief in the potential of science. Many authors of the 19th century, such as Edward Bellamy, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe, and Mark Twain in the U.S. and Rudyard Kipling in England, worked in the science-fiction genre at one time or another. The first great specialist of science fiction, however, was the French author Jules Verne, who dealt with geology and cave exploration in Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864), space travel in From the Earth to the Moon (1865) and Off on a Comet (1877), and the submarine and underwater marvels in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1870). Among continental European science-fiction writers of the 20th century, Polish author Stanisław Lem (1921–2006), who penned the novel Solaris (1961), is probably the best known.

Science-Fiction Novels in English.

Stories of lost races and unexplored corners of the world were popular in Victorian England. H. Rider Haggard's She and Allan Quatermain both appeared in 1887, and in 1912 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Lost World was published. The first major writer of science fiction in English, however, and the man who may be considered the father of modern science fiction is H. G. Wells. More interested in biology and evolution than in the physical sciences and more concerned about the social consequences of invention than the accuracy of the invention itself, Wells from 1894 on wrote stories of science invested with irony and realistic conviction. His reputation grew rapidly after the publication of The Time Machine in 1895; this was followed by The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), The War of the Worlds (1898), When the Sleeper Wakes (1899), and The First Men in the Moon (1901), before Wells turned to other forms of literature.

Other science-fiction novels were written by British authors during the first half of the 20th century. Noteworthy are the fancies of Matthew Phipps Shiel (1865–1947; The Purple Cloud, 1901), the cosmic panoramas of Olaf Stapledon (1886–1950; Last and First Men, 1930), and the allegories by the critic and Christian apologist C. S. Lewis (Out of the Silent Planet, 1938). Many British authors of standard fiction wrote one or two striking novels of a socially prophetic nature. Particularly successful and influential were Brave New World (1932), by Aldous Huxley, and Nineteen Eighty-four (1949), by George Orwell. One prolific British writer of books dealing with both science fiction and science fact is Arthur C. Clarke. His story Sentinel (1948) was the basis of the well-known movie 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), which was directed by Stanley Kubrick. (Clarke and Kubrick coauthored the screenplay, and Clarke's novel of the same name was also published in 1968.)

Another British writer, Douglas Adams (1952–2001), achieved widespread popularity with his satirical novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1979); the whimsical narrative and its sequels formed the basis of a 2005 movie with the same title. Canadian author Margaret Atwood expanded on an Orwellian premise in her most famous novel, The Handmaid's Tale (1985). The British novelist Doris Lessing has written a series of works in the science-fiction genre, notably The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five (1980) and The Sirian Experiments (1981).

The publication of science fiction in book form in the U.S. was infrequent between 1926 and 1946. Science fiction has since become an accepted category of publishing in the U.S., with novels, short-story collections, and anthologies attracting a large and loyal readership. Many of the titles published each year are spinoffs of popular film and television series such as Star Trek. Among the more celebrated American writers of mainstream science fiction, combining scientific extrapolation with narrative art, was Robert Heinlein (1907–88; The Green Hills of Earth, 1951, and Stranger in a Strange Land, 1961). Other widely known American science-fiction authors include Isaac Asimov (The Caves of Steel, 1953), who was also a prolific author of science surveys for the layperson; Philip K. Dick (1928–82), whose novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968) was the basis for the film Blade Runner (1982); Ray Bradbury (1920–    ; The Martian Chronicles, 1950, and Fahrenheit 451, 1953), who is considered more of a fantasy writer; and Ursula K. Le Guin (1929–    ; The Left Hand of Darkness, 1969, and The Dispossessed, 1974). The works of Frank Herbert (1920–86) are widely popular; his Dune Chronicles include Dune (1965), Children of Dune (1976), and God Emperor of Dune (1981).

Science-Fiction Magazines.

The characteristically American type of science fiction was at first published almost entirely in magazines. The authors of magazine science fiction emphasized technical accuracy and plausibility above literary value and sometimes above characterization. The mass magazines that developed in the 1890s published many stories of science, and the pulp fiction magazines of the turn of the century included many stories of romance and wild adventure, such as those written by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the creator of the widely popular hero Tarzan, and Garrett P. Serviss (1851–1929). In 1926 Hugo Gernsback (1884–1967), a Luxembourg emigrant who became an American editor, publisher, inventor, and author, founded the first science-fiction magazine, Amazing Stories. He believed that fiction could be a medium for disseminating scientific information and creating scientists; he published and wrote stories with this purpose in mind. An example of his writing is Ralph 124C41+, first serialized in his popular science magazine Modern Electrics in 1911. Gernsback also created a name for the new form, “scientifiction,” which he changed in 1929, with the founding of Science Wonder Stories, to “science fiction.” In 1937, when John Wood Campbell, Jr. (1910–71), became editor of Astounding Stories, that magazine began to feature a new type of science fiction. As an author, especially when writing under the pseudonym Don A. Stuart, Campbell already had added mood and characterization to the technical and prophetic aspect of science fiction. As an editor, Campbell helped to encourage other writers to produce science fiction of literary merit and fostered what has since been called “the golden age” of science fiction.

Later magazines included Fantasy and Science Fiction, founded in 1949 by the American authors and editors Anthony Boucher (1911–68) and Jesse Francis McComas (1911–78), and Galaxy Science Fiction, founded in 1950 by the Canadian-born author and editor H(orace) L(eonard) Gold (1914–96). In these magazines, emphasis shifted more toward literary, psychological, and sociological preoccupations, with some loss, however, of scientific content.

Beginning in the mid-1960s a new concern for humanistic values and experimental techniques emerged. Calling itself the “new wave,” it entered science fiction primarily through the English magazine New Worlds and was typified by the British writers Brian Aldiss (1925–    ) and J(ames) G(raham) Ballard (1930–    ) and the American writer Harlan Ellison (1934–    ). The new wave preferred to call what it wrote “speculative fiction,” as for example The Infinity Box (1975) by Kate Wilhelm (1928–    ). Much of this type of fiction was published in anthologies of original work, in particular Ellison's anthologies beginning with Dangerous Visions (1967).

Motion Pictures.

Science fiction has interested filmmakers since the earliest days of the cinema, though not often to the benefit of the film or of science fiction. Most such films have been adaptations of science-fiction literature and comic strips.

Unlike science-fiction literature, science-fiction cinema was, until the 1970s, increasingly preoccupied with unnatural creatures of various sorts, giving rise to a subgenre colloquially referred to as horror or monster movies. Motion pictures featuring alien beings, mutant creatures, or soulless humans were more often than not stereotyped melodramas. Among common themes of such science-fiction motion pictures were the fallibility of megalomaniacal scientists, the urgency of international cooperation against invaders from outer space or monsters from the earth, the rash hostility of people to anything alien, and the evil aspects of technology.

The earliest motion picture to treat fantasy, if not science fiction proper, was Le voyage dans la lune (A Trip to the Moon), created by the French filmmaker and magician Georges Méliès (1861–1938) in 1902. The motion picture company of the American inventor Thomas A. Edison produced A Trip to Mars in 1910. Early German filmmakers produced influential motion pictures culminating in such expressionistic films as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919) by Robert Wiene (1881–1938) and Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1926). Prominent American monster films, which have since inspired countless sequels, are Frankenstein (1931), Dracula (1931), and The Mummy (1932). Notable American serials of the 1930s were based on the comic-strip characters Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers. In 1933 came King Kong and The Invisible Man. In 1936 Great Britain produced the ambitious Things To Come, a visionary treatment of a utopian technocracy, the scenario for which was written by Wells, author of the novel, The Shape of Things to Come (1933), from which it was adapted.

The American producer and director George Pal (1908?–80) contributed several well-regarded films, beginning in 1950 with Destination Moon and continuing with When Worlds Collide (1951), The War of the Worlds (1953), and The Time Machine (1960). All four films won awards from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for their special effects. Other notable films of the 1950s were The Day the Earth Stood Still (1950), Forbidden Planet (1956), and The Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956).

The critically acclaimed science-fiction films of the 1960s and '70s, many of which were adapted from successful novels, include The Day of the Triffids (1963), Alphaville (1965), Fahrenheit 451 (1966), Fantastic Voyage (1966), Planet of the Apes (1968), The Andromeda Strain (1971), The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976), and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). The epic 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) became one of the most widely discussed science-fiction films of all time; and the science-fiction adventure fantasy Star Wars (1977) became one of the biggest movie box office hits to date. The sequels to Star Wars, several film episodes of Star Trek (based on the television series), E.T., the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Blade Runner (1982), The Terminator (1984), and the 2001 sequel 2010 (1984) demonstrate the range and popularity of science-fiction filmmaking in the 1980s. Since then, directors George Lucas and Steven Spielberg have continued to turn out science-fiction blockbusters. The Matrix (1999), written and directed by the brothers Andy (1967– ) and Larry (1965– ) Wachowski, imbued a science-fiction story with mysticism and gravity-defying martial arts sequences. The marriage of sci-fi and comic books has paid dividends in such Hollywood hits as Men in Black (1997), X2 (2003), and Spiderman 2 (2004).

Radio and Television.

One of the most successful science-fiction programs on radio in the 1930s was the serial “Buck Rogers.” In 1938 the realism of a broadcast production of Wells's The War of the Worlds by the American actor and director Orson Welles aroused panic among some listeners. Later such programs as “Dimension X” and “X Minus One” dramatized short stories.

Two American television programs from the 1950s are the science-fiction serials “Captain Video” and “Tom Corbett, Space Cadet.” In later years, Superman and other comic book heroes were featured on U.S. television, while the British series “Doctor Who” became an international cult favorite. Programs popular mainly with adults included “Twilight Zone,” “Outer Limits,” “Lost in Space,” “Land of the Giants,” “The Immortal,” and “Star Trek.” The last enjoyed such success in syndication after three years on the air that it created a large fan movement and still attracts thousands of fans to major conventions. Its success inspired several syndicated series, including the long-running sequels “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” and “Star Trek: Voyager.” “The X-Files,” a dramatic series focusing on paranormal phenomena, was a cult hit and one of the most influential television programs of the 1990s.

Conventions and Awards.

Science fiction is popular throughout the world, especially in Russia. As a consequence, fans began organizing World Science Fiction Conventions in 1939; the conventions are now managed by the World Science Fiction Society, which also sponsors the annual Hugo Awards for science fiction and fantasy. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, which was founded in 1965, selects Nebula Award winners to honor the year's best writing in the two related genres.

Science Fiction and Science.

Two major events brought science fiction general recognition as a literature of relevance: the explosion of the first atomic bomb in 1945 and the successful moon landing by two U.S. astronauts on July 20, 1969. Atomic bombs (and atomic energy) and spaceflight had been two of the major subjects of science fiction almost from its beginning, but they had been ridiculed by traditional critics and even many scientists as “mere science fiction.” Their realization and the recognition by many persons of the way in which life is being changed by science and technology have contributed to what Asimov has called “a science-fiction world.” This awareness was intensified in July 1976 when a space vehicle landed on Mars and transmitted to earth the first on-site photographs of another planet. It was further stimulated in November 1980 when the American spacecraft Voyager I flew by the planet Saturn and transmitted some 1 billion miles back to earth photographs of remarkable clarity. Scientists and explorers have credited science fiction by Verne and others for starting them on their professions. Space exploration by Soviet scientists was influenced by the writings of the Russian author Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (Beyond Earth, 1920), and German rocket research was inspired partly by the works of the German author Kurd Lasswitz (1848–1910, On Two Planets, 1897).

Science Fiction and the Classroom.

The growing acceptability of popular culture throughout society, along with a more liberal interpretation of what the curriculum may include, brought courses in science fiction into colleges and universities beginning in 1962. Today, a large number of colleges and universities in the U.S. teach at least one course in science fiction, as do many secondary schools. Teachers and scholars in the field organized the Science Fiction Research Association in 1970. Two scholarly journals, Extrapolation (quarterly) and Science Fiction Studies (three times a year) are published, along with countless amateur and semiprofessional fan magazines in the U.S. and abroad.        A.Bo., ANTHONY BOUCHER, M.A. & L.del R., LESTER del REY; J.G., JAMES GUNN, M.A.

For further information on this topic, see the Bibliography, section 826. Science fiction.