Lesson 7.01 The Science in Science Fiction

• Introduction
• Learn
• Try It
• Task

Introduction

"A good science fiction story is a story about human beings, with a human problem, and a human solution, which would not have happened at all without its science content."

-Theodore Sturgeon

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was one of the first actual science fiction novels. Shelley's main character is a scientist who created a monster that makes its readers question, "What if?" The novel discusses subject matter, such as genetics, embryology, biochemistry, and cell biology. While reading the novel, the reader knows that there is a possibility that some of the events could happen. The novel also teaches lessons about the value and dangers of advanced technology.

Humphry Davy published work about "the phenomena of combustion,...of the agencies of fire;...and the conversion of dead matter into living matter by vegetable organs," in A Discourse, Introductory to a Course of Lectures on Chemistry.

Luigi Galvani published Commentary on the Effects of Electricity on Muscular Motion. He studied the effects of experiments performed on dead animals with electrical currents. The term galvanism was then coined, meaning electricity produced by a chemical reaction.

Mary Shelley read both works and studied the subjects of the experiments closely.

Lesson Objectives

Following successful completion of this lesson, students will be able to... Identify and discuss elements of science fiction in a short story. The above objectives correspond with the Creative Writing Course Standard: 2