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SCIENCE FICTION THE WONDER OF HUMAN IMAGINATION

SCIENCE FICTION THE WONDER OF HUMAN IMAGINATION
Author: Andreas Sofroniou
Publisher: Lulu.com
Total Pages: 117
Release: 2017-09-19
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0244934096
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Science Fiction explores the probable consequences of some improbable or impossible transformation of the basic conditions of human (or intelligent non-human) existence. This transformation need not be a technological invention, but may be some mutation of known biological or physical reality: artificial or extraterrestrial life-forms and travel through time are favourite subjects. Science Fiction stories may involve Utopian political speculation, or satire, but most rely on the marvellous appeal of fantasy. The term Science Fiction was first given general currency by Hugo Gernsback, editor of the popular Amazing Stories magazine from 1926. Once uniformly dismissed as pulp trash, SF gained greater respect from the 1950s, as writers like Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke, and John Wyndham expanded its range; themes of alien invasion and brain-washing became especially popular at the height of the Cold War.

In Other Worlds

In Other Worlds
Author: Margaret Atwood
Publisher: Signal
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2012-08-21
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 0771008414
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In Other Worlds: SF and the Human Imagination is Margaret Atwood's account of her relationship with the literary form we have come to know as "science fiction." This relationship has been lifelong, stretching from her days as a child reader in the 1940s, through her time as a graduate student at Harvard, where she worked on the Victorian ancestors of the form, and continuing as a writer and reviewer. This book brings together her three heretofore unpublished Ellmann Lectures from 2010, including "Flying Rabbits," which begins with Atwood's early rabbit superhero creations, and goes on to speculate about masks, capes, weakling alter egos, and "Things with Wings". In Other Worlds also reprints some of Atwood's key reviews of other practitioners of the form and thoughts about SF. For all readers who love the work of Margaret Atwood, especially The Handmaid's Tale, The Blind Assassin, Oryx and Crake, and The Year of the Flood—not to mention Atwood's two million-plus Twitter followers—In Other Worlds is a must.

The Mechanics of Wonder

The Mechanics of Wonder
Author: Gary Westfahl
Publisher: Liverpool University Press
Total Pages: 360
Release: 1998-01-01
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 9780853235637
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This is a sustained argument about the idea of science fiction by a renowned critic. Overturning many received opinions, it is both controversial and stimulating Much of the controversy arises from Westfahl's resurrection of Hugo Gernsback - for decades a largely derided figure - as the true creator of science fiction. Following an initial demolition of earlier critics, Westfahl argues for Gernsback's importance. His argument is fully documented, showing a much greater familiarity with early American science fiction, particularly magazine fiction, than previous academic critics or historians. After his initial chapters on Gernsback, he examines the way in which the Gernsback tradition was adopted and modified by later magazine editors and early critics. This involves a re-evaluation of the importance of John W. Campbell to the history of science fiction as well as a very interesting critique of Robert Heinlein's Beyond the Horizon, one the seminal texts of American science fiction. In conclusion, Westfahl uses the theories of Gernsback and Campbell to develop a descriptive definition of science fiction and he explores the ramifications of that definition. The Mechanics of Wonder will arouse debate and force the questioning of presuppositions. No other book so closely examines the origins and development of the idea of science fiction, and it will stand among a small number of crucial texts with which every science fiction scholar or prospective science fiction scholar will have to read.

Astounding Wonder

Astounding Wonder
Author: John Cheng
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Total Pages: 402
Release: 2012-03-19
Genre: History
ISBN: 0812206673
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When physicist Robert Goddard, whose career was inspired by H. G. Wells's War of the Worlds, published "A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes," the response was electric. Newspaper headlines across the country announced, "Modern Jules Verne Invents Rocket to Reach Moon," while people from around the world, including two World War I pilots, volunteered as pioneers in space exploration. Though premature (Goddard's rocket, alas, was only imagined), the episode demonstrated not only science's general popularity but also its intersection with interwar popular and commercial culture. In that intersection, the stories that inspired Goddard and others became a recognizable genre: science fiction. Astounding Wonder explores science fiction's emergence in the era's "pulps," colorful magazines that shouted from the newsstands, attracting an extraordinarily loyal and active audience. Pulps invited readers not only to read science fiction but also to participate in it, joining writers and editors in celebrating a collective wonder for and investment in the potential of science. But in conjuring fantastic machines, travel across time and space, unexplored worlds, and alien foes, science fiction offered more than rousing adventure and romance. It also assuaged contemporary concerns about nation, gender, race, authority, ability, and progress—about the place of ordinary individuals within modern science and society—in the process freeing readers to debate scientific theories and implications separate from such concerns. Readers similarly sought to establish their worth and place outside the pulps. Organizing clubs and conventions and producing their own magazines, some expanded science fiction's community and created a fan subculture separate from the professional pulp industry. Others formed societies to launch and experiment with rockets. From debating relativity and the use of slang in the future to printing purple fanzines and calculating the speed of spaceships, fans' enthusiastic industry revealed the tensions between popular science and modern science. Even as it inspired readers' imagination and activities, science fiction's participatory ethos sparked debates about amateurs and professionals that divided the worlds of science fiction in the 1930s and after.

Book of Visions 3

Book of Visions 3
Author: Giovana Von Bloome
Publisher: Independently Published
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2024-03-31
Genre: Fiction
ISBN:
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As a child, I was always drawn to the captivating allure of science fiction stories. The idea of exploring new worlds, encountering strange creatures, and delving into the mysteries of the universe fascinated me to no end. I would spend hours immersed in the pages of books, imagining myself as an intrepid explorer venturing into the unknown. As I grew older, my love for science fiction only deepened. I realized that it was not just the thrill of adventure that drew me to these stories, but also the profound sense of wonder and curiosity they inspired in me. Science fiction, with its imaginative and often mind-bending concepts, allowed me to escape the confines of reality and explore the boundless possibilities of the human imagination. I soon discovered that I was not alone in my fascination with science fiction. People of all ages, from young children to seasoned adults, were equally enthralled by the genre. It seemed that there was something universal about the appeal of science fiction - something that transcended age, gender, and background. But what was it that made science fiction so irresistible to so many people? Was it the allure of fantastical worlds and futuristic technology, or the thrill of encountering the unknown? Perhaps it was a combination of both - a powerful blend of imagination and exploration that captivated the hearts and minds of readers everywhere. For me, reading science fiction was a journey of discovery - a chance to step outside the boundaries of reality and into a realm of limitless possibilities. It was a way to question the status quo, challenge the limits of what we know, and imagine a future that was both awe-inspiring and terrifying... So whether you are a child dreaming of distant planets, a teenager pondering the mysteries of the universe, or an adult grappling with the complexities of our world, science fiction has something to offer everyone. It is a genre that transcends age and time, inviting us all to embark on a journey of discovery and exploration that is as thrilling as it is enlightening...)

The First Geeks

The First Geeks
Author: Orty Ortwein
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 245
Release: 2024-06-05
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1476686300
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The writer Ray Bradbury, science fiction expert Forry Ackerman, and special effects genius Ray Harryhausen are world-famous for their careers involving tales of the imagination. Before anyone had heard of them, they were friends as teens and college-aged boys enjoying all that 1930s L.A. had to offer: getting celebrity autographs, watching blockbuster movies, and haunting dozens of bookstores. As members of the Los Angeles chapter of the Science Fiction League, the three belonged to a tight-knit group that was involved in the earliest science fiction conventions and the birth of cosplay. This book follows the lives and careers of these three literary and film legends and tracks the origins of science fiction fandom. Each chapter builds a chronology of how their paths intertwined, and ultimately connected to, the beginnings of renowned fan conventions like Comic-Con. Devoted science fiction fans and new readers alike will learn how a young friendship launched three illustrious careers and changed the face of science fiction forever.

The Cambridge History of the American Novel

The Cambridge History of the American Novel
Author: Leonard Cassuto
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 1271
Release: 2011-03-24
Genre: Literary Collections
ISBN: 0521899079
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An authoritative and lively account of the development of the genre, by leading experts in the field.

The Mammoth Book of Science Fiction

The Mammoth Book of Science Fiction
Author: Mike Ashley
Publisher: Mammoth
Total Pages: 380
Release: 2013-11-28
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1472114868
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The art of writing great science fiction is that it challenges the imagination, pushing it to extreme limits and in this anthology, selecting some of the best modern science fiction from the last fifty years, twenty leading authors of the genre ask the question 'What if...?' and then give their own very personal views of the changes and surprises which may befall humanity in the centuries to come. In Ulla, Ulla Eric Brown recounts the first manned Martian expedition and discovers that H. G. Wells may have been right after all. In The Infinite Assassin Greg Egan polices the dimensions, seeking those who are taking over their alternate selves. Geoffrey A. Landis takes us into the depths of a black hole in Approaching Perimelasma. Is the ultimate Utopia heaven or hell? Robert Sheckley finds out in the classic A Ticket to Tranai. These and other stories by James White, Eric Frank Russell, Robert Reed, H. Beam Piper and H. Chandler Elliot make this one of the most entertaining and thought-provoking science fiction anthologies in lightyears.

The Literary Imagination from Erasmus Darwin to H.G. Wells

The Literary Imagination from Erasmus Darwin to H.G. Wells
Author: Michael R. Page
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 232
Release: 2016-03-09
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 131702527X
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At the close of the eighteenth century, Erasmus Darwin declared that he would 'enlist the imagination under the banner of science,' beginning, Michael Page argues, a literary narrative on questions of evolution, ecology, and technological progress that would extend from the Romantic through the Victorian periods. Examining the interchange between emerging scientific ideas-specifically evolution and ecology-new technologies, and literature in nineteenth-century Britain, Page shows how British writers from Darwin to H.G. Wells confronted the burgeoning expansion of scientific knowledge that was radically redefining human understanding and experience of the natural world, of human species, and of the self. The wide range of authors covered in Page's ambitious study permits him to explore an impressive array of topics that include the role of the Romantic era in the molding of scientific and cultural perspectives; the engagement of William Wordsworth and Percy Shelley with questions raised by contemporary science; Mary Shelley's conflicted views on the unfolding prospects of modernity; and how Victorian writers like Charles Kingsley, Samuel Butler, and W.H. Hudson responded to the implications of evolutionary theory. Page concludes with the scientific romances of H.G. Wells, to demonstrate how evolutionary fantasies reached the pinnacle of synthesis between evolutionary science and the imagination at the close of the century.

Age of Wonders

Age of Wonders
Author: David G. Hartwell
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 313
Release: 2017-01-24
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 0765398133
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Age of Wonders: Exploring the World of Science Fiction gives an insider's view of the strange and wonderful world of science fiction, by one of the most respected editors in the field, David G. Hartwell (1941-2016). David G. Hartwell edited science fiction and fantasy for over twenty years. In that time, he worked with acclaimed and popular writers such as Robert A. Heinlein, Poul Anderson, Frank Herbert, Roger Zelazny, Robert Silverberg, Gene Wolfe, Nancy Kress, L.E. Modesitt, Terry Bisson, Lisa Goldstein, and Philip Jose Farmer, and discovered hot new talents like Kathleen Ann Goonan and Patrick O'Leary. Now in Age of Wonder, Hartwell describes the field he loved, worked in, and shaped as editor, critic, and anthologist. Like those other American art forms, jazz, comics, and rock 'n' roll, science fiction is the product of a rich and fascinating subculture. Age of Wonder is a fascinating tour of the origins, history, and culture of the science fiction world, written with insight and genuine affection for this wonder-filled literature, and addressed to newcomers and longtime SF readers alike. Age of Wonder remains "the landmark work" Roger Zelazny called the first edition. The book contains sections that offer advice on teaching courses in science fiction, disquisitions on the controversial subgenre of hard SF, and practical explanations of the economics of publishing science fiction and fantasy. Age of Wonder still lives up to Hugo and Nebula Award winner Vonda McIntyre's description: "An entertaining and provocative book that will inspire discussion and argument for years to come." At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.