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science fiction, a form of fiction that deals principally with the impact of actual or imagined science upon society or individuals. The term science fiction was popularized, if not invented, in the 1920s by one of the genre’s principal advocates, the American publisher Hugo Gernsback.
Science fiction - Origins, Genre, Authors: In 1818 Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley took the next major step in the evolution of science fiction when she published Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus. Champions of Shelley as the “mother of science fiction” emphasize her innovative fictional scheme.
science fiction, Fiction dealing principally with the impact of actual or imagined science on society or individuals, or more generally, literary fantasy including a scientific factor as an essential orienting component.
Science fiction - Utopias, Dystopias, Futurism: Sir Thomas More’s learned satire Utopia (1516)—the title is based on a pun of the Greek words eutopia (“good place”) and outopia (“no place”)—shed an analytic light on 16th-century England along rational, humanistic lines.
Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein: or, the Modern Prometheus (1818), is a combination of Gothic horror story and science fiction. The book tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a Swiss student of natural science who creates an artificial man from pieces of corpses and brings his creature to life.
The War of the Worlds, science fiction novel by H.G. Wells, first published serially by Pearson’s Magazine in the U.K. and by The Cosmopolitan magazine in the U.S. in 1897. The novel details a catastrophic conflict between humans and extraterrestrial “Martians.”
Space travel, robots, alien beings, and time travel are popular themes in the genre, or type, of literature known as science fiction, or sci-fi. This type of story deals mainly with the impact of science and technology upon society or individuals.
Cyberpunk, a science-fiction subgenre characterized by countercultural antiheroes trapped in a dehumanized, high-tech future. The word cyberpunk was coined by writer Bruce Bethke, who wrote a story with that title in 1982.
Zombie, undead creature frequently featured in works of horror fiction and film. While its roots may possibly be traced back to the zombi of the Haitian Vodou religion, the modern fictional zombie was largely developed by the works of American filmmaker George A. Romero.
Three laws of robotics, rules developed by science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov, who sought to create an ethical system for humans and robots. The laws first appeared in his short story “Runaround” (1942) and subsequently became hugely influential in the sci-fi genre.