Science fiction 

(sometimes shortened to sci-fi) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically

deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space
exploration, time travel, parallel universes, extraterrestrial life, sentient artificial
intelligence, cybernetics, certain forms of immortality (like mind uploading), and the singularity.
Science fiction predicted several existing inventions, such as the atomic bomb,[1] robots,
[2]
 and borazon,[3] whose names entirely match their fictional predecessors. In addition, science
fiction might serve as an outlet to facilitate future scientific and technological innovations.[4]
Science fiction can trace its roots to ancient mythology.[5] It is also related to fantasy, horror,
and superhero fiction and contains many subgenres. Its exact definition has long been disputed
among authors, critics, scholars, and readers.
Science fiction, in literature, film, television, and other media, has become popular and influential
over much of the world. It has been called the "literature of ideas", and often explores the
potential consequences of scientific, social, and technological innovations.[6][7] Besides
providing entertainment, it can also criticize present-day society and explore alternatives. It is
also often said to inspire a "sense of wonder".[8]

Definitions[edit]
Main article: Definitions of science fiction
American science fiction author and editor Lester del Rey wrote, "Even the devoted aficionado or
fan—has a hard time trying to explain what science fiction is," and the lack of a "full satisfactory
definition" is because "there are no easily delineated limits to science fiction."[9] According
to Isaac Asimov, "Science fiction can be defined as that branch of literature which deals with the
reaction of human beings to changes in science and technology."[10] Robert A. Heinlein wrote that
"A handy short definition of almost all science fiction might read: realistic speculation about
possible future events, based solidly on adequate knowledge of the real world, past and present,
and on a thorough understanding of the nature and significance of the scientific method."[11]
Part of the reason that it is so difficult to pin down an agreed definition of science fiction is
because there is a tendency among science fiction enthusiasts to act as their own arbiter in
deciding what exactly constitutes science fiction.[12] Damon Knight summed up the difficulty,
saying "science fiction is what we point to when we say it."[13] Ultimately, it may be more useful to
talk around science fiction as the intersection of other, more concrete, genres and subgenres.[14]

Alternative terms[edit]
Further information: Skiffy
Forrest J Ackerman has been credited with first using the term "sci-fi" (analogous to the then-
trendy "hi-fi") in about 1954;[15] the first known use in print was a description of Donovan's
Brain by movie critic Jesse Zunser in January 1954.[16] As science fiction entered popular culture,
writers and fans active in the field came to associate the term with low-budget, low-tech "B-
movies," and with low-quality pulp science fiction.[17][18][19] By the 1970s, critics within the field, such
as Damon Knight and Terry Carr, were using "sci fi" to distinguish hack-work from serious
science fiction.[20] Peter Nicholls writes that "SF" (or "sf") is "the preferred abbreviation within the
community of sf writers and readers."[21] Robert Heinlein found even "science fiction" insufficient
for certain types of works in this genre, and suggested the term speculative fiction to be used
instead for those that are more "serious" or "thoughtful."[22]

History[edit]
Main articles: History of science fiction and Timeline of science fiction
H. G. Wells

Some scholars assert that science fiction had its beginnings in ancient times, when the line
between myth and fact was blurred.[23] Written in the 2nd century CE by the satirist Lucian, A True
Story contains many themes and tropes characteristic of modern science fiction, including travel
to other worlds, extraterrestrial lifeforms, interplanetary warfare, and artificial life. Some consider
it the first science-fiction novel.[24] Some of the stories from The Arabian Nights,[25][26] along with the
10th-century The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter[26] and Ibn al-Nafis's 13th-century Theologus
Autodidactus,[27] also contain elements of science fiction.
Written during the Scientific Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment, Johannes
Kepler's Somnium (1634), Francis Bacon's New Atlantis (1627),[28] Athanasius
Kircher's Itinerarium extaticum (1656),[29] Cyrano de Bergerac's Comical History of the States and
Empires of the Moon (1657) and The States and Empires of the Sun (1662), Margaret
Cavendish's "The Blazing World" (1666),[30][31][32][33] Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's
Travels (1726), Ludvig Holberg's Nicolai Klimii Iter Subterraneum (1741)
and Voltaire's Micromégas (1752) are regarded as some of the first true science-fantasy works.[34]
[35]
 Isaac Asimov and Carl Sagan considered Somnium the first science-fiction story; it depicts a
journey to the Moon and how the Earth's motion is seen from there.[36][37]
Following the 17th-century development of the novel as a literary form, Mary
Shelley's Frankenstein (1818) and The Last Man (1826) helped define the form of the science-
fiction novel. Brian Aldiss has argued that Frankenstein was the first work of science fiction.[38]
[39]
 Edgar Allan Poe wrote several stories considered to be science fiction, including "The
Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall" (1835) which featured a trip to the Moon.[40][41] Jules
Verne was noted for his attention to detail and scientific accuracy, especially in Twenty
Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870).[42][43][44][45] In 1887, the novel El anacronópete by Spanish
author Enrique Gaspar y Rimbau introduced the first time machine.[46][47] A rather unknown early
French/Belgian science fiction writer was J.-H. Rosny aîné (1856–1940).[48]
Many critics consider H. G. Wells one of science fiction's most important authors,[42][49] or even
"the Shakespeare of science fiction."[50] His notable science-fiction works include The Time
Machine (1895), The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), and The War of
the Worlds (1898). His science fiction imagined alien invasion, biological engineering, invisibility,
and time travel. In his non-fiction futurologist works he predicted the advent of airplanes, military
tanks, nuclear weapons, satellite television, space travel, and something resembling the World
Wide Web.[51]
Edgar Rice Burroughs' A Princess of Mars, published in 1912, was the first of his three-decade-
long planetary romance series of Barsoom novels which were set on Mars and featured John
Carter as the hero.[52] In 1924 We one of the first dystopian novels, by Russian writer Yevgeny
Zamyatin, was published.[53] It describes a world of harmony and conformity within a
united totalitarian state. It influenced the emergence of dystopia as a literary genre.[54]
In 1926, Hugo Gernsback published the first American science-fiction magazine, Amazing
Stories. In its first issue he wrote:
By 'scientifiction' I mean the Jules Verne, H. G. Wells and Edgar Allan Poe type of story—a
charming romance intermingled with scientific fact and prophetic vision... Not only do these
amazing tales make tremendously interesting reading—they are always instructive. They supply
knowledge... in a very palatable form... New adventures pictured for us in the scientifiction of
today are not at all impossible of realization tomorrow... Many great science stories destined to
be of historical interest are still to be written... Posterity will point to them as having blazed a new
trail, not only in literature and fiction, but progress as well.[55][56][57]
In 1928, E. E. "Doc" Smith's first published work, The Skylark of Space, written in collaboration
with Lee Hawkins Garby, appeared in Amazing Stories. It is often called the first great space
opera.[58] The same year, Philip Francis Nowlan's original Buck Rogers story, Armageddon 2419,
also appeared in Amazing Stories. This was followed by a Buck Rogers comic strip, the first
serious science-fiction comic.[59]
In 1937, John W. Campbell became editor of Astounding Science Fiction, an event which is
sometimes considered the beginning of the Golden Age of Science Fiction, which was
characterized by stories celebrating scientific achievement and progress.[60][61] In 1942, Isaac
Asimov started his Foundation series, which chronicles the rise and fall of galactic empires and
introduced psychohistory.[62][63] The series was later awarded a one-time Hugo Award for "Best All-
Time Series."[64][65] The "Golden Age" is often said to have ended in 1946, but sometimes the late
1940s and the 1950s are included.[66]
Theodore Sturgeon's More Than Human (1953) explored possible future human evolution.[67][68]
[69]
 In 1957, Andromeda: A Space-Age Tale by the Russian writer and paleontologist Ivan
Yefremov presented a view of a future interstellar communist civilization and is considered one of
the most important Soviet science fiction novels.[70][71] In 1959, Robert A. Heinlein's Starship
Troopers marked a departure from his earlier juvenile stories and novels.[72] It is one of the first
and most influential examples of military science fiction,[73][74] and introduced the concept
of powered armor exoskeletons.[75][76][77] The German space opera series Perry Rhodan, written by
various authors, started in 1961 with an account of the first Moon landing[78] and has since
expanded in space to multiple universes, and in time by billions of years.[79] It has become the
most popular science fiction book series of all time.[80]
In the 1960s and 1970s, New Wave science fiction was known for its embrace of a high degree
of experimentation, both in form and in content, and a highbrow and self-consciously "literary" or
"artistic" sensibility.[34][81][82] In 1961, Solaris by Stanisław Lem was published in Poland.[83] The novel
dealt with the theme of human limitations as its characters attempted to study a
seemingly intelligent ocean on a newly discovered planet.[84][85] 1965's Dune by Frank
Herbert featured a much more complex and detailed imagined future society than had previous
science fiction.[86]
In 1967 Anne McCaffrey began her Dragonriders of Pern science fantasy series.[87] Two of the
novellas included in the first novel, Dragonflight, made McCaffrey the first woman to win
a Hugo or Nebula Award.[88] In 1968, Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, was
published. It is the literary source of the Blade Runner movie franchise.[89][90] 1969's The Left Hand
of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin was set on a planet in which the inhabitants have no
fixed gender. It is one of the most influential examples of social science fiction, feminist science
fiction, and anthropological science fiction.[91][92][93]
In 1979, Science Fiction World began publication in the People's Republic of China.[94] It
dominates the Chinese science fiction magazine market, at one time claiming a circulation of
300,000 copies per issue and an estimated 3–5 readers per copy (giving it a total estimated
readership of at least 1 million), making it the world's most popular science fiction periodical.[95] In
1984, William Gibson's first novel, Neuromancer, helped popularize cyberpunk and the word
"cyberspace," a term he originally coined in his 1982 short story Burning Chrome.[96][97][98] In
1986, Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold began her Vorkosigan Saga.[99][100] 1992's Snow
Crash by Neal Stephenson predicted immense social upheaval due to the information revolution.
[101]
In 2007, Liu Cixin's novel, The Three-Body Problem, was published in China. It was translated
into English by Ken Liu and published by Tor Books in 2014,[102] and won the 2015 Hugo Award
for Best Novel,[103] making Liu the first Asian writer to win the award.[104]
Emerging themes in late 20th and early 21st century science fiction include environmental
issues, the implications of the Internet and the expanding information universe, questions
about biotechnology, nanotechnology, and post-scarcity societies.[105][106] Recent trends
and subgenres include steampunk,[107] biopunk,[108][109] and mundane science fiction.[110][111]

Film[edit]
Main articles: Science fiction film and Lists of science fiction films

The Maschinenmensch from Metropolis

The first, or at least one of the first, recorded science fiction film is 1902's A Trip to the Moon,
directed by French filmmaker Georges Méliès.[112] It was profoundly influential on later filmmakers,
bringing a different kind of creativity and fantasy to the cinematic medium.[113][114] In addition,
Méliès's innovative editing and special effects techniques were widely imitated and became
important elements of the medium.[115][116]
1927's Metropolis, directed by Fritz Lang, is the first feature-length science fiction film.[117] Though
not well received in its time,[118] it is now considered a great and influential film.[119][120][121] In
1954, Godzilla, directed by Ishirō Honda, began the kaiju subgenre of science fiction film, which
feature large creatures of any form, usually attacking a major city or engaging
other monsters in battle.[122][123]
1968's 2001: A Space Odyssey, directed by Stanley Kubrick and based on the work of Arthur C.
Clarke, rose above the mostly B-movie offerings up to that time both in scope and quality, and
greatly influenced later science fiction films.[124][125][126][127] That same year, Planet of the Apes (the
original), directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and based on the 1963 French novel La Planète des
Singes by Pierre Boulle, was released to popular and critical acclaim, due in large part to its vivid
depiction of a post-apocalyptic world in which intelligent apes dominate humans.[128]
In 1977, George Lucas began the Star Wars film series with the film now identified as "Star
Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope."[129] The series, often called a space opera,[130] went on to
become a worldwide popular culture phenomenon,[131][132] and the second-highest-grossing film
series of all time.[133]
Since the 1980s, science fiction films, along with fantasy, horror, and superhero films, have
dominated Hollywood's big-budget productions.[134][133] Science fiction films often "cross-over" with
other genres, including animation (WALL-E – 2008, Big Hero 6 – 2014), gangster (Sky Racket –
1937), Western (Serenity – 2005), comedy (Spaceballs −1987, Galaxy Quest –
1999), war (Enemy Mine – 1985), action (Edge of Tomorrow – 2014, The Matrix –
1999), adventure (Jupiter Ascending – 2015, Interstellar – 2014), sports (Rollerball –
1975), mystery (Minority Report – 2002), thriller (Ex Machina – 2014), horror (Alien – 1979), film
noir (Blade Runner – 1982), superhero (Marvel Cinematic Universe –
2008–), drama (Melancholia – 2011, Predestination – 2014), and romance (Her – 2013).[135]

Television[edit]
Main articles: Science fiction on television and List of science fiction television programs

Don Hastings (left) and Al Hodge in Captain Video and His Video Rangers

Science fiction and television have consistently been in a close relationship. Television or

television-like technologies frequently appeared in science fiction long before television itself
became widely available in the late 1940s and early 1950s.[136]
The first known science fiction television program was a thirty-five-minute adapted excerpt of the
play RUR, written by the Czech playwright Karel Čapek, broadcast live from the BBC's Alexandra
Palace studios on 11 February 1938.[137] The first popular science fiction program on American
television was the children's adventure serial Captain Video and His Video Rangers, which ran
from June 1949 to April 1955.[138]
The Twilight Zone (the original series), produced and narrated by Rod Serling, who also wrote or
co-wrote most of the episodes, ran from 1959 to 1964. It featured fantasy, suspense,
and horror as well as science fiction, with each episode being a complete story.[139][140] Critics have
ranked it as one of the best TV programs of any genre.[141][142]
The animated series The Jetsons, while intended as comedy and only running for
one season (1962–1963), predicted many inventions now in common use: flat-
screen televisions, newspapers on a computer-like screen, computer viruses, video chat, tanning
beds, home treadmills, and more.[143] In 1963, the time travel-themed Doctor Who premiered on
BBC Television.[144] The original series ran until 1989 and was revived in 2005.[145] It has been
extremely popular worldwide and has greatly influenced later TV science fiction.[146][147][148] Other
programs in the 1960s included The Outer Limits (1963–1965),[149] Lost in Space (1965–1968),
and The Prisoner (1967).[150][151][152]
Star Trek (the original series), created by Gene Roddenberry, premiered in 1966 on NBC
Television and ran for three seasons.[153] It combined elements of space opera and Space
Western.[154] Only mildly successful at first, the series gained popularity through syndication and
extraordinary fan interest. It became a very popular and influential franchise with
many films, television shows, novels, and other works and products.[155][156][157][158] Star Trek: The
Next Generation (1987–1994) led to six additional live action Star Trek shows (Deep Space
9 (1993–1999), Voyager (1995–2001), Enterprise (2001–2005), Discovery (2017–present), Picar
d (2020–present), and Strange New Worlds (2022–present)) with more in some form of
development.[159][160][161][162]
The miniseries V premiered in 1983 on NBC.[163] It depicted an attempted takeover of Earth
by reptilian aliens.[164] Red Dwarf, a comic science fiction series aired on BBC Two between 1988
and 1999, and on Dave since 2009.[165] The X-Files, which featured UFOs and conspiracy
theories, was created by Chris Carter and broadcast by Fox Broadcasting Company from 1993 to
2002,[166][167] and again from 2016 to 2018.[168][169] Stargate, a film about ancient astronauts and
interstellar teleportation, was released in 1994. Stargate SG-1 premiered in 1997 and ran for 10
seasons (1997–2007). Spin-off series included Stargate Infinity (2002–2003), Stargate
Atlantis (2004–2009), and Stargate Universe (2009–2011).[170] Other 1990s series
included Quantum Leap (1989–1993) and Babylon 5 (1994–1999).[171]
SyFy, launched in 1992 as The Sci-Fi Channel,[172] specializes in science fiction, supernatural
horror, and fantasy.[173][174]
The space-Western series Firefly premiered in 2002 on Fox. It is set in the year 2517, after the
arrival of humans in a new star system, and follows the adventures of the renegade crew
of Serenity, a "Firefly-class" spaceship.[175]Orphan Black began its 5-season run in 2013, about a
woman who assumes the identity of one of her several genetically identical human clones. In late
2015 SyFy premiered The Expanse to great critical acclaim, an American TV series about
Humanity's colonization of the Solar System. Its later seasons would then be aired
through Amazon Prime Video.

Social influence[edit]
Science fiction's rapid rise in popularity during the first half of the 20th century was closely tied to
the popular respect paid to science at that time, as well as the rapid pace of technological
innovation and new inventions.[176] Science fiction has often predicted scientific and
technological progress.[177][178] Some works predict that new inventions and progress will tend to
improve life and society, for instance the stories of Arthur C. Clarke and Star Trek.[179] Others,
such as H.G. Wells's The Time Machine and Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, warn about
possible negative consequences.[180][181]
In 2001 the National Science Foundation conducted a survey on "Public Attitudes and Public
Understanding: Science Fiction and Pseudoscience."[182] It found that people who read or prefer
science fiction may think about or relate to science differently than other people. They also tend
to support the space program and the idea of contacting extraterrestrial civilizations.[182][183] Carl
Sagan wrote: "Many scientists deeply involved in the exploration of the solar system (myself
among them) were first turned in that direction by science fiction."[184]
Science fiction tries to blend fiction and reality seamlessly so that the viewer can be immersed in
the imaginative world. This includes characters, settings, and tools and perhaps most critically,
the scientific plausibility and accuracy of technology and technological concepts. Sometimes,
science fiction forecasts real life innovations and discoveries. In the 2020 series Away astronauts
use a real-life Mars rover called InSight to listen intently for a landing on Mars. Two years later in
2022 scientists used InSight to listen for the landing of a real spacecraft.[185] In the Jurassic
Park franchise, dinosaurs are created from ancient DNA and 18 years later, real life scientists
found dinosaur DNA in ancient fossils.
Brian Aldiss described science fiction as "cultural wallpaper."[186] Evidence for this widespread
influence can be found in trends for writers to employ science fiction as a tool for advocacy and
generating cultural insights, as well as for educators when teaching across a range of academic
disciplines not limited to the natural sciences.[187] Scholar and science fiction critic George Edgar
Slusser said that science fiction "is the one real international literary form we have today, and as
such has branched out to visual media, interactive media and on to whatever new med