Sci Fi history

Here is a short history of science fiction, (sci fi).

Science fiction (sci fi) can be traced back almost two millennia, as evidenced in such works as Lucian's True History in the 2nd century, and some of the Arabian Nights tales, such as the Tale of The Bamboo cutter in the 10th century. However, notions of 'automata' probably go back thousand of years to the ancient Chinese dynasties.

Following the development of modern science, Voltaire's  Micromegas  was one of the first true science fiction works to emerge. Jonathan Swift's  Gulliver's Travels  and Kepler's  Somnium, also began to experiment with the sci fi concept, although it wasn't referred to as such.

But the seeds were being sown for what was to become a very distinct genre in its own right. According to  Carl Sagan  and Isaac Asimov,  Somnium was the world's first sci fi story. It tells of a journey to the Moon and how the Earth's movements could be observed from there.  Very early cinema also began developing a fascination for the moon, and even anticipated journeys to it which became actual fact 100 years later.

With the development of the novel as a literary form in the early 19th century, Frankenstein author Mary Shelley, helped to clarify the form of the sci fi novel as it is known today.   Edgar Allen Poe took up the moon theme and wrote a story about a flight to that celestial body. But he was more famous for his macabre gothic fiction.

It was the developments in science in the 19th century, that stimulated more writings of this kind. Writers like Jules Verne and H.G.Wells began creating a body of work which became universally popular at that time and crossed a number of social barriers. But the shorthand term sci fi had still not yet come into useage.  Fiction of this type was generally referred to as scientific romances. Wells became the principal exponent of this art form at the time, and acheived world wide fame for his classic tales, including, the Time Machine, the Invisible man, and others.

Other offshoots followed, such as  Flatland,  A Romance of Many Dimensions by  Edwin Abbott published in 1894. Referring to these works as scientific romances continued in use right into the early 20th century, for such authors  as  Olaf Stapledon, who is now largely forgotten

The early 20th Century a  saw a leap in interest in this subject and it became more clearly defined and identified by the public. The emergence of the sci fi pulp magazine helped develop a new generation of  sci fi  writers, mainly American at the time.  As with fantasy writings, the use of art helped to define stereotypes in the public's mind.

Hugo Gernsback, became a cultural leader at this time as the founder of Amazing Stories magazine. In the late 1930s, John Campbell became editor of Astounding Science Fiction, and a number new writers emerged in New York. They called themselves the Futurians, which including Isaac Asimov, Frederik Pohl, James Blish, and others.  More so than ever, sci fi writing and art had become cultural bed fellows, and lurid covers of books were now the norm.

Round about this time, authors such as  Arthur C. Clarke, A. E. van Vogt and Robert Heinlein also started to make a name for themselves. Campbell's supervision of the Astounding Science Fiction magazine is thought to be the beginning of the Golden Age of sci fi. This lasted until after the war, when new magazines like Galaxy under Pohl as editor, broke the old mold.  Arthur C. Clarkes 2001 a Space Odyssey is reknowned as an all time classic, which also succeeded in acheiving a new cinematic high.

In the 1950s, author William S. Burroughs came into his own and in the 1960s and early 1970s, writers like Frank Herbert, and Harlan Ellison started to experiment with new ideas and writing styles. The British weren't far behind, coming forward as the sci fi  New Wave.  In the 1970s, writers like Poul Anderson began to reshape so called hard SF while Ursula Le Guin and others experiemented with soft science fiction.  Female characterisations were starting to creep into this kind of fiction more and more.

With the arrival  of the 1980s, cyberpunk was born and authors like William Gibson took a pessimistic line. But Star Wars managed to galvanise a new interest in the sci fi genre.  Cherryh's explorations of alien life influenced a generation of new authors as it still does today.

Themes in the 1990s included environmental issues, the plus and minus's of the global Internet, and open discussions of  biotechnology and nanotechnology. Post apocalytpic scenarios were also popular fodder for the sci fi writer at this time.  Once again, the pessimism of the writer spilled over into cinema with depressing effect.

These themes were explored in some depth in Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age. But but Bujold's Vorkosigan novels made the character driven story popular again. Star Trek, the television series, inspired a flood of new SF shows such as Babylon 5.

More recently,Vernor Vinge's sci  fi  novel Marooned in Realtime which focussed on the 'technological singularity', made a profound impact and was explored by other writers, although scientific accuracy was often sacrificed in favour of plot and character.  At the present time there is a flood of new science fiction, seemingly going hand and hand with exponential developments in technology.

 
 
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