- Sun Oct 20, 2013 11:41 am
#7309
Can science fiction ever get the science right?
There has always been a drive for scientific accuracy within science fiction, especially within the "hard science fiction" literary sub-genre. But sci-fi, especially in film, tends to have a more flamboyant approach, where realism is often dispensed with in favour of visual flair.
What is "hard" science fiction?
"Hard science fiction should not wilfully ignore or break known scientific principles.
While a rigorous definition of "hard science fiction" may be impossible, perhaps the most important thing about it is, not that it should include real science in any great detail, but that it should respect the scientific spirit.
It should seek to provide natural rather than supernatural or transcendental explanations for the events and phenomena it describes."
Source: Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
Do you prefer realism in your science fiction, and when you see those scientific flaws do you wince as the immersion is ruined for you? Or do you overlook the flaws when the plot is solid and the story is great, and carry on nevertheless; ignoring any possible blemish in the fabric of time and space?
Click here to read more about science fiction films from the past and present that got it right and those that didn't...
Source: BBC News Magazine
There has always been a drive for scientific accuracy within science fiction, especially within the "hard science fiction" literary sub-genre. But sci-fi, especially in film, tends to have a more flamboyant approach, where realism is often dispensed with in favour of visual flair.
What is "hard" science fiction?
"Hard science fiction should not wilfully ignore or break known scientific principles.
While a rigorous definition of "hard science fiction" may be impossible, perhaps the most important thing about it is, not that it should include real science in any great detail, but that it should respect the scientific spirit.
It should seek to provide natural rather than supernatural or transcendental explanations for the events and phenomena it describes."
Source: Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
Do you prefer realism in your science fiction, and when you see those scientific flaws do you wince as the immersion is ruined for you? Or do you overlook the flaws when the plot is solid and the story is great, and carry on nevertheless; ignoring any possible blemish in the fabric of time and space?
Click here to read more about science fiction films from the past and present that got it right and those that didn't...
Source: BBC News Magazine
"You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete." R.Buckminster Fuller