Complex Numbers

The Time Machine

Science fiction is blurry.

By which I mean, the edges of the genre kind of blur into other genres: horror, fantasy, adventure, mystery, snob-lit, whatever. This makes the genre remarkably difficult to define, other than "I know it when I see it."

So keep that in mind when looking at this collection of early 20th century SF.

     How Scientific and Technological Breakthroughs Created a New Kind of Fiction  
Joshua Glenn Chronicles the Development of Sci-Fi in the Early 20th Century

If you insist, as I do, that the fundamental thing that makes it science fiction is exploring the ramifications of new or potential discoveries or inventions on people, society, and culture, then SF actually got its start in the early 19th century. But there's no question that it took a while to blast off.

But I'm not here to argue about genre, which is essentially a marketing tool. The article itself is a marketing tool, promoting the guy's book. That's fine; lots of us are here to promote our books or find stuff to read.

During the early twentieth century, the world’s scientists were wonderstruck by the revelation that the spontaneous disintegration of atoms (previously assumed to be indivisible and unchangeable) produces powerfully energetic “radio-active” emissions.

Wait'll they find out about quantum physics.

Throughout the nineteen-aughts and -tens, scientists and snake-oil salesmen alike would ascribe to radium—and radiation in general—vitalizing, even life-giving powers.

I've noted things like this in here before.

Now, look, I'm not going to quote from the rest of the article, here. It's not really necessary, and it provides quick descriptions of several early 20th century SF books. If you're interested, the link is right there; if you're not, see you tomorrow.

But I find it interesting to delve into the history of the future; that is, what people thought the future might be like in the past. If that makes sense. It's not about seeing what "came true" (I've noted before that science fiction doesn't predict; sometimes it warns, but most often, it inspires); it's about seeing what attitudes people had then and how they might have shifted.

And some themes continue to the present day: what would alien life be like? What if we could create life? How do we deal with the ethical issues of technology?

So, yeah. Maybe I'll expand on this in a future Fantasy newsletter (there's no official SF newsletter, but close enough). Until then, step into the time machine, if you dare.