science fiction research project

   
   
   

   
-       
   
   
   
      

      
      

    
    
    

   
   

is an award-winning science-fiction author and scholar, founded the new ( ), directed (and previously helped run) the from 1995-2022, teaches SF and creative writing at KU and elsewhere, and offers workshops and masterclasses around the world. He's been a professional writer and editor for decades, managed a documentation team, freelances for a variety of publishers, worked in the gaming industry, and is a popular public speaker. He writes not just and , but also such as astronomy articles, technical documents, game supplements, journalism (and some , too)... just about every writing genre. He's also edited magazines, developed websites since the 1990s, and more.

His newest short fiction, " ," won the . His debut novel, , is now in its second edition. He recently finished a far-future novel, , and has several other projects on the burners, including . Feel free to mine his experience for tips and advice about writing, editing, and the science fiction field.

Read , or check out .

Feel free to mine his experience for tips and advice about writing and editing in general, as well as about the science-fiction field.

Other contact info:

- Annalee Newitz, . By successfully completing this course, you'll become fluent in SF by studying some of the most-influential novels that shaped the genre and the world we inhabit today - and where we'll live tomorrow.

Gain an understanding of contemporary and future science fiction by studying the history of the genre and many of the works that started important conversations about what it means to be human in a changing world. After reading a diversity of novel-length SF, we discuss how the genre got to be what it is today by comparing the works and their place in the evolution of SF, from Wells through more recent books. You will demonstrate your understanding of the genre by writing daily reading responses, writing a mid-term paper, participating in a group presentation, and creating a substantial final project. By the end of the semester, you'll gain significant expertise in the field.

Award-winning SF author and scholar leads the course.

To empower you to earn your best grade, practice research and participation skills that'll help your scholarly and professional careers, and get the most out of the course, you have endless opportunities to earn bonus ( ) points using an additive (rather than the typical deductive) grading system. You'll find lots of suggestions for additional related research, events, and media throughout the syllabus as well as via Blackboard announcements and in-class discussion. Take full advantage of these opportunities - and exceed minimum writing and participation expectations - to your grade!

This course is now exclusively offered for professionalization through the for educators, science-fiction authors, and readers looking to deepen their understanding of the genre. For those enrolling not-for-credit, you can ignore mentions of grading (I've left these in for other educators looking for syllabus-building ideas).

Everyone enjoys equal access to our , and we actively encourage students and scholars from diverse backgrounds to study with us. All courses offered by Center-related faculty are also available to be taken not-for-credit for professionalization purposes by community members (if space is available). .

The coordinates accommodations and services for all eligible KU students. If you have a disability for which you wish to request accommodation and have not contacted the AAAC, please do so as soon as possible. Their office is located in ; their phone number is (785)864-4064 (V/TTY), or email them at   Feel free to contact me privately about your needs in this course.

See the reading list, below, for the most-current set of works we'll read and discuss. very useful in finding the stories in our various volumes (for reference only - see the syllabus, below, for which stories we read, when). Always read the short essays that introduce each story, as well as the book introductions whenever we start a new volume.-->

Each day, one or two students help lead discussion, bringing enough good questions to keep a lively discussion going for the class period; . (Your instructor also brings lots of his own prompts and notes, so you're not alone.) Discussants should also seek relevant information about the authors, how the stories influenced the science fiction that was to follow. You must lead the daily discussion at least once alone or twice with a partner, but may serve more often. This is a major part of your grade and an important learning opportunity.

: In preparation for each session, find, read, and respond to short (or long, if you choose) work that represents the week's topic, time period, author, or literary movement. Include your response to this work as part of your regular response paper. If you find it online, provide a link in your response paper. Otherwise, include bibliographic information. Also please share these recommendations for your classmates via the Blackboard discussion forum.

This list reflects important works that helped shape the genre. Here is what we'll read, alphabetical by author. , edited by James Gunn.--> The titles below contain links to online booksellers like and ; click these links to find the books for sale online:

Full details about which stories we'll be reading and discussing on each day are available below.

Some of these volumes might be difficult to find, so I urge you seek copies early and, when books are out of print, search used bookstores (such as and Hastings) and online services (we've provided links to two major online booksellers after each title, above). The University of Kansas Jayhawk Ink bookstore has copies of many of these books on hand. The Center also holds a few copies of many of these books, so if you are local to Lawrence or are in town for our other summer programs, check with me to see if we can lend you a copy. These are available on a first-come, first-served basis. This course-specific lending library is primarily supplied by previous students donating copies after completing their course, so if you want to pass on the love to the next generation rather than keep your books, let your teacher know!

For further reading - and to - here are the books that I've removed from the required reading list over time to reflect changing understanding of the genre. They're still important and recommended works for understanding the history of the SF novel, but we only have so much time:

To get a full feel of the complete works from which we read a number of excerpts, be sure to look them up - most are in the public domain.

Want more book recommendations? James Gunn and my " " is a go-to internet resource for building reading lists. It's organized by author.

Want more ideas for Check out the . Most years, the majority of those works could have won the award if the jury had just a few different members. You can find tons more great SF novels in the .

Want lots of free SF ebooks and e-zines? Check out .

Want more book recommendations? James Gunn's and my " " is a go-to internet resource for building reading lists. It's organized by author.

More in the " " at the end of this page. Keep checking back....

Here are the works we'll discuss each day, with links to online booksellers like and ; click these to find the books for sale online. The University of Kansas Jayhawk Ink Bookstore tries to have copies of these books on hand, and many other bookstores carry them, as well. useful in identifying where to find the stories in our various volumes. Be sure to read the short that introduce each story, as well as the book introductions whenever we start a new volume.-->

Each week, two or three students lead the discussions, bringing enough good questions to keep a lively discussion going for the entire class period; for each class session. Discussants also seek relevant information about the authors, how the books influenced the science fiction that was to follow, and so forth. You must lead the daily discussion at least twice, but may serve more often. This is a major part of your grade and an important learning opportunity!

. : Expect some updates before class; syllabus gets regular updates, including new suggestions to Level Up.

Week 2: September 4

Week 3: September 11

Week 4: September 18

Week 5: September 25

Week 6: October 2

Week 7: October 9

Week 8: October 16

Week 9: October 23

Week 10: October 30

Week 11: November 6

Week 12: November 13

Week 13: November 20

Week 2: September 3 In the Beginning / Visions of Humanity's Far Future

Week 3: September 10 The Alien Peril

Week 4: September 17 The Human Condition

Week 5: September 24 Thought Experiments

Week 6: October 1 Powers of the Mind / Evolution Continues

Week 7: October 8 Invoking the Social Sciences

Week 8: October 15 SF and the Literary Mainstream

Week 9: October 22 Dystopia and th e Future

Week 10: October 29 Tinkering with History

Week 11: November 5 The Biological Imperative

Week 12: November 12 Cyberpunk and the Singularity

Week 13: November 19 Looking Backward and Forward: Where Does SF Go Next?

November 25 No Class: Thanksgiving Break

December 3 Awesome Student Presentations!   (or awesome final discussion about SF!)

December 10 Awesome Student Presentations!

December 17 - 18 No Class: Final Project Due

 Course Requirements

To successfully complete the course and get out of it all you can, you are required to:

• Attend class each week.
• Participate in class, which means being involved in every discussion, each day.
• Lead at least two class sessions with a partner or partners.
• Read the required books and other materials.
• Write insightful weekly response papers.
• Write a formal mid-term research paper.
• Create a longer final project due at the end of the semester.
• Participate in a live group presentation on one of the last two days of class.

To earn top scores and get a great final grade, be sure to Level Up whenever possible!

 Class Periods

Each week we discuss a variety of readings, their authors, the science fiction genre, and the historical context in which they appeared. Occasionally, we might have guest speakers. Class periods revolve largely around discussion, with some lecture.

Be civil : These are discussions about ideas, not arguments! Civility and respect for the opinions of others are vital for a free exchange of ideas. You might not agree with everything I or others say in the classroom, but I expect respectful behavior and interaction all times. When you disagree with someone, make a distinction between criticizing an idea and criticizing the person . Similarly, try to remember that discussions can become heated, so if someone seems to be attacking you, keep in mind they take issue with your idea , not who you are , and respond appropriately. Expressions or actions that disparage a person's age, culture, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity or expression, nationality, race, religion, or sexual orientation - or their marital, parental, or veteran status - are contrary to the mission of this course and will not be tolerated. If we all strive to be decent human beings, everyone will get the most out of this course!

Attendance and Class Participation

This is a discussion-based course, so class participation is weighed heavily. Coming to class and getting involved in the discussions is necessary for getting a good grade, but also for getting the most value from the course. The discussions aren't just explication of plot or concept, though we will discuss those; I expect you to exercise your critical-reading skills. That is, don't just read the fiction for pleasure, don't just accept the related scholarship or introductions as canon, and don't feel the need to agree with your classmates' ideas - no one scholar can tell you the One True History of Science Fiction. By the end of this course you should possess expertise of your own in the topic. During the discussions, I want to witness your growing understanding of the genre based on the required readings, your outside research discoveries, and your own experience with SF over the years.

Of course, be polite and diplomatic. Avoid dominating discussions, mindlessly blathering, talking over others, or speaking even when someone shyer than you has already raised their hand; doing so frequently can negate possible bonuses. Exercise your socialization: If you're normally shy, here's your chance to talk about something you love! If you're normally domineering, tone it down.

If you know you are going to miss a class for an academic event, illness, or other excusable reason, contact me as soon as possible to see if we can work out something so it does not negatively affect your overall grade too much. If appropriate, I can mitigate this loss so your attendance percentage remains unaffected. Otherwise, here is how I score attendance and participation:

During discussions, do not expose yourself or others to distractions such as checking email, Facebook, and so forth. If you're looking up relevant content, do so in a way that doesn't distract you or your classmates. Obviously, turn off your phone's ringer/buzzer. I know it's sometimes a challenge to focus during extended discussion, but recent studies show that the human mind cannot pay attention to more than one thing at a time, and fracturing your attention means you're not getting everything possible out of each discussion. Even worse, monkeying around online also interrupts your neighbors' attention.

Feel free to take notes on your computer or portable device - for pulling up your notes or looking for content to share - if you choose, just stay away from distractions. It's difficult to remain engaged in discussions if your mind is elsewhere, and doing so also bumps down your overall grade. On the other hand, actively participating in class discussions bumps up your overall grade.

I'm sure you have heard this before, but it's as true as ever: You get out of any activity only what you put into it. The more effort and creativity you apply to your projects and to class discussions, the more you will learn and the better the class will be for everyone else, as well. If you do not regularly attend class or do not participate in discussions, you'll miss out on a lot of opportunities to learn and grow as a person. 

Be sure to show up and get involved!

Graduate students and teachers: I expect you to participate every day, providing insightful comments and questions while encouraging those less inclined to participate - but not to dominate the discussions. 

Attendance and class participation base value ( 3 points per class session ): 15 x 3 = 45 base points possible.

• Never miss a class: +4 .
• Great participants in the daily discussions can earn up to +20 points over the course of the semester!

Missing class is the best way to lose points here: -3 points per missed class (after the first).

If you know you are going to miss a class for an academic event, illness, or other excusable reason, contact me as soon as possible to see if we can work out something so it does not negatively affect your overall grade too much. If appropriate, I can mitigate this loss so your attendance percentage remains unaffected.

Discussants

Your instructor will likely open each day with some background on science fiction, especially the topics and genre movements relevant to the day's discussions, and some information about the authors. After that, two or more students lead (not monopolize) the discussion. You can split up the tasks among your fellow discussant(s) based on readings, topics, or however you see fit. I simply expect everyone to serve equally. Everyone is required to act as discussant at least twice during the semester. If you have special needs and cannot perform this task, let me know early.

Discussants perform additional research prior to class (further readings on the genre movements at hand and the day's authors, identifying possible multimedia content, and so forth) and come prepared with at least six questions and discussion prompts for each book to stimulate discussion among your peers about the day's topic and readings. Turn in these discussion plans as your response for that week (in place of or in addition to your response paper).  I expect all students to participate in discussions, but I also request that you avoid talking too much or talking over others. These are discussions about ideas, not arguments or lectures!

If you would like to suggest relevant content (stories, comics, shows, movies, other narratives, or so forth) for the week you're leading discussion, by all means drop me an email with links to the materials! Great new SF is always appearing, and you might know of something I don't. This is a cooperative course! I'm happy to add links or suggested readings, given enough time for the rest of the class to read or otherwise study it.

Graduate students and teachers : Demonstrate solid pedagogical theory! Act as if you're teaching this course for a day. I expect you to participate every day, providing insightful comments and questions while encouraging those less inclined to participate - but not to dominate the discussions.

Base value: 5 x 2 weeks = 10 points.

• Lead more than two sessions (if needed): +5 .
• Facilitate particularly excellent in-class sessions: +1 for each Discussion Day of Awesome.
• Really stand-out content preparation (lots of extra research, extra discussion prompts, multimedia use in class, sharing resources with the class, and so on): +1 for each Discussion Day of Awesome.
• Suggested new content makes it onto the weekly pages (you must submit links at least two weeks in advance): +1 for each week's new content.
• Possibly more ways to get bonuses - be a kick-butt discussion leader!

If you suffer from social anxiety, please talk to me so we can work out an alternative to leading discussions.

 Papers and Projects

In addition to good participation, much of your grade depends on the short response papers you write on a weekly basis, your mid-term paper, plus the longer research project. If you use non-standard software to create your projects, save them in standard formats (I prefer .doc format files, but I'll accept .docx .html, .rtf, and .pdf formats as needed). Turn in papers via Blackboard before class begins on the due date or by end of day on days when we don't meet for class. They will be graded and returned via Blackboard in a reasonable time.

Want to enhance your literary-criticism chops and Level Up by incorporating traditional (or novel) lit-crit approaches into your papers? Check out this overview page about " Literary-Criticism Approaches to Studying Science Fiction ."

 Weekly Response Papers

Prior to each class, write a short reading-response paper and turn it in via Blackboard in the "Week [x] Response Paper" slot. Please paste the text from your response into the Submission text box rather than (or in addition to) attaching the document, to make it simpler for me to read everyone's papers each week. Along with participation in each week's discussion, these papers are scored as an important measure of your engagement with the day's topics.

This short ( 300-500 words for undergrads, 400-1000 words for graduate students) paper is a brief but thoughtful response to all of the readings for that week. (If you go a little long, that's better than too short, but be kind to your teacher!) Provide your thoughts on the week's assigned works in terms of theme, ideas, character, story, setting, position in the SF canon, influence on other works, and so forth.

Don't just provide a plot summary, but instead provide insightful, critical, and thoughtful reflections on the works. When responding to the fiction, ask yourself what the author was trying to say (themes), and how the story responds to the changing times in which it was written. When leading the week's discussion, include your discussion-leader notes as part of your reading response, or in addition to it.

As in the discussions, exercise your critical-reading skills when writing these responses; that is, don't just read the fiction simply for pleasure, and don't just accept everything that scholars and critics have written about them as canon. I want to hear how you synthesize new ideas from the assigned materials, your additional readings and other interactions, and your own experiences.

Regarding format : Many people use bullets for discussion points, bold the titles of the works you're discussing, or use the titles as headings. Some people write responses that resemble essays, citing the works in tandem, while others merely respond to each individually. However you prefer to handle it is fine, but what's most important is that you've thought through all the works for each day and their relationship to one another as well as to the overall SF genre and its evolution.

Tip : Even if you aren't leading the week's discussion, include at least a couple of questions to pose to the class or points to stimulate discussion. I suggest bringing your response to class - especially your questions - to help formulate ideas during discussion. (Also be sure to turn them in via Blackboard in advance of class.) They are usually scored in Blackboard by the following week.

Graduate students and teachers: As you might imagine, I expect more from your papers. They should reflect your mastery of the form as well as provide insights worthy of your added experience and education. Additionally, for each topic, please find, read, and respond to an additional work (any length is fine) that matches the week's themes, authors, or so forth. Include your response to this work as part of your regular response paper. If you find it online, provide a link in your response paper. Otherwise, include bibliographic information. Insightfulness and clarity are important. Think about this: If you were teaching this course, what additional short-nonfiction readings might you add to the week's readings to aid the students? What book(s) might you add to the groupings - or what books might you use to replace one of the assigned readings? Keep in mind that the chosen works aren't necessarily the best-ever, but the most representative and influential.

Weekly Paper Scoring

Base value: 3 points each x 13 = 26 total.

Here is how I score the weekly response papers:

    0 - no paper, or bad one turned in late.     1 - turned in, but provides no interesting insights and does not convince me you did close readings.     2 - has interesting insights on the readings or convinces me you completed the reading.     3 - convinces me you did all the reading and provides interesting insights.     4 - ( +1 Level Up) references all the required materials and shares thoughtful responses to everything, plus discusses additional materials relevant* to the week's content.

That means you could possibly earn one-third bonus over the base score for your Weekly Responses by Leveling Up every week! Up to +13 .

* Some examples of additional materials to cover in your response paper include a short story, an episode of a show, a comic (issue of a printed comic or multi-page online comic), an SF event (convention, book-club gathering, book release or reading, significant fan event, or so on), a movie, browsing through (with intent, using your critical skills) a large series of art pieces (such as paintings, sculptures, photographs, and the like), or so forth. You can also count something that you actively create and share with others, such as fanfiction, fan-art, thoughtful blogging, or so forth. This is something that should take the average person at least an hour or two to fully appreciate, consider, and respond to (yes, I have a pretty solid gauge for this). If you've created something that's posted online, just turn in a direct link to it. Please use standard file formats; don't make me have to buy or download software just to see it, or set up an account just to read it.

Late papers get -1 point each if turned in after the relevant class session begins. Turn them in on time! Missing response papers are due ASAP, at the very latest during Finals Week .

Here is how I score the weekly papers, based on 0-4 points each:     0 - no paper.     1 - paper turned in, but does not convince me that you did all of the reading.     2 - paper convinces me that you did some of the reading.     3 - paper either has interesting insights on most of the readings or convinces me that you did all of the reading.     4 - paper convinces that you did all the reading and provides interesting insights.

Missing response papers are due ASAP, at the very latest during Finals Week at a reduced score.

Late papers lose 1 point if turned in after class sessions or up to one week late; after that, they might lose more. Turn them in on time!

Mid-Term Paper

During the semester, choose either a pair of readings from the syllabus or equivalent new ones, perform additional research beyond the required materials for that topic, and write a short, formal paper about them or their themes. Additionally , cover at least three more short pieces or at least one book- or movie-length piece; these may be fiction, nonfiction, multimedia, or other sources that support or illustrate your themes. Think of this project as an extended weekly response with additional support and a bibliography and other references as appropriate (Wikipedia is not a source, but is often a good place to find sources), or a formal paper that uses those works to make an argument or provide interesting insights into SF or its evolution over the years.

This paper must be at least 1000  words for undergraduates, at least 2000 words for graduate students , up to a max of 4000 words for undergraduates or 6000 words for graduates (again, longer is okay, just consider how much your teacher needs to read). They are graded on the quality of writing (including grammar and spelling), thesis and argument, diversity of research, and how interesting you make it.

Format your bibliography as appropriate for your field of study ( MLA for most Humanities, Chicago for most other fields, and so forth; here's a good list of style guides ). References, bibliographies, artist's statements, and endnote pages do not count toward your word-count.

Some resources you might find useful:

• Critical approaches to SF lit - a list with links, some questions each lit-crit approach asks, and some background.
• Check out the essays on this site, especially James Gunn's " The Protocols of Science Fiction " piece and my page about " Defining Science Fiction ."
• Here's a presentation with great images of the SF resources (.pdf).
• Here's an overview of their resources (.pdf).
• Materials about SF and literature - plus the essay, "Towards an Aesthetic of Science Fiction," by Joanna Russ.
• Tons more research resources here .

Graduate students : In addition to the basics of writing an insightful paper, I expect you to demonstrate mastery of the form.

NOTE : This paper takes the place of your regular reading-response paper for one week, but be sure to turn it in to the Blackboard Assignment called " Mid-Term Paper ," not the regular weekly response paper slot. You must leave a note in that week's response assignment slot letting me know that you are turning in your Mid-Term Paper in place of that week's response so I don't think you're missing that response.

Due date : You may turn in your paper as early as Week 2 or as late as Week 10; you need not turn this in on the same week that the reading response would be due, but it's due by Week 10 at the latest .

Base value: 40 points .

• See this page for how to successfully do a peer critique , which also describes what I'm looking for in what you turn in for your Level Up assignment.
• Not only does performing a peer-review earn you bonus points, but it will also improve both of your papers!
• Bonus points you can earn here can vary widely based on how much effort you put into your review: up to +10 .
• Include an annotated bibliography (regular bibliography is required, and neither counts toward total word-count): +4 . 
• Teach me something new, make and support an original or thoughtful argument, or so forth: up to +4 .
• Turn it in early: up to +7 .
• Possibly more ways to get bonuses. Write a kick-butt paper!

A late Mid-Term Paper gets -2 points per day late for the first five days late (that's -10 after a week), then -2 points per day late after that. "Late" is after Thursday of Week 10. Turn them in on time! Missing papers are due ASAP, at the very latest during Finals Week  (at a deduction).

 Group Presentation

The two last sessions of the course are reserved for student oral or multimedia presentations. Here's your chance to pitch your great idea for the in-class presentation project, build teams, chat, and otherwise prep for the last two class sessions. Your job is to share your understanding of SF through a live or multimedia presentation to your classmates. You can present about particular SF works, genre movements, films, TV shows, other other topics - it's up to you!

To help focus your efforts, answer this question: What's the "big picture" you've taken away about science fiction, especially the SF novel? How have you come to understand how SF reflects the human experience when encountering change? Especially strive to elucidate what SF means to you as a group, or how it informs the future as you see it, and share your unique insights into what you see as the future of speculative fiction. The form of the presentation is open: Feel free to make it a panel discussion, debate, movie, live game, quiz-show, radio play, skit, guided interactive activity, or other form. Let your imagination run free! This is a great opportunity to express yourself and your understanding of science fiction and its history as well as its future shape, its creators and creative side, ideas and inspirations, and so forth. Form up with a group of students ( 3-5 is optimal ), and present for a total of about 6 minutes per group member ; that is, a 4-person group presents for 24 minutes, while a 5-person group presents for about 30 minutes. If you're showing a short (5-20 minute) film you created, bring discussion prompts for afterward. Your group chooses a topic that illustrates or dramatizes what you all feel is important about science fiction, works together to develop the idea into a shape suitable for sharing with others, then presents it to the class. Be polite: Don't run over your time limit! We'll have a little extra time after each presentation for a short Q&A session. Every group member provides an equal level of participation overall, including research, preparation, and presentation. You may decide if one member is more of a script-writer or video-editor than actor or presenter, for example, as long as everyone's work is balanced - just let me know how you divided the work in the Submission notes section of the Blackboard assignment slot. You may divide your total number of minutes among the presenters however you see fit; let me know how each participated in the project if you're not dividing your live-presentation time equally. Each individual within the group is graded on the clarity and organization of the presentation, the quality of the analysis, the appropriate use of reference material, and individual contribution.

Turn this in via Blackboard if possible, or post a link to where it lives online if not. The majority of how I score this project comes from experiencing your live presentation.

Base value: 40 points . Help make this group project outstanding - and be a great individual contributor - to Level Up! ( up to +6 )

 Final Project

The final project can be a traditional essay, a set of teaching materials, or a creative work. Your project explores a topic in science fiction, preferably something not listed in the syllabus or discussed in class - though you may pursue those if you select an angle we didn't already cover or discuss. Projects must be at least 2000 words for undergraduates (max of max of 7500 words), 3000 words for graduate students (max of 10,000 words) . Non-text-based projects must clearly demonstrate a similar level of effort.

To help focus your efforts, answer or consider these questions:

• How do the work or works you're analyzing or creating fit into the larger discussion that is science fiction?
• What do they add?
• What are their influences?
• What are they responding to?
• How do they extend what you think of as "science fiction"?
• What's the "big picture" you've taken away about science fiction, especially the SF novel?
• How have you come to understand how SF reflects the human experience when encountering change?

Share your unique insights into what you see as the future of speculative fiction. Especially strive to elucidate what SF means to you , or how it informs the future as you see it. Discuss as usual in a scholarly piece, or define in your creative piece's artist statement.

You must include an alphabetized bibliography with a traditional paper or lesson plan, or an annotated bibliography at the end of your document if it is a creative work. An annotated bibliography is a set of references that provide a summary of your readings and research, to give me an idea of where you got your inspiration, scientific or technical resources, and so forth. List your sources alphabetically and include a brief summary or annotation for each work that you quote in the paper or that you use as a reference (or inspiration). Format your bibliography as appropriate for your field of study ( MLA for much of the Humanities, Chicago for most other fields, and so forth; here's a good list of style guides ). Turn in this project via Blackboard .

Grad students : In addition to the basics of writing an insightful paper, I expect you to demonstrate mastery of the form.

References, bibliographies, artist's statements, and endnote pages do not count toward your word-count.

Base value: 80 points .

Some suggestions for exceeding the base points on this project:

• Throughout the semester, pay attention to what your classmates, teacher, and others say in class, take notes on great ideas or things you disagree with, and note the date and names of the speakers so you can cite them. Accurately cite in-class discussions that support your arguments, and list such materials in your bibliography. Also, cite and list diverse references, both in terms of quantity and media form. Up to +5 . 
• Write a kick-butt paper! Teach me something new, make and support an original or thoughtful argument, or so forth: up to +5 .
• Bonus points you can earn here can vary widely based on how much effort you put into your review: up to +12 .
• Possibly more ways to get bonuses!

A late Final Project gets -4 points per day late up to a max of -16. "Late" is any time after the due date. 

Option A: Traditional Paper

I grade formal papers on the quality and diversity of research (both fictional and non-fictional), the writing (including grammar and spelling), and the strength of the topic and argument. What I most want is for you to demonstrate what you've learned from the course readings, your outside readings, and in-class discussions, and how you express this synthesis: Demonstrate your understanding of science fiction and the development of the SF novel.

Format your bibliography as appropriate for your field of study ( MLA for much of the Humanities, Chicago for most other fields, and so forth; here's a good list of style guides ).

This is not something that you can successfully complete at the last minute. The research paper represents a semester-long investigation of topics that interest you. If you wish to use works from the assigned readings that we discussed in class, I expect you to have something new to say that we didn't already discuss.

Option B: Course Outline, Lesson Plan, or Study Guide

Participants who choose this option are often teachers and those pursuing that profession. Choose from these three options or provide another option that fits your pedagogical approach:

• Course outline : Design a course in science fiction. This can cover any aspect of SF or serve as an introduction to the field. Successful course outlines I've seen before include "Feminist Science Fiction," "Utopian Science Fiction," and others targeted at college undergraduate students, and "Science Fiction: An Introduction" targeted at junior-high schoolers. You can pick any age group you wish, just be sure to specify that when you turn it in. I understand that a complete course plan is a major project, so this can be relatively high-level. Required elements include pedagogy (why teach these materials and how), reading list, and high-level syllabus. If you wish to write a formal, complete course plan, that's great! But it needn't exceed the required word-count.
• Lesson plan : Design in detail a single lesson plan for a series of short pieces or a book. This includes the part that students see (from a larger syllabus), plus your teaching notes (lecture comments, questions for student discussion, and so on), and writing prompts.
• Study guide : This is a detailed examination of a single long work or group of short pieces on a single topic. It usually covers plot, character, ideas, themes, setting, and so forth, and often ends with self-study questions. The audience for this ranges from students working independently to teachers looking to develop a lesson plan.

All of these options make wonderful additions to AboutSF! I encourage you to share this project with other teachers via this educational-outreach program.

Option C: Creative Work

A creative work (story, series of poems, play, short film, collection of artworks, website, creative nonfiction, or so forth) must dramatize how the ideas and themes posed in your work might affect believable, interesting characters living in a convincing, fully realized world in addition to revealing substantial understanding of the science fiction genre. For the purposes of this course, your annotated bibliography (normally not included in creative work) is particularly important if you pursue this option, because I want to see the diversity of readings that helped you develop your work (both fictional and non-fictional). Show your research with a good annotated bibliography, demonstrate your understanding of science fiction, and make your creative work stand on its own.

To be crystal-clear in defining how your creative work displays your understanding of SF, its history, its future, and your response to it, also include an " artist's statement ," as it very much helps in evaluating creative work. Write this either as an appendix to your document (but don't count this toward your word-count) or paste it into the Notes to Instructor text box of the Blackboard assignment. If you're creating a multimedia project, please post to an appropriate media host - give me a link to where your project lives, and upload to Blackboard your annotated bibliography and artist's statement, as well.

Be aware that this option is more challenging - especially if you haven't taken creative-writing courses - because I expect the same level of research as in the other options plus a good story or other creative expression. Click here for some useful creative-writing resources . 

Final Project Deadline

Your final project is due by Thursday of Finals Week, before 5:00pm . The completed project is due via Blackboard . If you've created a website, posted a short film to the internet, or otherwise cannot upload the project directly, just provide a link (website URL) to where I can find the project online in the Submission section of the appropriate Blackboard Final Project assignment slot.

Your course grade is based upon these factors. Out of a possible 210 (approximate) points:

• Weekly response paper (4 points each, for a total of 48) = 23%
• Mid-term paper (40 points) = 19%
• Presentation (40 points) = 19%
• Final project (80 points) = 39%

I want you to be in control of your scores as much as possible, so I've adopted a you-centered method for tracking success (in the academic world, it's called " incentive-centered grading " or " gamification "). Everything you do in this course beyond the basics of the required elements earns you points toward "leveling up" your scores (and, therefore, your grade), while giving you some freedom to choose between options. Your final grade is up to you!

By simply completing all the readings, turning in excellent responses on time each week, creating an well-written mid-term project, doing a good job in the group presentation, creating a good final project, attending every class plus engaging in active discussion while there, and partnering to lead at least two class sessions, you are pretty much guaranteed at least a C+ or better for your final grade.

Want to reach higher and earn a better grade? See the Level Up! section below and throughout the syllabus.

Level Points Needed Grade Legend 309 or above A Hero 298 - 308 A- Master 287 - 297 B+ Guru 276 - 286 B Expert 265 - 275 B- Adept (base) 254 - 264 C+ Apprentice 243 - 253 C Intern 232 - 242 C- Trainee 221 - 231 D+ Novice 210 - 220 D Beginner 199 - 209 D- Conscript 198 or below F

So if you're comfortable rising no higher "Adept" (a letter grade of C+ ), you need between 254 and 264 points. You'll easily earn those points by doing solid work on the required course components:

• Reading the assigned content and turning in weekly response papers: 13 x 3 = 39 base points possible (up to +13 Level Up possible).
• Attendance and class participation: 15 x 3 = 45 base points possible (up to +24 or more Level Up possible).
• Leading discussions: 2 x 5 = 10 base points possible (up to +11 Level Up possible).
• Mid-Term paper: 40 base points possible (up to +15 or more Level Up possible).
• Presentation: 40 base points possible (up to +6 Level Up possible).
• Final project 80 base points possible (up to +10 or more Level Up possible).
• TOTAL possible base-level points: 254 .

But you have lots of chances to Level Up throughout the semester, making it easy to greatly grow your level. See each section for details on Level Ups and Penalties . See the next section, Chloe's Example Scenario , and every other section for more opportunities.

    TOTAL possible Level Up points: +79 or more!

Graduate students : I have additional expectations for you - see my comments directed to you throughout this document!

We use the metaphor of Leveling Up to earn better-than-average grades (think game systems). In place of the traditional deductive-only grade system (where you lose points by not turning in perfect work), our system uses additive grading (which is gaining a lot of pedagogical traction in education theory). You'll have a multitude of opportunities to earn bonus points by (for example) doing additional research, reporting on that added work, and sharing your discoveries in class. You can also Level Up for exceeding my expectations on every project and in every class period; that is, you get more points than the base value when you exceed "average effort" (traditionally graded as C work), thereby raising your grade incrementally toward a B or A. It's up to you!

On the other hand, if you choose to simply meet all the basic requirements and do acceptable work on your projects, you'll end up with a grade around a C+.

I want you to be in control over your final grade, using a familiar and empowering metaphor.

So, want to earn a higher grade in this course? Each section in this syllabus offers some options for Leveling Up! Possible bonuses abound: See each assignment section for details on more ways to earn bonus points. Here are some semester-long examples of how you can gain extra points:

• Attend outside events, write reports on them, and turn them in to the various Level Up slots you'll find in Blackboard . I'll post announcements there when I identify some cool opportunities, and I'll also add assignments there for you to turn in your bonus papers. 
• Kick butt on your projects! See the descriptions in this syllabus for ideas. Basically, you have the opportunity to exceed my expectations - and Level Up - with every project!

Basically, be an epic student! You might just get bonus points in the end.

On the other hand, just like in many game-scoring systems, in this course you have a few ways to lose points, too:

• Miss a class session: -3 (per missed class after the first). Note : You're allowed one unexcused absence for the semester. Excused absences include medical and family emergencies, so if you encounter this, let me know. It's your responsibility to schedule employment, school, and other responsibilities around your classes, or accept the consequences. If you must miss class, please contact me ahead of time to make arrangements for catching up on missed material.
• If you attend but do not participate in class discussions, this also lowers your overall grade on a variable scale depending on engagement or lack thereof. If you have special needs (for example, you have social phobias), contact me in advance so we can work out alternatives. 
• Of course, not turning in projects or doing poor work can lose you points, leading to reduced grades. So do your best - and exceed my expectations to Level Up instead!

What's My Grade? Chloe's Example Scenario.

If you're not familiar with this sort of process (perhaps you've never played a video or role-playing game!), you can determine your progress toward higher grade (aka higher level) as in this example:

• It's Week 9, just over half-way through the semester. Chloe has been doing exceptional work so far, attending all the classes, participating in consistent and thoughtful ways, turning in all her required responses and several Level Up responses. She also did a great job leading one week's discussion with a partner.      Points tracking: +57 (+8 average per week for turning in all responses plus Level Up s on time), +32 (perfect attendance), +16 (great class participation without talking over others), +10 (led one week in a Level Up kind of way).      Running Total: 115 points
• Chloe turns in her response for the week. Because she's really interested in the topic, she responds thoughtfully to all the materials.      Points tracking: +3 (base), +1 (exceptional work).     Running Total: 118
• She also does an outstanding job on her second response for the week.      Points tracking: +2 (base), +1 (exceptional work, listing a couple of questions to pose to the class).     Running Total: 121
• But that's not all. She also watches a Dr. Who episode relevant to the topic, because she's a big fan of the Doctor. She loves it even more in context with the theme! So she looks up some fan blogs and an io9 article about the episode, and realizes why she was so moved by it. She includes this material in her weekly Level Up response, and not only talks about the episode but provides insights into why, and relates this to what some of her fellow students mentioned in class:      Points tracking: +2 (Level Up).     Running Total: 123
• She turned in her Mid-Term paper early. Her paper not only discusses all the readings for that week, but also includes a detailed annotated bibliography , is insightful and provides a detailed critical response to things she loved and one she really hated, provides evidence for her argument about how the piece she hated was flawed as well as evidence for why her favorite piece was genre-stretching - and she delivers it in the form of a post in her blog, complete with embedded images, video, and dozens of links.      Points tracking: +40 (base), +4 (annotated bibliography Level Up ), +4 (outstanding paper Level Up ) +6 (turned in early).      Running Total: 177
• She also performed a really useful and complete peer-review on her partner's Mid-Term, and remembered to turn in both her partner's edited draft and her critique document to Blackboard.      Points tracking: +10 ( Level Up ).      Running Total: 187 points
• Oh, and because of her specific interest in the topic, she led this week's discussion.      Points tracking: +5 (base discussion leader), +2 (two days of awesome preparation, with great questions and added recommended material), +2 (two Days of Awesome In-Class Discussion facilitation), +1 (recommends some great Level Up material to add to the week's web page).     Running Total: 197

She's already Leveled Up from Conscript to Beginner... and she's only a little past half-way through the semester! If she Levels Up her Presentation (let's say she gets 44 points) and Final Project (she kicks it and gets 89 points) in the ways she usually does, that alone is enough to elevate her to Legend level. So, assuming she's just as motivated for the rest of the semester, she'll easily rise through the ranks to Legend status and beyond: Last year, three motivated students earned more than 300 points! You can, too. 

More Good Stuff

Ready for more? Check out these suggestions.

 Events and Activities

Want to hang out (at least virtually) with other SF folks? See the Lawrence Science Fiction Club on Facebook for details.

Check out some of these multimedia offerings. Click here to see them on this site , or click here to see our YouTube channel .

Benjamin Cartwright, former Volunteer Coordinator AboutSF, created a wonderful podcast program. Check it out at the AboutSF main page or at our Podomatic site !

To learn about more stuff, more quickly, you can also find events and lots of SF-related chat with the Lawrence Science Fiction Club! Info, discussions, and (hopefully soon!) meeting times are regularly posted at our Facebook page . Know of something of interest to like-minded folks? Join and drop a note there!

Here's a cool event each Spring, right after Spring finals:

Spectrum Fantastic Art Live Show Friday and Saturday, in mid-May Also the Spectrum Awards Show Grand Ballroom of Bartle Hall Convention Center Kansas City, MO

What are you doing on Memorial Day Weekend? Why not attend the ConQuest science fiction convention in Kansas City.

Sticking around for the summer? Don't miss the annual Campbell Conference and Awards weekend in June.

Want to take more speculative-fiction courses? Check out my growing list of offerings .

Go here to see lots more resources .

 More Recommended Readings

Want to read more SF? You've come to the right place!

Our lending library holds many books, magazines, and more, so if you are local to Lawrence or are in town for our other summer programs, check with McKitterick to see if we can lend you a copy. These are available on a first-come, first-served basis. We also have a course-specific lending library for the SF Literature course - which is primarily supplied by previous students donating copies after completing their course - so if you want to pass on the love to the next generation rather than keep your books, let your teacher know!

Want more? Check out the winners of the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best SF novel of the year . To see even more great books, check out the recent finalists for the Campbell Memorial Award - most years, the majority of those works could have won the award if the jury had just a few different members.

For short fiction, check out the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for best short SF winners, and the recent Sturgeon Award finalists . As with the Campbell, you're likely to find something you'll love among the finalists - and many of them live online, and you'll find links to the stories from that page.

Slate 's Future Tense Fiction series is pretty cool - all about the consequences and side-effects of tech on human life. Here's their nonfiction section on the same topic.

The Guardian asked some of SF's greatest living authors to share what they feel are the best books or authors in the genre, and what they came up with is a brilliant list .

Want lots of free SF ebooks and e-zines? Check out Project Gutenberg's growing SF collection .

Want even more recommendations? My and James Gunn's " A Basic Science Fiction Library " is a go-to internet resource for building reading lists. It's organized by author.

We hold many books, so if you are local to Lawrence or are in town for our other summer programs, check with me to see if we can lend you a copy. These are available on a first-come, first-served basis. This lending library is primarily supplied by previous students donating copies after completing their courses, so if you want to pass on the love to the next generation rather than keep your books, let your teacher know!

Want to take more speculative-fiction courses? You're in luck! Check out my growing list of offerings .

Go here to see lots more resources on this site.

If you like novels, or just want to prepare for next year's SF-novels version of this course, here you go:

• Isaac Asimov, The Caves of Steel [ Amazon | Powell's ]
• Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale [ Amazon | Powell's ]
• Iain M. Banks, Consider Phlebas [ Amazon | Powell's ]
• Greg Bear, Darwin's Radio [ Amazon | Powell's ]
• Gregory Benford, Timescape [ Amazon | Powell's ]
• Alfred Bester, The Demolished Man [ Amazon | Powell's ]
• John Brunner, Stand on Zanzibar [ Amazon | Powell's ]
• Octavia Butler, Dawn [ Amazon | Powell's ] , book one of the Xenogenesis trilogy [ Amazon | Powell's ]
• Arthur C. Clarke, Childhood's End [ Amazon | Powell's ]
• Hal Clement, Mission of Gravity [ Amazon | Powell's ]
• Philip K. Dick, The Man in the High Castle [ Amazon | Powell's ]
• William Gibson, Neuromancer [ Amazon | Powell's ]
• James Gunn, The Listeners [ Amazon | Powell's ]
• Robert A. Heinlein, The Puppet Masters [ Amazon | Powell's ]
• Frank Herbert, Dune [ Amazon | Powell's ]
• Ursula Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness [ Amazon | Powell's ]
• China Miéville, Perdido Street Station [ Amazon | Powell's ]
• Frederik Pohl, Gateway [ Amazon | Powell's ]
• Charles Stross, Accelerando ( free download here ) [ Amazon | Powell's ]
• Theodore Sturgeon, More than Human [ Amazon | Powell's ]
• Jack Vance, The Languages of Pao [ Amazon | Powell's ]
• Kurt Vonnegut, The Sirens of Titan [ Amazon | Powell's ]
• A. E. van Vogt, The World of Null-A [ Amazon | Powell's ]
• H. G. Wells, The Time Machine [ Amazon | Powell's ]
• ___, The War of the Worlds [ Amazon | Powell's ]

Here are the books removed from the SF-novels reading list - still important and recommended works for understanding the history of the SF novel, but we only have so much time:

• Brian W. Aldiss, Helliconia Spring [ Amazon | Powell's ]
• Isaac Asimov, The Foundation Trilogy [ Amazon | Powell's ]
• Samuel R. Delany, Babel-17 [ Amazon | Powell's ]
• Pohl and Kornbluth, The Space Merchants [ Amazon | Powell's ]
• Robert Silverberg, Dying Inside [ Amazon | Powell's ]
• Gene Wolfe, The Shadow of the Torturer [ Amazon | Powell's ]

McKitterick was on Minnesota Public Radio's " The Daily Circuit " show in June 2012, which was a "summer reading" show dedicated to spec-fic and remembering Ray Bradbury. Great to see Public Radio continuing to cover SF after their "100 Best SF Novels" list . Here's what he added to the show's blog :

A great resource for finding wonderful SF is to check out the winners and finalists for the major awards. For example, here's a list of the John W. Campbell Memorial Award winners. And here's a list of recent finalists for the Award. Here's the list of the Nebula Award novel winners . And the Hugo Award winners , which has links to each year's finalists, as well. A couple of books I didn't get a chance to mention include Ray Bradbury's R Is for Rocket , which contains a story that turned me into an author: "The Rocket" (along with Heinlein's Rocketship Galileo and Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time ). Bradbury's Dandelion Wine is another, along with books like Frank Herbert's Dune , Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy , Clifford Simak's City (a Minnesota native), SF anthologies like James Gunn's Road to Science Fiction and the DAW Annual Year's Best SF , and tons more. Personally, my favorite Bradbury short story is pretty much everything Bradbury every wrote. His writing is moving and evocative like Simak and Theodore Sturgeon's - probably why those three made such an impression on the young-me. But if I had to pick only one that most influenced me as a writer, it would probably be "The Rocket," a beautiful story about a junk-man who has to decide between his personal dreams of space and love of his family. It was adapted into a radio show for NBC's "Short Story" series (you can listen to the MP3 audio recording here ).

He was on again in September 2012, when they did a story on " What did science fiction writers predict for 2012? " The other guest was a futurist - an interesting discussion!

Stay tuned for more to come!

* "' History of Science Fiction ' is a graphic chronology that maps the literary genre from its nascent roots in mythology and fantastic stories to the somewhat calcified post-Star Wars space opera epics of today. The movement of years is from left to right, tracing the figure of a tentacled beast, derived from H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds Martians. Science Fiction is seen as the offspring of the collision of the Enlightenment (providing science) and Romanticism, which birthed gothic fiction, source of not only SF, but crime novels, horror, westerns, and fantasy (all of which can be seen exiting through wormholes to their own diagrams, elsewhere). Science fiction progressed through a number of distinct periods, which are charted, citing hundreds of the most important works and authors. Film and television are covered as well." - Ward Shelly discussing this excellent " History of Science Fiction " infographic - now available for purchase !

 Extra Credit

Occasionally, we will offer opportunities for you to earn extra credit. We will add these to Blackboard as events become available - and let us know if you've heard about an upcoming opportunity! A good place to look for upcoming talks is the KU Calendar . No one is required to attend these events, so any points you get for reporting on your attendance are added to your overall score.

Here's an excellent opportunity coming up very soon:

Percival's Planet and Clyde Tombaugh's Discovery of Pluto An Evening With Michael Byers Tuesday, April 19 6:30 - 9:30pm For this event, be sure to check out the excerpts posted on Blackboard. Click the image to open the full-size poster.

As a guide for things you might find on your own, here are some events students attended previously:

A couple of exhibits at campus museums are relevant to the course. We offer extra credit to students who explore these exhibits and submit a response paper. (These papers add to your total score in the class, often making up for missed papers or low scores.) You are expected to commit an hour or more with an exhibit, plus whatever time it takes to write up the one-page response paper. Maximum point value per exhibit is equivalent to a regular response paper.

Recent exhibits have included:

• At the Spencer Art Museum, visit "Climate Change at the Poles" (North and South balconies) and the Terry Evans photography exhibit "A Greenland Glacier" (go through the Asian art room on the main floor to get to the photos).
• At the Natural History Museum, visit the "Explore Evolution" exhibit on the 5th floor.
• And more! If you have a suggestion, let us know and we'll share it with the class.

Your response paper should discuss the event or exhibit similarly to how you discuss the weekly readings. Feel free to bring your thoughts to the relevant in-class discussions. Turn in these extra credit papers within a week of the event ; the final deadline is May 18 .

If you have any questions, you can either ask us in class or send an email. 

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Without cookies your experience may not be seamless.

View Full Resolution

Science Fiction Studies

In this Issue

• Volume 49, Part 2, July 2022
• SPECIAL ISSUE ON FOOD FUTURES
• Edited by Nora Castle and Graeme Macdonald

Science Fiction Studies is a refereed scholarly journal devoted to the study of the genre of science fiction, broadly defined. It publishes articles about science fiction and book reviews on science fiction criticism; it does not publish fiction. SFS is widely considered to be the premier academic journal in its field, with strong theoretical, historical, and international coverage. Roughly one-third of its issues to date have been special issues, with recent topics including Technoculture and Science Fiction, Afrofuturism, Latin American Science Fiction, and Animal Studies and Science Fiction. Founded in 1973, SFS is based at DePauw University and appears three times per year in March, July, and November.

published by

Viewing issue, table of contents.

• Introduction: Food Futures
• Nora Castle , Graeme Macdonald
• pp. 209-216
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/sfs.2022.0021

• Food and Power: The Utopian City and Its Countryside
• Patrick Parrinder
• pp. 217-229
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/sfs.2022.0022
• Alien Meat and Vegetarian Aliens: Alternative Food Cultures in the Early SF of H.G. Wells and His Contemporaries
• Fiona Schroeder
• pp. 230-246
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/sfs.2022.0023
• Manger demain : Food Futures in French Fiction
• Jacqueline Dutton
• pp. 247-266
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/sfs.2022.0024
• Cold-War Cabin Ecologies: Soviet-American Biospheric Thinking
• pp. 267-287
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/sfs.2022.0025
• Plotting the Future in Caribbean SF: Alimentary Imperialism and Horti(counter)culture
• Michael Niblett
• pp. 288-303
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/sfs.2022.0026
• Cannibal Nihilism: Meat and Meaninglessness in the Anthropocene Imaginary
• Tyler Austin Harper
• pp. 304-321
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/sfs.2022.0027
• Boldly Going Vegan? Star Trek , Synthetic Meat, and Animal Ethics
• Joshua Bulleid
• pp. 322-341
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/sfs.2022.0028
• Cross-Infections of Vegetal-Human Bodies in Science Fiction
• Heather I. Sullivan
• pp. 342-358
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/sfs.2022.0029
• Roundtable: SF in the Kitchen
• Nora Castle , Rachele Dini , Tiff Graham , Kathryn Heffner , Fitzhugh Shaw (Chickasaw) , Sarah Stang
• pp. 359-372
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/sfs.2022.0030
• Transhumanism and Posthumanism in Twenty-First Century Narrative ed. by Sonia Baelo-Allué and Mónica Calvo-Pascual (review)
• Julia Lindsay
• pp. 373-376
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/sfs.2022.0031
• Indian Science Fiction: Patterns, History, Hybridity by Suparno Banerjee (review)
• Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay
• pp. 376-378
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/sfs.2022.0032
• Remainders of the American Century: Post-Apocalyptic Novels in the Age of US Decline by Brent Ryan Bellamy (review)
• John Rieder
• pp. 378-381
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/sfs.2022.0033
• Roger Zelazny by F. Brett Cox (review)
• pp. 382-384
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/sfs.2022.0034
• Images of the Anthropocene in Speculative Fictions: Narrating the Future ed. by Tereza Dìdinová et al. (review)
• pp. 384-388
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/sfs.2022.0035
• The Metabolist Imagination: Visions of the City in Postwar Japanese Architecture and Science Fiction by William O. Gardner (review)
• Mordecai Scheckter
• pp. 388-392
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/sfs.2022.0036
• Race in Young Adult Speculative Fiction ed. by Meghan Gilbert-Hickey and Miranda A. Green-Barteet (review)
• Brittany Tomin
• pp. 392-396
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/sfs.2022.0037
• Cyborgs, Sexuality, and the Undead: The Body in Mexican and Brazilian Speculative Fiction by M. Elizabeth Ginway (review)
• Andrea L. Bell
• pp. 396-399
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/sfs.2022.0038
• The Modern and the Unknown: A Study of Science Fiction in the Late Qing Dynasty by Jia Liyuan (review)
• Shaoming Duan
• pp. 399-401
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/sfs.2022.0039
• The Dreamer and the Dream: Afrofuturism and Black Religious Thought by Roger A. Sneed (review)
• pp. 401-405
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/sfs.2022.0040
• Citizen Science Fiction by Jerome Winter (review)
• Brent Ryan Bellamy
• pp. 405-408
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/sfs.2022.0041
• Books Received
• pp. 408-409
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/sfs.2022.0042
• Notes and Correspondence
• Maria Alberto , Dr Anindya Raychaudhuri , Rhonda Jackson Joseph , Clare Douglass Little , Douglas Vakoch , Peggy Karpouzou , Nikoleta Zampaki , Keren Omry , Sean Guynes
• pp. 410-414
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/sfs.2022.0043
• Notes on Contributors
• pp. 415-416
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/sfs.2022.0046

Previous Issue

Volume 49, Part 1, March 2022

Volume 49, Part 3, November 2022

Additional Information

Copyright © SF-TH, Inc.

Additional Issue Materials

Project MUSE Mission

Project MUSE promotes the creation and dissemination of essential humanities and social science resources through collaboration with libraries, publishers, and scholars worldwide. Forged from a partnership between a university press and a library, Project MUSE is a trusted part of the academic and scholarly community it serves.

2715 North Charles Street Baltimore, Maryland, USA 21218

+1 (410) 516-6989 [email protected]

©2024 Project MUSE. Produced by Johns Hopkins University Press in collaboration with The Sheridan Libraries.

Now and Always, The Trusted Content Your Research Requires

Built on the Johns Hopkins University Campus

Science Fiction Foundation

We are a registered charity - no. 1041052..

Postcolonial Science Fiction

Michelle Reid

This paper comes at right the beginning of my research project into postcolonial science fiction. Traditionally, science fiction is a genre characterised by ideals of expansion and colonisation, but it also has the great potential to imagine "otherness" and other ways of being; postcolonial approaches to science fiction seem long overdue. Yet I believe we're only just beginning to work out what these are. My current thinking is that we have to do more than apply existing postcolonial theories to sf writing - we need to examine what makes science fiction so strongly identified as a literature of empire and expansion, and how this might be resisted and subverted from within the genre itself. In this paper I am going to argue that representations of technology are key to an idea of postcolonial science fiction as they identify the genre as "Westernised", but also provide the main imaginative power of sf as a mode of writing. I will illustrate this using a story from the recent anthology  So Long Been Dreaming .

So Long Been Dreaming , edited by Nalo Hopkinson and Uppinder Mehan, was published in 2004. It contains science fiction stories written exclusively by people of colour and it is the first ever collection entitled "postcolonial science fiction and fantasy". The anthology acts as a focus point, drawing together writers from a wide variety of backgrounds (including India, Caribbean, and Mexico) and bringing together various examples of what postcolonial science fiction might be. The interrogation of race, discrimination, social evolution, expansion and conquest is not new in sf writing, and over the last few years a handful of critics have started studying the work of individual authors, such as Amitav Ghosh or Kim Stanley Robinson, from postcolonial perspectives (see Claire Chambers, "Postcolonial Science Fiction: Amitav Ghosh's  The Calcutta Chromosome ", and Elizabeth Leane, "Chromodynamics: Science and Colonialism in Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy"). But this complex nexus of ideas has not yet been brought together in coherent form as a lens through which to view the genre;  So Long Been Dreaming  suggests that postcolonialism could provide such a lens. As such, the anthology is not a neat, self-contained thematic collection; instead it acts as a vital start point and focus for future directions.

In her introduction to  So Long Been Dreaming , Nalo Hopkinson stresses the difficulty facing the writers in the anthology: How to subvert the dominant Westernised codes of science fiction whilst also using the genre's imaginative potential to find self-expression beyond these codes. She modifies Audre Lorde's famous quotation, stating:

In my hands, massa's tools don't dismantle massa's house - and in fact, I don't want to destroy it so much as I want to undertake massive renovations - they build me a house of my own (8).  

Postcolonial theory has already identified a number of such "tools", or strategies for constructing productive spaces, gaps, and disjunctions to "renovate" the dominant English language and literature of the empire. Strategies such as:

Appropriation: capturing and remoulding the language, making it "bear the burden" of the colonial experience.

Writing back to the imperial centre: rewriting major canonical works of English literature to resist and challenge the assumptions of the source-text (for example, Jean Rhys'  Wide Sargasso Sea  as a response to Bronte's  Jane Eyre ).

Mimicry: how the colonised adopt the language and forms of the empire but in doing so alter and distort the dominant meanings so they reflect back to the coloniser a displaced image of his/her world which is unsettling to the colonial authority.

There are some problems with identifying general writing strategies, such as mimicry and appropriation, as it assumes all postcolonial writers write the same way, and it denies important contrasts between literature from different countries. But they are still useful tools to look for and they can productively be applied to science fiction. However, it is a fairly one-directional approach to use existing postcolonial reading / writing practices on sf texts.

Instead I also want to consider: What can science fiction writing do that other forms of postcolonial writing can't necessarily do? This approach offers positive strategies but ones that pose their own problems and considerations:

The colonisation of other worlds: Science fiction doesn't have to work within, existing colonial history. We can project a world completely different to our own into other times and spaces that doesn't have to be subject to the same assumptions or colonial legacies. This can provide a distance or freedom from existing colonial narratives or a chance to replay and re-examine power relationships. But the colonisation of other worlds raises the question of how these imagined worlds relate to "real world" colonial legacies and situations. We should examine the connections more closely and not assume that science fiction merely provides a series of allegories or variations on the theme of colonisation.

Aliens as others: In science fiction, complex gradations of identity can be displaced onto human versus alien confrontations. Racial, cultural and national differences can become supplanted by an encounter with a different species, in which human differences are elided by the assumption humanity will unite against an external alien "other". This strategy of literalising otherness can encourage the mainly white, Western science fiction audiences to examine prejudices and assumptions that they might be reluctant to face head-on. However, we should not presume an easy one-to-one correspondence between the alien and our constructed others.

Postcolonial futures: Uppinder Mehan in the afterword to  So Long Been Dreaming  argues that postcolonial writing often examines the present reality as legacy of colonial past but it rarely considers future. He argues that postcolonial peoples need to imagine their futures or risk having them written by others. Many science fiction futures are still implicitly white and Westernised, but science fiction also offers a powerful means of imagining communities based on alternative social models that indicate the possibility of breaking out of cycles of colonial dominance.

All those strategies merit further consideration, but I think representations of technology are the key to an idea of postcolonial science fiction; it is the genre's fascination with technology that identifies it as a literature of empire, but it is science fiction's technological imagination which provides the means of questioning the association between technology and Western world views that supposedly underpin the genre.

Science fiction, perhaps like no other literature, focuses on representations of science and technology; not only as it they are now but also how they could be. In contrast, postcolonial writing traditionally focuses on language, narrative and discourse as a means of circulating power between the coloniser and the colonised. The roles and representations of harder technology are often overlooked. Yet, thinking back to Nalo Hopkinson's quotation about "massa's tools building her a house of her own", it is significant that the coloniser's power is represented by an image of deploying technology to occupy and possess the land. Historians such as Daniel R. Headrick stress that tools like machine guns, steam ships, undersea cables, and vaccines were vital in the spread of nineteenth century European imperialism (Headrick,  The Tools of Empire , 11-12). Michael Adas develops these arguments, stating that physical tools did not only help to spread and maintain Europeans' imperial presence, but Europeans' perceptions of their own technological superiority were used to justify their dominance of other countries (Adas,  Machines as the Measure of Men , 6-7). With the Industrial Revolution, technological advancement became a key standard by which Europeans judged non-Western cultures, and a crucial means of securing ideological, as well as material, control. Adas argues that the association between the development of technology and the driving force of imperialism continues today in the spread of global capitalism (402-17).

As the representation of science and technology is one of the defining aspects of sf writing, it is often considered a Western form. In the article, "Science Fiction and Empire" (2003) Istvan Csicsery-Ronay goes as far as suggesting that science fiction is the ultimate myth of technoscientific empire, meaning all sf takes place in a cosmos (world view) in which the development of technology provides the momentum for imperial expansion and control (238). He maintains that the laws and rights of technoscience govern the genre even when they are questioned or shown negatively (241). I think this totalising view underestimates the potential that science fiction offers for resisting the drive of technological expansion from within the genre itself.

Nisi Shawl's story 'Deep End' from  So Long Been Dreaming  depicts the all-encompassing means of control offered by technology, but this is destabilised both by localised points of resistance and by the gaps and disjunctions such technological forms create themselves. The story is told from the point of view of prisoners being transported to a prison-colony planet called "Amends". Their punishment is the journey itself, because in order to travel the vast distances to the planet, the prisoners have to forfeit their physical bodies and have their minds uploaded into "freespace". On arrival at Amends they have the choice to either remain in freespace, or be downloaded into cloned bodies and build settler communities on the planet. The ironic twist is both choices involve incomplete freedoms. If the prisoners stay in freespace they remain in a virtual environment that is ultimately controlled by their captors. Yet if they choose to download into cloned bodies, then the bodies are not their own, but those of the rich, white authorities against whom they rebelled. The idea of downloading black minds into white cloned bodies offers a very literal take on ideas of mimicry in which the colonised subject reflects back a distorted image of the coloniser.

In his article "Of Mimicry and Man" (1984), Homi Bhabha discusses how, as part of the so called "civilising mission", the colonial authorities wanted their colonised subjects to imitate the manners, language, and society of the imperial centre. However, they wished this imitation only to be partial, so their colonised subjects remained separate and still requiring British rule. Bhabha identifies this ambivalence as "the effect of a flawed colonial mimesis, in which to be Anglicized is emphatically not to be English" (italics in original, 87).

The condition of mimicking the coloniser can be transformed into a strategy of resistance that exploits the uncertainty of the colonial authorities. By adopting the language and forms of the empire, the colonised subjects can reflect back to the colonisers a distorted image of their world which is unsettling to their authority. It is not just about copying or imitation, but about displacement; reflecting back an image that is subtly but distinctively different. As Bhabha says, "almost the same, but not quite" (89). He then transforms this into the expression "almost the same, but not white"(86 + 89), emphasising the visual aspect of mimicry in which the supervisory gaze of the coloniser is returned back in a distorted and defiant form by the appearance of the colonial subject who is always disturbingly similar but yet never quite "white or right" enough (89).

In "Deep End" the cloned white bodies reconfigure this visual aspect of mimicry as the clones reflect back a exact copy of the white authorities' appearance. However, these white bodies are primarily shells. Although they are inhabited by the prisoners minds, it does not mean that this difference has been fully internalised or absorbed. Similarly, for the prisoners, inhabiting the white bodies is not necessarily an act of destabilising resistance, as they are in effect trapped in a bodily prison.

The prisoners' minds are a means of animating the clones in order to transport these bodies across the vast reaches of space. The white authorities place value on spreading their DNA, not their culture or society, into space. Their main intention is for their genetic code to be replicated, and there is little pretence at the so-called "civilising mission" used to justify nineteenth century imperial expansion. The story empties out such a civilising mission, exposing it as entirely hollow, and shows the colonisation of space as a base means of dissemination.  

The extent to which the black prisoners are subject to the technology of the white society that imprisons them is represented by Dr Ops, the avatar of the Artificial Intelligence in charge of all the ships systems. Dr Ops, whose name suggests both control of operations and a panopticon, appears as:

[A] lean-faced Caucasian man with a shock of mixed brown and blond hair. He worn an anachronistic headlamp and stethoscope and a gentle kindly persona (13-14).

The AI appears as a deceptively benign authority figure in the image of the white society it represents. The avatar introduces another level of mimicry in which a technological construct is made to appear human. But, this Caucasian appearance masks the extent to which the white society is distanced from its technological means of control. The AI is their only representation on the ship or the colony planet. The white authorities way back on earth are reduced to passive observers.  

Moreover, Dr Ops can't fully determine how individual prisoners interpret or appropriate their cloned bodies. The main character Wayna claims possession of her cloned body, saying it was hers, she earned it. Significantly, this act of resistance is not based on hybridity. Wayna does not regard herself as a hybrid of body and mind, but draws strength from the disjunctions between her mental and physical forms. She regards her claimed body as a tool that she has to train and look after to make it work effectively. This tool gives her the ability to live on Amends and have the chance to build a new life; she regards it as her point of entry and means of experiencing a new world which is also her own.

Importantly, the technology in "Deep End" is more than just a metaphor for mimicry; it is also an artefact in itself which prompts us to consider how new technology might radically reconfigure ideas of mimicry. The story confronts issues of cultural and racial coding raised by advanced technology like cloning, AIs, and uploaded minds. Technological constructs, such as artificial intelligences and androids, are often assumed to have neutral identities, but this neutrality usually implicitly means whiteness. "Deep End" racializes technology. The story asks where is identity located and can technology encode and transfer parts or all of this identity. Indeed, Wayna meets a fellow prisoner also in a cloned body, she notes "He sat closer than she'd expected, closer than she was used to. Maybe that meant he'd been born Hispanic or Middle Eastern. Or maybe not" (17).

Also, "Deep End" questions the supposed manifest destiny of humanity's colonisation of space. Science fiction often takes the very long-term view that survival of the species will require humans to develop the means of moving away from Earth and our solar system. "Deep End" raises doubts about the mechanisms for covering such distances and asks who is surviving and in what form? In the story, the development of technology, such as cloning and freespace, extends the reach of colonisation, but also opens up new tensions and ironies that impact on both coloniser and colonised, and their images of each other.

In the afterword to  So Long Been Dreaming , Uppinder Mehan argues that one of the key strategies employed by the writers in the anthology is "to radically shift the perspective of the narrator from the supposed rightful heir of contemporary technologically advanced cultures to those of us whose cultures have had their technology destroyed and stunted" (270). "Deep End" certainly makes that shift. But to end with I wish to consider another strategy offered by science fiction; the possibility of imagining the kinds of technology that societies would develop if they weren't heavily influenced by Western paradigms. This goes beyond questioning the rightful heirs of technology, to imagining the creation of an entirely different technological legacy.  

I briefly want to mention an example from the book  Midnight Robber  (2000) by Nalo Hopkinson (a co-editor of  So Long Been Dreaming ). This novel starts on Touissant, a planet colonised by Caribbean, African, and Asian diasporas. The community is connected by an AI network called Granny Nanny. This AI provides an interesting contrast with Dr Ops from "Deep End". The name Granny Nanny signifies a different set of cultural references; it provides an interesting slippage between ideas of nanotech, the spider-trickster Anansi, and the slave revolt leader Granny Nanny of the Maroons. But the differences are more profound than name changes. The configuration of the technology, its role, and attitudes towards it are entirely different. Like its slave-leader namesake, Granny Nanny provides a means of protection, organisation, and unity. The capricious, trickster nature of Granny Nanny is regarded as a vital aspect of the system, as opposed to a dangerous flaw. Traditionally, AIs are often regarded with fear and suspicion in science fiction, as they can become god-like and supplant the dominant human societies that create them. In contrast, the vast majority of the Touissant community do not regard Granny Nanny as a figure of surveillance or suppression. Instead, all-pervasive technology is seen as a means of freedom, relieving the need for humans to carry out any physical labour; an attitude to technology perhaps influenced by the legacy of slavery. The fact that Granny Nanny allows small communities of pedicab runners to live outside the Web's control, asserting their right to use only non-connected "headblind" tools and do physical work, is seen as a measure of the system's receptiveness to difference. Touissant residents think the pedicab runners are ridiculous, "But the Grande 'Nansi Web had said let them be. It had been designed to be flexible, to tolerate a variety of human expression, even dissension, so long as it didn't upset the balance of the whole" (10).

Postcolonial writing often confronts a double-bind; the wish to subvert the dominant codes of the empire, and the wish to find expression beyond or away from those codes. In science fiction, the representation of technology is the key to this double bind; it identifies the genre as Westernised, but also provides the main imaginative power of sf as a mode of writing. There is great possibility for postcolonial approaches to sf based on analysing images of technology - for example something I haven't talked about is the use of the fantastic to destabilise Western scientific world views. In science fiction, technology provides both the means of writing back to the power base of empire, and writing forwards towards new paradigms.

I was supposed to give this paper at Worldcon, but I was unable to do so. Instead, I gave a modified version of it at "Science Fiction(s)", University of Nottingham, August 19, 2005. Many thanks to Edward James, Maureen Kincaid Speller, and especially Farah Mendlesohn for their guidance and support.

Works Cited

Adas, Michael,  Machines As The Measure of Men: Science, Technology, and Ideologies of Dominance  (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1989).

Bhabha, Homi K., "Of Mimicry and Man: The Ambivalence of Colonial Discourse" [1984], in  The Location of Culture  (London: Routledge, 1994), 85-92.

Chambers, Claire, "Postcolonial Science Fiction: Amitav Ghosh's The Calcutta Chromosome",  Journal of Commonwealth Literature , 38.1 (2003), 57-72.

Csicsery-Ronay Jr., Istvan, "Science Fiction and Empire",  Science Fiction Studies , 90 (July, 2003), 231-45.

Headrick, Daniel R.,  The Tools of Empire: Technology and European Imperialism in the Nineteenth Century  (New York: Oxford University Press, 1981).

Hopkinson, Nalo,  Midnight Robber  (New York: Aspect, Warner Books, 2000).

Hopkinson, Nalo and Uppinder Mehan, eds.,  So Long Been Dreaming: Postcolonial Science Fiction and Fantasy  (Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2004).

Leane, Elizabeth, "Chromodynamics: Science and Colonialism in Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy",  Ariel , 33.1 (January, 2002), 83-104.

Shawl, Nisi, "Deep End", in  So Long Been Dreaming: Postcolonial Science Fiction and Fantasy , ed. by Nalo Hopkinson and Uppinder Mehan (Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2004), 12-22.

scienceFiction

Science fiction, fall 2019 course site and resources, science fiction research project, analytical or creative, due: mon. 12-11 by 11:59pm.

You may choose to take one of two options for this assignment. Either write an analytical paper or make a creative adaptation. Both options require research, as described below.

Option 1: Analytical Research

Choose one or two texts we have read in this class this semester, and investigate a specific topic you formulate. The topic must fit within a general framework: How does science fiction give us a strange, new, alienating experience of ourselves and our world? Consider how one or two of our texts give us an unfamiliar point of view on one or two of the following:

• Language and communication
• Networks and data exchange
• Limits and extensions on physical bodies
• Technological invention: plans, source code, production
• Altering source code
• Evolution, mutation, transition
• Extinction and ruin
• Alienation and exile
• Technology in Religion

Do research to investigate theories of science fiction relevant to your topic (in more depth than we introduced in class in my slides here ). Also research historical contexts, scientific inventions, technologies, important people, or social movements relevant to your topic at the time the text was written (and/or in our own time) to help determine how your chosen text(s) may be responding its cultural moment, or anticipating our own time. First, research the texts, and follow leads to contexts. Choose just one or two context to investigate in your paper. You will need to be selective! You probably won’t be able to cover every possible context bearing on a complex novel or series! Investigate one or two particular relevant areas intensively.

Based on what you learn from your research, consider how the inventive, strange and new elements of your science fiction text might relate to continuing issues in our time, to what we understand of ourselves as beings who interact with our world using technology, or as beings who are shaped and modified or who can shape and modify our habitats.

I expect you to cite and work with 4 – 6 good quality sources. (When in doubt about the quality of a source, check in with me and ask about it.) Look for scholarly articles and books on your text in the Pitt Digital Library, and seek out relevant news resources to find out more about issues and events when a text was written. You may also use scholarly articles and links that I post as background and further reading on a particular writer. See Guidelines for Research below .

Format Options:

This may be a traditional, word-processed paper. If so, it should be 2000 - 3000 words not counting the Works Cited Page. That’s about 5-7 double-spaced pages, using an 11-12 point font (Times New Roman, Arial, or the equivalent). Follow MLA citation format, using parenthetical page citations (Author page) to indicate your references to passages in our science fiction readings and to the outside secondary articles or books you are citing. Refer to the Purdue Online Writing Lab for instructions and examples of citing in MLA style and making an MLA style Works Cited page.

• Alternatively, for those of you pursuing the Digital Studies certificate who would like to add this to your digital portfolio, or those with interests in digital media: you may develop this as a webpage or small website, with long blog post entry of about 2000-3000 words. (Ideally you have access to webspace and/or a blog site of your own for pursuing this option. I’m happy to help set this up, as needed.)
• In either format, you may include hyperlinks and images, but images do not count toward the length requirement.

Option 2: Research and Creative Adaptation

This option involves developing short science fiction narrative sketch, extended description, or dialogue between characters. It will require you to apply ideas from other writers, to work within the style and fictional world of one of our assigned writers, and to explain in a preface or postscript of about 3 pages referencing your research and explaining how you applied your reading and research to develop your creative work.

Read and research theories of science fiction writing (such as Darko Suvin’s) or about the alternate worlds/alternate realities constructed by science fiction writers. Read articles that theorize about how science fiction writing works or engages readers. Also seek out recent books and articles that specifically discuss the work of a particular writer on our syllabus in relation to significant issues in science fiction. Do research in the Pitt Digital Library on science fiction writing as well as on one particular writer whose work you admire or wish to model and adapt. Use at least three sources.

Now, try your hand at developing a science fiction story or dialogue of your own written in the style of one of the science fiction writers we have read in the course. This is really an academic exercise in writing something like “fan fiction.” Most likely this will not be publishable work, but rather it is intended to be a learning process and perhaps a stepping stone for you if you’re thinking of seriously writing and publishing science fiction in the future. (Published science fiction texts often take many years to germinate and develop. This assignment is simply an introduction to a thinking process involved in writing in an alternate world.)

Keep this creative sketch fairly concise, 5-8 double-spaced pages. Focus on developing a simple plot and characters by way of introducing them and their world to us.

Options for building on the works of others:

• Work within the domain of an existing fictional world in one of our assigned readings this semester. Invent a new character, or expand or build up a character who is fairly undeveloped within the writer’s work.
• Write a new episode for a science fiction text that involves immersing an already developed character in a new domain or setting, or with a new kind of technology consistent with the world of the science fiction text you are modeling. In this option you’re building an internal space within a larger construction. This space must be shown to fit in some way within the original structure of the science fiction world, but it must be a distinct domain within it , with its own rules and rituals, the revealing of which is your goal in your work of creative description or narrative.

You may write a narrative (a plot or storyline), or a dialogue between characters, or concentrate on developing a passage of description. (Your submission may contain some elements of each: scripted events, dialogue, and descriptive exposition). In choosing your approach and developing your project, try to mimic the style of your science fiction writer. (Consider: How does dialogue appear in the text, what kinds of voices and turns of phrase sound true to the characters? What kinds of details does your chosen writer use to help to develop a sense of a strange new place?)

Finally, when you’ve finished your work, write a framing, introductory essay of about 2-3 pages in which you comment on how you are responding to ideas from your reading of secondary sources , and in which comment on the experience of writing within a “secondary” or alternate world in science fiction that is distinct from our reality. Quote from your own work as you reflect on the implications of what you have accomplished , in order to show me how you are responding to the theories and practices of writing science fiction that you have learned in this course.

If you pursue the Creative option, you will create two submissions:

• the creative adaptation
• the framing essay

You may produce these as traditional word-processed papers. The creative adaptations should be between 2000-3000 words, with a title. I expect the framing essay to demonstrate and reflect on the research you did, and to include a Works Cited page. Incorporate source citations in the same way as you would for the Research option. Follow MLA citation format in your framing essay, using parenthetical page citations (Author page) to indicate your references to passages in our science fiction readings and to the outside secondary articles or books you are citing. Refer to the Purdue Online Writing Lab for instructions and examples of citing in MLA style and making an MLA style Works Cited page.

Doing the Research (Both Options)

Locate at least half of your sources using the Pitt Digital Library , where you can find very useful articles and historical context. Part of the challenge of this assignment is locating in-depth information and authoritative, peer-reviewed material on SF. Note well: Some sites on the public web will be useful to you, but I also want you to locate at least two or three sources from the resources listed below . When in doubt about whether it’s OK to use a particular source, ask me. • Access to the Pitt Digital Library: http://www.library.pitt.edu/

o Off Campus Access to the Pitt Digital Library: Use the same link. As you access the specific databases below, you’ll be prompted to log in with your Pitt user-id and password.

For our assignment, here’s how to locate good library resources.

• Click on the button to “Find Articles” (left hand side of the screen in the Pitt Digital Library).
• In “Find Articles,” find the link to locate Databases “BY TITLE.”
• The long list of databases on the next screen is organized in alphabetical order. Scroll down to find the specific databases below. Search within each database to find good materials. Try the following. Check in with me if you’re having trouble!
• If looking for articles here, select “Limit to articles from peer-reviewed publications.”
• **PittCAT Classic often locates particular titles or kinds of material more quickly.
• Literature Resource Center : Very useful source for articles on science fiction theory, cyberpunk, and on particular authors. Use the results in the “Literary Criticism” tab.
• Project Muse (Muse) : Electronic Journals: up-to-date scholarly articles available online
• JSTOR: good scholarly articles available online.
• MLA International Bibliography : indexes high quality articles and books published on literary subjects—Not everything here will be instantly accessible online: Some materials will be in book or print form, which you can access or order by Interlibrary Loan through Millstein Library.
• Literature Online (LION) Database : a good source of journal articles, but only the ones marked with a full-text or a page-image icon are available online. Others can be requested by Interlibrary Loan.
• Academic Onefile : broad interdisciplinary coverage of articles and news. May be useful in researching particular issues, events, technologies in a particular science fiction text.
• Academic Lexis-Nexis : good resource for finding news articles relevant to history/context of a science fiction text. Use the search limits to narrow down your results to a range of dates.
• Outside Pitt Library System : Try Google Books or Google Scholar if you are trying to track down books and articles that don’t appear to be available in the Pitt system.

Talk to our librarians at Millstein Library (especially Renee Kiner), and check out the Libguide (Library Research Guide) they developed for our class, to help with the research process and evaluating the quality of your search results.

Find me when I’m in my office or online, and I’ll help you, too! My office: FOB 204, office phone: 724-836-7195, e-mail: ebb8 at pitt.edu .

Go back to our syllabus Finally, I wish you patience, good fortune, and the reward of sudden discovery as you work on this assignment. Good research is almost always tedious and frustrating at first, but ultimately very rewarding when you find your way! Bon courage!

11 sci-fi concepts that are possible (in theory)

These common sci-fi tropes could one day be science fact.

Science fiction novels and movies are packed with far-out ideas, most often as the springboard for an action-packed adventure rather than a serious attempt to predict future trends in science or technology . Some of the most common tropes, such as accelerating a spacecraft to fantastic speeds in a matter of seconds without crushing the occupants , are just plain impossible according to the laws of physics as we understand them. Yet those very same laws appear to permit other seemingly far-fetched sci-fi concepts, from wormholes to parallel universes. Here's a rundown of some of the sci-fi ideas that could really be done — in theory, at least.

1) Tractor beams 

In sci-fi films, nothing raises tension quite like the good guys' spaceship getting caught in an invisible tractor beam that allows the baddies to slowly reel them in. And now scientists are developing a real-life tractor beam . But instead of trapping helpless starship pilots, the goal of the real-life version is to pull defunct satellites out of harm's way and into a "graveyard orbit" around Earth.

The real-life tractor beam, known as an electrostatic tractor, would use a servicer spacecraft that fires electrons at a target satellite, leaving the target with a negative charge and the servicer with a positive charge. The electrostatic attraction between the two spacecraft would cause them to "stick together" and allow the servicer to slowly pull the satellite away.

Several experts are convinced that the prototype technology could work in practice. But it will cost tens of millions to get a working version into space, which could prevent it from making the jump to reality.

2) Wormholes

The idea of a wormhole —a shortcut through space that allows almost instantaneous travel between distant parts of the universe — sounds like it was created as a fictional story-driver. But under its more formal name of an Einstein-Rosen bridge, the concept has existed as a serious theoretical concept long before sci-fi writers got hold of it. It comes out of Albert Einstein 's theory of general relativity , which views gravity as a distortion of space-time caused by massive objects. In collaboration with physicist Nathan Rosen, Einstein theorized in 1935 that points of extremely strong gravity, such as black holes , could be directly connected with each other. And so the idea of wormholes was born.

The forces around a black hole would destroy anyone that came close to it, so the idea of actually traveling through a wormhole wasn't given serious consideration until the 1980s, when astrophysicist Carl Sagan decided he was going to write a sci-fi novel. According to the BBC , Sagan encouraged fellow physicist Kip Thorne to come up with a feasible way to travel interstellar distances in a flash. Thorne duly devised a way — possible in theory, but highly improbable in practice — that humans might achieve interstellar travel by traversing a wormhole unscathed. The result found its way into Sagan's novel " Contact " (Simon and Schuster: 1985) which was subsequently adapted into a film with Jodie Foster in the lead role. 

While it's highly unlikely that wormholes will ever become the simple and convenient methods of transportation portrayed in movies, scientists have now come up with a more viable way to construct a wormhole than Thorne's original suggestion. It's also possible that, if wormholes already exist in the universe, they could be located using the new generation of gravitational-wave detectors.

3) Warp drive

An essential prerequisite for most space-based adventure stories is the ability to get from A to B much faster than we can today. Wormholes aside, there are multiple stumbling blocks to achieving this with a conventional spaceship. There's the enormous amount of fuel required, the crushing effects of acceleration, and the fact that the universe has a strictly imposed speed limit . This is the speed at which light travels — precisely one light-year per year, which in a cosmic context isn't very fast at all. Proxima Centauri, the second-closest star to Earth, is 4.2 light-years from the sun, while the center of the galaxy is a whopping 27,000 light-years away.

Fortunately, there's a loophole in the cosmic speed limit: It only dictates the maximum speed we can travel through space . As Einstein explained, space itself can be distorted, so perhaps it's possible to manipulate the space around a ship in such a way as to subvert the speed limit. The spaceship would still travel through the surrounding space at less than the speed of light, but the space itself would be moving faster than that. 

This was what the writers of "Star Trek" had in mind when they came up with the concept of a "warp drive" in the 1960s. But to them it was just a plausible-sounding phrase, not real physics. It wasn't until 1994 that theoretician Miguel Alcubierre found a solution to Einstein's equations that produced a real warp drive effect, Live Science's sister site Space.com reported , contracting space in front of a spaceship and expanding it to the rear. To start with, Alcubierre's solution was no less contrived than Thorne's traversable wormhole, but scientists are attempting to refine it in the hope that it might one day be practical.

4) Time travel

The concept of a time machine is one of the great sci-fi plot devices, allowing characters to go back and change the course of history — for better or worse. But this inevitably raises logical paradoxes. In "Back to the Future," for example, would Doc have built his time machine if he hadn't been visited by the future Marty using that very same machine? It's because of paradoxes like these that many people assume time travel must be impossible in the real world — and yet, according to the laws of physics, it really can occur .

Just like with wormholes and space warps, the physics that tells us it's possible to travel back in time comes from Einstein's theory of general relativity. This treats space and time as part of the same "space-time" continuum, with the two being inextricably linked. Just as we talk about distorting space with a wormhole or warp drive, time can be distorted as well. Sometimes it can get so distorted that it folds back on itself, in what scientists refer to as a " closed timelike curve " — though it could just as accurately be called a time machine.

A conceptual design for such a time machine was published in 1974 by physicist Frank Tipler, according to physicist David Lewis Anderson, who describes the research on the Anderson Institute , a private research lab. Called a Tipler cylinder, it has to be big — at least 60 miles (97 kilometers) long, according to Humble — and extremely dense, with a total mass comparable to that of the sun. To get it to function as a time machine, the cylinder has to rotate fast enough to distort space-time to the point where time folds back on itself. It may not sound as simple as installing a flux capacitor in a DeLorean, but it does have the advantage that it really would work — on paper, at least.

5) Teleportation

The archetypal sci-fi example of teleportation is the "Star Trek " transporter, which, as the name suggests, is portrayed simply as a convenient way to transport personnel from one location to another. But teleportation is quite unlike any other form of transport: Instead of the traveler moving through space from the starting point to the destination, teleportation results in an exact duplicate being created at the destination while the original is destroyed. Viewed in these terms — and at the level of subatomic particles rather than human beings — teleportation is indeed possible, according to IBM .

The real-world process is called quantum teleportation. This process copies the precise quantum state of one particle, such as a photon, to another that may be hundreds of miles away. Quantum teleportation destroys the quantum state of the first photon, so it does indeed look as though the photon has been magically transported from one place to another. The trick is based on what Einstein referred to as "spooky action at a distance," but is more formally known as quantum entanglement . If the photon that is to be "teleported" is brought into contact with one of a pair of entangled photons, and a measurement of the resulting state is sent to the receiving end — where the other entangled photon is — then the latter photon can be switched into the same state as the teleported photon.

It's a complicated process even for a single photon, and there's no way it could be scaled up to the kind of instant-transportation system seen in "Star Trek." Even so, quantum teleportation does have important applications in the real world, such as for hack-proof communications and super-fast quantum computing.

6) Parallel universes

The universe is everything our telescopes reveal to us — all the billions of galaxies expanding outward from the Big Bang . But is that all there is? Theory says maybe not: There might be a whole multiverse of universes out there. The idea of "parallel universes" is another familiar sci-fi theme, but when they're depicted on screen they typically differ from our own universe only in minor details. But the reality may be much weirder than that, with the basic parameters of physics in a parallel universe — such as the strength of gravity or nuclear forces — differing from our own. A classic portrayal of a genuinely different universe of this kind, and the creatures living in it, is Isaac Asimov's novel "The Gods Themselves " ( Doubleday : 1972) .

The key to the modern understanding of parallel universes is the concept of "eternal inflation." This pictures the infinite fabric of space in a state of perpetual, incredibly rapid expansion. Every now and then a localized spot in this space — a self-contained Big Bang — drops out of the general expansion and begins to grow at a more sedate pace, allowing material objects like stars and galaxies to form inside it. According to this theory, our universe is one such region, but there may be countless others.

As in Asimov's story, these parallel universes could have completely different physical parameters from our own. At one time scientists believed that only universes with virtually the same parameters as ours would be capable of supporting life, but recent studies suggest the situation may not be as restrictive as this, Live Science previously reported . So there's hope for Asimov's aliens yet — though perhaps not for making contact with them, as happens in the novel. Nevertheless, the traces of other universes might be detectable to us by other means. It's even been suggested that the mysterious "cold spot" in the cosmic microwave background is the scar from a collision with a parallel universe, Ivan Baldry, a professor of astrophysics at Liverpool John Moores University in the U.K. wrote in The Conversation .

7) Habitable Mars

Who wouldn't want to live on the Red Planet? It has less gravity than Earth does, so even simple things like walking are difficult — and childbirth may be impossible. Marst gets less sunlight than our home planet does, so even the balmiest days barely pass as bearable. The only water is locked up in ice under the soil or at the poles. Not to mention, there's no breathable atmosphere … or really any atmosphere at all.

But almost every sci-fi story set far enough in the future has humans living on Mars. The key here is terraforming, the process of turning the planet's frigid, empty atmosphere into something more like Earth's. While not impossible, it's no easy task, because Mars does not contain enough volatile materials (such as water, nitrogen and carbon dioxide) to build a thick atmosphere of its own. So we would have to import it from elsewhere, like by towing in comets from the outer solar system and slamming them into the planet.

This kind of mega-engineering isn't impossible. It's just really, really difficult and would involve generations of humans working tirelessly to bring about an Earth 2.0.

8) Easy fusion

Even the wildest sci-fi spaceships need some sort of power source, and sci-fi writers seem to have three standard go-tos: some sort of made-up substance, like dilithium crystals; antimatter; or good old-fashioned nuclear fusion . That last one is perhaps the most plausible as a long-term, sustainable source of energy for everything from spaceships to off-world settlements.

Heck, humans already harness nuclear power in portable ships on Earth, under the ocean. But those are fission-based power planets, which derive power from splitting atoms apart. Fusion — in which two small atoms are smooshed together to form a new, larger one — is a whole different animal. Fusion requires much more sophisticated technologies to control and harness the energy produced (we already figured out how to trigger uncontrolled fusion reactions, which is what hydrogen bombs are). 

In 2022, scientists with the Department of Energy's National Ignition Facility made a huge advance: For the first time ever, they generated more energy out of a fusion reaction than went into it. That remarkable achievement is only the first step, however . That net-positive energy gain didn't include the power lost to inefficiencies in the lasers themselves or a method to capture that energy and put it to useful work.

Still, scientists and engineers around the globe are hard at work to crack the fusion puzzle, and it may yet become a staple of our future.

9) Rock-throwing warfare

Long, long ago our ancestors took the latest technological breakthrough at the time, sharpened rocks, and did their best to beat each other over the head with them. We have since progressed to more advanced means of armed combat, including spears (sharpened rock on a stick), swords (very long sharpened rocks), arrows (long-distance sharpened rocks), bullets (extremely fast, long-distance sharpened rocks) and even bombs (highly explosive, miniaturized sharpened rocks).

In the future, it will be no different. The solar system is chock-full of rocks whizzing around at tens of thousands of miles per hour. At those speeds, rocks pack a ridiculous amount of kinetic energy. Even micrometeoroids, less than a millimeter across, can bury themselves in our most well-protected spacecraft.

As NASA 's DART mission successfully showed, it doesn't take much to alter the course of a massive asteroid. Hurling rocks at each other — with impacts powerful enough to end entire civilizations — will surely be a hallmark of future warfare.

10) Artificial gravity

Sci-fi writers often introduce artificial gravity as a plot point to save budgets and film their actors on a normal soundstage; otherwise, they would have to use wires or complex visual effects to simulate weightlessness. 

But creating gravity at will is easier than you might think. The first trick is to replace acceleration with rotation. If you've ever been in one of those carnival rides that spins really quickly, you've known how strong the centrifugal force can be. So if future Earthlings set up a rotating space habitat and arrange everything so that the outermost edge is "down," then people will feel right at home. Well, almost, because they'd have to deal with the dizziness from the rotation and the counterintuitive motions caused by the Coriolis effect.

The other trick to replicate gravity is to keep moving. Einstein realized that acceleration is the same, regardless of whether that acceleration comes from a massive gravitational object or the push of a rocket, and you can use that to your advantage. If you fire your rocket engines and maintain a constant acceleration of 9.8 meters per second squared, unless you look out the window, you'll have no idea you're in a spaceship. Of course, it will take a lot of fuel to maintain that kind of acceleration, but that's a different problem.

11) Ultra-personalized health care

You know the scene from your favorite sci-fi show. The protagonist gets injured, maybe even severely. They go to the medical bay — it's always a medical bay — and the doctor waves a wand over their body and/or plugs in something very simple to their arm. And then the healing begins.

In our own reality, medicine has made enormous strides since the introduction of the scientific method into the field over a hundred years ago. Afflictions and diseases that struck fear into our ancestors, like smallpox, barely even register to us today. From the outright miracles of vaccines and antibiotics to day-to-day routine lifesaving surgical procedures, we're much better off. And healthcare is only getting more advanced. Recently, gene-editing technologies like CRISPR have taken off, offering the promise of tailor-made drugs and therapies for each individual patient. It's not unreasonable to envision a future in which your doctor knows you down to the molecular level and can prescribe the exact right remedy to fix whatever ails you. Of course, it's impossible to say where our continued research into medicine will take us, but it's not crazy to imagine advances in disease management, healing, and overall wellness.

Sign up for the Live Science daily newsletter now

Get the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox.

Paul M. Sutter is a research professor in astrophysics at  SUNY Stony Brook University and the Flatiron Institute in New York City. He regularly appears on TV and podcasts, including  "Ask a Spaceman." He is the author of two books, "Your Place in the Universe" and "How to Die in Space," and is a regular contributor to Space.com, Live Science, and more. Paul received his PhD in Physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2011, and spent three years at the Paris Institute of Astrophysics, followed by a research fellowship in Trieste, Italy. 

Space photo of the week: Milky Way's galactic twin captured by Dark Energy Camera

Astronomers discover new 'odd radio circle' near the center of our galaxy

Defense system common to all life came from 'Asgard'

Most Popular

• 2 Space photo of the week: Milky Way's galactic twin captured by Dark Energy Camera
• 3 What happens to meat as it's cooked?
• 4 The universe had a secret life before the Big Bang, new study hints
• 5 Astronomers discover new 'odd radio circle' near the center of our galaxy

• Entertainment
• General Knowledge

10 Things the Nazis Actually Deserve Credit for Inventing

10 Superheroes Different Than Anything You’ve Seen Before

10 Senseless Crimes That Highlight South Africa’s Crime Crisis

10 Surprising Famous Figures Who Have Been Suspected of Murder

10 Creepy Sunken Man-Made Objects

10 Characters Killed Off Because the Actor Died

10 Ancient Origin Stories of the Constellations

Top 10 Lesser-Known Unsolved Disappearances in England

10 Superior Technologies That Were Forgotten or Abandoned

Top 10 Greatest Things Terrible People Did

Who's behind listverse.

Jamie Frater

Head Editor

Jamie founded Listverse due to an insatiable desire to share fascinating, obscure, and bizarre facts. He has been a guest speaker on numerous national radio and television stations and is a five time published author.

10 Science Fiction Projects That Are Becoming Reality

Humans have walked on the Moon and sent machines to the surface of Mars—and we’re even close to getting a Voyager probe beyond our solar system. But that is just the beginning. 

As science marches on, it seems that all those incredible suits, ships and space colonies we were given by science fiction may actually be just over the horizon.

Toy Story hero Buzz Lightyear’s impressive space armor has been given a nod from NASA in the form of the upcoming Z1 spacesuit . The suit, designed with deep space travel in mind, marks the first time NASA has significantly updated its astronauts’ outfits in about twenty years. 

It features a new hatchback design that enables the wearer to simply step in it from behind, rather than undergo the painstaking dressing process required by the older suits. The rear hatch can also attach itself to spaceships and stations, so that the wearer can literally jump into space. NASA scientists have not yet confirmed whether the suit will feature pop-up wings and an arm-mounted laser gun.

Commercial space travel has been waiting to happen ever since we first left Earth’s orbit. Virgin Galactic , a subdivision of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group , is currently developing its own line of commercial spaceships . These spaceships have the added appeal of being far more Sci-Fi-looking than the ships of NASA or Roscosmos (the Russian Space Agency).

Virgin Galactic spaceships will be launched into space from a large, two-hulled plane acting as a mother ship. The flights are going to be suborbital —meaning that although you genuinely get to visit space, it won’t be for longer than a few minutes.

Elon Musk, the founder of PayPal, has turned his successful gaze towards space . His space transport company, SpaceX , works in co-operation with NASA—and it’s the first private company to make deliveries to the International Space Station.

But Musk aims higher: his long-term plan is to begin the colonization of Mars. Not merely with some Antarctica-style research station, either; he aims to build a self-sustaining settlement of more than 80,000 people . That’s more than the entire population of Bermuda.

Although the necessary technology is still in the development stage, Musk has already calculated the cost of his venture. It turns out that the project is surprisingly affordable: it could get off the ground with a mere $36 billion. If “a mere” sounds a little inappropriate, bear in mind that the 2012 US military budget was $683.7 billion . This is good news for us: a spaceship ticket from Earth to Mars could cost as little as $500,000. Musk makes no mention of a ticket back, however.

A moon base is pretty much the first thing we would build if our job allowed us to mess around in space. So it’s strange to think that no one has actually built one yet.

But this inconvenient fact might be about to change . It just so happens that we might get something even better: a base on the side of the moon that faces away from Earth. NASA has plans to station a manned craft at a Lagrangian point called “L2” (in other words, an area on the far side of the moon where the combined gravities of Earth and the moon reach equilibrium). 

Apart from enabling efficient exploration, and giving its crew the perfect excuse to practice their Bond villain laugh, the L2 station would act as a gateway base for future manned missions to Mars.

A robotic vessel by the name of “X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle” has recently returned from a mysterious fifteen-month testing session in low Earth orbit. The details of its mission remain highly classified—which becomes all the more intriguing when we consider that X-37B is not a NASA vehicle at all, but rather a military craft .

US Air Force officials have refused to make any comment relating to X-37B, except for the fact that the mission, whatever it was, was a huge success. This lack of explanation gives us some license for speculation: it’s possible that the ship is designed for spy missions, or it could be a kind of space-issue bomber plane. It might even be a perfectly innocent shuttle, designed for carrying large loads of cargo to space stations. Its released specifications indicate that it’s capable of being any (or all) of those.

Almost every space opera features some sort of laser. They’re such an awesome visual, and an immediate cue that the show’s subject matter is taking place in the future—but as it turns out, perhaps only a couple of decades in the future.

The US Strategic Command is actively researching in the field of space laser weaponry, since in the emptiness of space, lasers would have a very long range and they’d be extremely fast (lasers have the speed of light). In fact, scientists have already made up their minds about the most suitable weapons for space: chemical lasers and particle beams. Watch out, Martians.

Researchers at NASA are no strangers to robots. Robotics feature heavily in the Mars Rover, and many other devices—but if there’s one thing that’s sorely missing, it’s the humanoid space robot.

The Robonaut program is looking to fix this. It’s a NASA/Darpa joint project that has produced four different space robots so far , and has plenty more in development. The program’s robonauts are humanoid in shape, and capable of handling various tools and tasks with their great strength and dexterity. They have no fixed legs, so they can easily operate in an enclosed space station environment. On a planet’s surface, they can be attached by the waist to various modules and vehicles.

At least one robonaut is already operational . It started working at the International Space Station in early 2013.

One of the biggest problems with long-distance space travel is the enormous amount of time it can often take to get just about anywhere. Science Fiction often gets around this by making characters spend the trip in suspended animation . 

Scientists think that this is a good idea—and they’re currently trying to unlock the secrets of safely-executed suspended animation. One feasible way to achieve this might be cryostasis (freezing the body). It could get pretty messy, though—current research indicates that safe cryostasis would mean removing the blood from your body or partially replacing it with a chilled saline solution. 

Another possible method could be chemically-induced hibernation , which artificially converts you to a cold-blooded creature (this is how a bear sleeps through the winter—minus the chemicals). It’s thought that humans may already have this inherent ability, and that scientists simply need to find a way of tapping into it.

Science has recently turned its attention to teleportation—which hopefully means that space travelers may someday be able to visit planets without even landing their ship.

In fact, there is already a working version of teleportation—so far only on a smaller scale. It’s called quantum teleportation , and it separates tiny particles from their quantum states and transfers them from one location to other. This technique is unable to transport any actual matter, so it can’t teleport humans or even flies. But it’s a pretty awesome start for something that was thought to be completely impossible just a little while ago. 

In case you’re in need of a fun fact, the current record distance for successful quantum teleportation is eighty-nine miles (143 km).

A warp drive is a propulsion system that enables you to travel many times faster than light, by manipulating the fabric of time and space. It’s the thing that enabled the Starship Enterprise to boldly go where no man has gone before.

People who build space things for a living are often big fans of Sci-Fi shenanigans—and they’re usually more than ready to see whether or not life can imitate art. In 2012, a NASA research team revealed that they’re working on a Star Trek-style warp drive. 

In fact, they already have several ideas (such as wormholes and negative mass propulsion) as to how they may eventually be able to make warp drives work. The most prominent possibility at the moment is based on a 1994 theory by Miguel Alcubierre. This idea is based on “expanding” the fabric of space behind the ship, and “retracting” the space ahead—which would make the ship move forward as though it were riding an enormous conveyor belt.

Pauli Poisuo also writes for Cracked.com . Why not follow him on Twitter ?

More Great Lists

• The Great Silent Treatment
• The Wayfarers
• High Frequency
• Flight Training
• The Lacertan Incident
• The Gordian Paradox
• The Singularity Has Encountered an Exception
• The Magic Spreadsheet
• Reading the Bible
• The Definition of a Planet
• Dystopia as an Inverted Hero’s Journey
• Harry Potter Theory: Dumbledore’s Plan
• The Dark Matter Flowchart, Annotated
• The Real Problem with “The Cold Equations”
• Who Was Really the Richest Person in History?
• Harry Potter Theory: Muggles v. Wizards: Who Would Win?

The Science of Project Hail Mary

Andy Weir’s latest book, Project Hail Mary , is a very good hard science fiction tale about a journey to another solar system in search of a way to save Earth from disaster. Mr. Weir always does mostly pretty good science in his books, but sadly, no author is perfect, especially as Weir is a computer engineer by trade and not an astrophysicist.

I had a few minor quibbles with the book that were mostly focused around how slow the scientists are to figure things out. Those aren’t really wrong , but I would say they felt unrealistic. However, those things could just be there so that the book doesn’t get too far ahead of the reader. More on that in my review of the book .

However, there were two aspects of the science in the book that did include rather large mistakes. Neither one is completely story-breaking, but they do add complications—one of them glaringly obvious (to me as an exoplanetary scientist), the other one much subtler.

Warning: MAJOR spoilers for Project Hail Mary below. Do not click unless you’ve read all the way to the end.

If you have read the book, you’ll know that there are aliens involved, and I don’t just mean the Astrophage.

Hey, I told you there were spoilers.

Ryland Grace’s new friend, Rocky, is a spider-like alien from the planet Erid, in the 40 Eridani system (technically 40 Eridani A, since it’s a triple star system).

Erid’s atmosphere is much denser than Earth’s and is made of almost pure ammonia (which makes little sense at that temperature, but there are a lot of acknowledged-in-story “impossibilities” in the book; my complaint is not with those). This dense atmosphere absorbs almost all of the sunlight hitting the planet, making the surface pitch black. This is why the Eridians are blind to visible light and instead can see nearly as well as we can with echolocation .

But this is wrong. First off, the surface pressure on Erid would not be 29 atmospheres. It would be 29 times the Hail Mary’s internal pressure of one third of an atmosphere—in other words, 9.67 atmospheres. But even if it were that thick, Erid’s surface would not be pitch black under 29 atmospheres of pressure. It may be very dim, maybe even dark enough for echolocation to be evolutionarily favored—but not pitch black.

People always underestimate how bright the Sun is, and to be fair, the numbers seem near-impossible at first glance. Direct sunlight is 1,000 times brighter than a 100-watt incandescent light bulb at 1.5 meters (5 feet)! We know it’s brighter, but it doesn’t seem that much brighter because our eyes are pretty good at adjusting to light and dark.

Erid gets even more sunlight than Earth does. We know the planet’s year is 42 Earth days. Crunch the numbers for 40 Eridani A, and you get about 7 times as much sunlight as Earth at the top of the atmosphere.

Now, we can do a back-of-the-envelope calculation based on light penetration in seawater (which has a broadly similar absorption spectrum to ammonia). 29 atmospheres equals 290 meters of seawater. Below about 200 meters , there’s not enough sunlight for photosynthesis to work, but there is still some. That does suggest it would be very dark, but not lightless.

Except it’s not actually 290 meters. Erid’s surface gravity is twice that of Earth. And double the surface gravity means there’s only half as much air above you for a given pressure. Erid’s 29 atmospheres of ammonia is actually equivalent to 150 meters of seawater. I don’t have an exact optical absorption spectrum for ammonia on hand, but I do know that it’s fairly close to water vapor, which absorbs modestly less light than liquid water, so this estimate is a pessimistic one. Erid’s surface may be twilight, but it would be perfectly possible to see there.

For that matter, Ryland also would have been able to see clearly when he intercepted the Blip A out past Tau Ceti’s heliopause. He’s out at the edge of the solar system, yes, but even if he’s 200 AU from Tau Ceti, he would be getting 0.001% as much sunlight as Earth—not much—little better than a full Moon—but still enough to see the Blip A instead of groping for it blindly on his tether.

The other problem, the one I didn’t realize until afterwards, is that even with a light-powered ship, even the massive fuel stores of the Hail Mary aren’t enough to get to Tau Ceti that fast . And the problem is even worse for the Blip A .

The Hail Mary was accelerating at 1.5 g for 4 subjective years, and when you do the math of special relativity , it does indeed get you 12 light-years with a turnaround halfway through. But even a light-powered ship needs reaction mass (in this case, Astrophage), especially if it’s getting up near the speed of light. To figure out how much, we need the rocket equation , and, uh-oh, that means there’s an exponential function lurking in there. The rocket equation says:

m i /m f = e^(Δv/v exhaust )

For a light-powered ship, v exhaust is the speed of light. What about Δv? That’s subject to relativity, isn’t it? Yes, but there’s a shortcut. You can replace Δv by the subjective acceleration times time of the ship. That’s how much cumulative force the engines are exerting in the ship’s reference frame, which tells you how much fuel you need.

There’s a very convenient fact in relativity that 1 g, that is, one Earth gravity, is very close to 1 light-year per year squared of acceleration (within 3%). That means acceleration in gravities multiplied by time in years gives you Δv in multiples of the speed of light. For the Hail Mary , that number is 1.5 g x 4 years = 6c. The ship doesn’t actually go 6 times the speed of light, but it does spend that much Δv . The rocket equation then says the ratio of initial mass to final (dry) mass must be m i /m f = e 6 ~ 400, that is, 400 times as much fuel as dry mass.

Well, that’s impossible with off the shelf equipment. We couldn’t make the fuel tanks themselves that light, let alone the rest of the ship, even given how dense enriched Astrophage is. The Hail Mary seems to be about the size of the Space Shuttle orbiter —about 100 tons empty—and we know it carries 2000 metric tons of fuel. That’s a much more reasonable mass ratio of 20.

There’s one way to fix this; there’s a trick we can use to get an exhaust velocity of 2c instead of c: shoot the laser at the ship and reflect it off a mirror. Since the light is reversing direction, its own change in velocity is 2c, and it imparts twice the momentum. This is what real solar sails do with sunlight. Twice the exhaust velocity means taking the square root of the mass ratio, which brings us down to 20. Problem solved!

Except that no matter how well the Hail Mary’s spin drive mirrors are made, I highly doubt they could stand up to the literal nuclear bomb levels of laser light the ship puts out.

Things are much worse for the Blip A . The Blip A needed 3 subjective years to go the 11 light-years from 40 Eridani to Tau Ceti. That suggests an acceleration of 2.2 g, which is probably the same as Erid’s surface gravity. Now, that comes to 3.25 e-foldings if you use reflected light, but I’m willing to round it down to 3. That’s not the problem. The real problem is that the Blip A was built for a round-trip! It needs twice the Δv, and that means we need to square the mass ratio, bringing it back up to 400.

Now, with how great Xenonite is, the Eridians might be able to built their ship that light and use mirrors in their engines. But there’s one more problem: the Eridians didn’t know about relativity. They were trying to make the trip with Newtonian mechanics. If you apply Newtonian mechanics, the trip from 40 Eridani to Tau Ceti takes 4.5 years at 2.2 g, and that means a Δv of 10c. For a round-trip, that’s a mass ratio of e 10 ~ 22,000. That’s impossible.

The bottom line is that if you make some allowances, the Hail Mary probably can work. The Blip A basically can work, too. However, there’s no way for the Blip A to be carrying as much fuel as the Eridians thought they would need without relativity.

Share this:

About Alex R. Howe

5 responses to the science of project hail mary.

i also like to read new books you can visit my blog for soem epic novels

Further fundamental problems:

Astrophage breaks the Second Law of Thermodynamics. I am happy with handwaving away how it stores energy (neutrinos, waffle, waffle). But Astrophage manages to extract energy from pure heat without a cold end. In a hot environment, it extracts and stores energy without dumping a single erg to a cold place.

And Taumoeaba violates Conservation of Energy. You have tanks of Astrophage containing gazillions of joules of energy. Then Taumoeba gets in, eats it and… Nothing except sludge.

My impression was that the neutrinos were supposed to be a free, nearly unlimited heat sink, i.e. the temperature of the neutrinos in a depleted Astrophage is near zero and equalizes at the “fully enriched” density. But you may be right that I’m missing some entropy considerations.

The Taumoeba only consume the chemical energy in the astrophage. The neutrinos just escape when they die. But even just chemical metabolism on that scale should have tripped thermal alarms on the ship, so point taken.

But even so, creating a “near absolute zero” heat sink violates the Second Law. Energy, on its own, does not do work. Energy moving from condensed (hot) to dispersed (cold) state does work. If the Astrophages had a cold end, all is well. But they do not appear to have.

Maybe you “just” released the neutrinos. I wonder whether the unimaginable neutrino flux might have visible effects.

Back of the envelope says that if these were ordinary (high-energy) neutrinos, they would have died of radiation poisoning within hours. But these neutrinos have an energy of kT, where T=369 K, which is 0.03 eV. They don’t have enough energy to break chemical bonds.

Comments are closed.

Alex R. Howe

My blog of science, science fiction, and more. The header image is a rendering of a possible future skyhook-space station.

Search Blog

Recent posts.

• Hiatus: Episode 6 Delayed
• S3E5: Modern Sci-Fi Television
• S3E4: Larry Niven Interview
• S3E3: Cameron Kunzelman Discusses Sci-Fi Video Games
• S3E2: Robert Silverberg Interview
• RSS - Posts
• RSS - Comments