E220: American Science Fiction,
Dr. Michael O'Conner

[E220 Home] [Syllabus] [Assignments/Grading] [Attendance] [Policies and procedures] [Sci-Fi Links][Student Posts]

A Brief History of Science Fiction

The history of science fiction begins, according to many critics, with Mary Shelley's 1818 novel, Frankenstein. Shelley's horrific reaction to the dangers inherent in advancing science, medical knowlege and technology set the tone for one avenue of future treatments of science within fiction.

Edgar Allan Poe wrote short stories, ironic in tone, that incorporated science and technology in "Hans Pfaall" (1835), a tale of a lunar voyage, "The Balloon Hoax" (1844), and "The Thousand and Second Tale of Schehenrezade" (1848).

The next real milestone in sci-fi came with the writings of Jules Verne. Verne's fantastic novels of adventure captured the imagination of readers of his time all the way through today. Some of his more famous works include:

Verne's imitators included Andre Laurie, Gordon Stables, Harry Collingwood, and Herbert Strang.

After Darwin's theories of evolution were popularized, challenging many traditional religious beliefs and concepts of human roles and importance in the universe, evolutionary discussions entered the realm of fiction with Samuel Butler's Erewhon (1872) and Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde--both tending to criticize Darwin. Then, Darwin's champion, Thomas Henry Huxley, made deep impressions on many of his students, one of which was H. G. Wells. Wells' pro-Darwinian attitudes may be seen in novels like:

Important movements in fiction reflected social change found their way into a number of futuristic utopian novels, including Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward (1888) and William Dean Howell's A Traveler from Altruia (1894).

The inventor of Tarzan, Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950) also brought us an entire series of novels based upon John Carter, a sword wielding hero on Mars. The Martian series began with A Princess of Mars (1912).

The Golden Age (1940-43)

The great age of Sci-Fi Pulps and Magazines, began with Hugo Gernsback founding the first all sci-fi magazine in 1926, Amazing Stories. Pulp sci-fi publications skyrocketed throughout the 30s, 40s, and 50s, appealing to a young male audience, often depicted on the covers scantily clad women in the arms of some alien beast or spacesuited hero. The importance of the pulps, however, came from offering a new crop of young writers an outlet for their sci-fi stories and tales. In the magazine, Astounding, authors like Jack Williamson and John W. Campbell first make their appearance. Pulps also offered a original forum to writers like Clifford Simak, A.E. van Vogt, Theodore Sturgeon, Lester del Rey, Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, L. Ron Hubbard and Fritz Leiber. So much classic and well known science fiction was first produced in the early 1940s that the period is now referred to as the Golden Age of Sci-fi. Works from these years include:

The 1950s brought the downfall of many science fiction pulps and magazines, perhaps due to a combination of the rise of television and the availability of cheap paperback novels and collections. Still, a number of important magazines persisted, such as If and Galaxy. The mid-60s saw a new crop of writers appear, including Larry Niven, Fred Saberhagen, Harlan Ellison, and Robert Silverberg. In Amazing Stories and Fantastic, other important writers made their first contributions to field, such as Piers Anthony, Roger Zelazny, Urula LeGuin and Ben Bova. The 1970s brought about a few new magazine titles, Analog, Fantasy and Science Fiction, and Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. Greg Benford believes Hal Clement's novel Mission of Gravity may mark the beginning of "hard" science fiction, or sci-fi dedicated to "paying attention to scientific accuracy" (16-17).

New Wave

Sometime in the late 1960s and 1970s, New Wave science fiction appeared, with its own unique qualities. American new wave sci-fi is said to include:

Some authors associated with this movement include Delany, Le Guin, Aldiss, Zelazny, Michael Moorcock, and Harlan Ellison.

The 80s and 90s

The last two decades has seen a surge in science fiction, in print and on the screen (film and television). The success of blockbuster films and popular television shows like 2001: A Space Odyssey, the Star Wars trilogy, StarTrek and its many spinoffs, Babylon 5, and others has placed sci-fi squarly in the forefront of popular culture. These tv and film productions have spawned hundreds of "pulp-like" books related to the various series.

New authors have began using science fiction to explore issues pertinent to society today (perhaps not so different from the past), the environment, pollution, overpopulation and population control, religion, cloning, robotics, viruses like AIDS, and big business and corporations. Shining stars and rising authors include David Brin, Greg Bear, Greg Benford, William Gibson, Orson Scott Card, C. J. Cherryh, Lois McMasters Bujold, Octavia E. Butler, Connie Willis, Kim Stanley Robinson, and Neal Stephenson.

Cyberpunk

One "splinter" group of science fiction in the last twenty years is known as 'cyberpunk.' William Gibson's Neuromancer marked a watershed, denoting fiction much like that of the psychodelic seventies period, with journeys into the soul and self not through drugs but through "plugging" into the dark and complex cyber-network world of the future.

Works Cited or Consulted:

Benford, Gregory. "Real Science, Imaginary Worlds." The Ascent of Wonder: The Evolution of Hard SF. Eds. Hartwell, David G. and Kathry Kramer. New York: Tom Doherty Associates, 1994.

Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, Ed. Robert Holdstock. London: Octopus Books, 1978.

[Return to O'Conner's E220 Home Page] [Return to O'Conner's Main Millikin Home Page]
Dr.Michael O'Conner
Contact: moconner@mail.millikin.edu, or Click Here