As is stated in Science fiction studies #72 Vol 24, (July '97) there must be hundreds of thousands of stories and films that could be classified as science fiction, most science fiction critics can surely only claim to be familiar with a few thousand of them. Seeing only this thin slice of the total however does not stop them from producing grand theories, observations and commentaries.
"Modern science fiction is the only form of literature that consistently considers the nature of the changes that face us, the possible consequences, and the possible solutions. That branch of literature which is concerned with the impact of scientific advance upon human beings".
(Isaac Asimov [1952] quoted in Technology in society by Idier, p259, 2000)
As discussed by Roberts (2000) science fiction is not easy to define, yet is something of which we all have a sense. It normally contains imaginative or fantastic premises, postulating on the future of society, travel through time or space and of meetings with beings from other worlds. They are “a fiction of the imagination rather than of our observed reality” (Roberts, 2000, p1).
Science fiction is a large, complex subject, defining it is even more complex.
The Encyclopaedia Britannica proclaims:
"A literary genre…dealing with scientific discovery or development that, whether set in the future, in the fictitious present, or in the putative past, is superior to or simply other than that known to exist. Thus the word fiction in the term not only signifies, as in common usage, a work of the imagination but also applies directly to the word science. Depending on the author's purpose, the degree to which the scientific element is fictionalised may range from a careful and informed extrapolation from known facts and principles to the most farfetched and even flatly contradictory of speculations. What remains constant throughout the imaginative spectrum is the appearance of plausibility, stemming from at least surface allegiance to the attitudes, methods, and terminology of science."
(Quoted by Rowe, p561, 2001)
Or a recent definition by Mark Brake:
"Science fiction is identifiable by the fact that it eases `the willing suspension of disbelief' on the part of its audience by using an atmosphere of scientific credibility for imaginative speculations on physical science, space, time, social science and philosophy. It can be regarded as a device for conducting a type of theoretical science -- the exploration of imagined worlds."
(Quoted by Rowe, p561, 2001)
These three definitions (Asimov, Brake and Britannica) are all based around the imaginative speculation about scientific advancement for us as humans and the world we live in, which is all played out in an air of scientific credibility.
Another waay of defining the genre is exemplified through the arguments of Edward James who sees science fiction as:
“a cultural phenomenon that promotes a particular way of viewing the world”
(Edward James, 2000)
It should also be noted that Asimov begins his definition with the wording “Modern science fiction is…”, so date too is important. Many critics still argue over which were the earliest stories to belong to the science fiction genre. H G Wells and Jules Verne of the late nineteenth century, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein from 1818, Thomas More's Utopia of 1516 or even the Adventures of Baron Munchausen. All originally seen simply as imaginative fiction, it was not until the 1920s that were included in the family of science fiction writing. (Roberts, 2000)
Many in the world of science fiction move away from attempting to define science fiction through its content, this is because as writer Tom Shippey once said:
“Science fiction is hard to define because it is the literature of change and it changes while you are trying to define it!”
(quoted in Brake, p16, 2001)
Instead the experts look to other means for a definition.
“SF is what is marketed as SF: that is a beginning, but no more”
(Edward James, 1994, p3)
“science fiction is what we point to when we say it”
(Damon Knight, quoted in Roberts, 2000, p2)
“Science fiction is a label applied to a publishing category and its application is subject to the whims of editors and publishers.”
(John Clute, quoted in Brake, p16,2001)
These definitions allow for virtually any story seen as science fiction to be included.
All this said W. Warren Wagar (1997) highlights the divide amongst the science fiction community over whether or not science fiction is actually fiction about science. There have long been two schools of though. “Hard” science fiction which tackles the issues of the future of the sciences and the technology they produce. Or, alternatively, “Soft” science fiction, which tackles the issues of the future of society. It is this “soft” science fiction which is often accused of not being science fiction at all, even though it often contains small amount of what would be considered “hard” science fiction. But in the end even “hard” science fiction must always be complemented by an on going background of “soft” science fiction by necessity.
The physicist Lawrence Krauss believes that many people do not see themselves as being interested in physics but at the same time are remarkably interested in many topics that physics deals with such as black holes. He sees the best way of getting people interested in physics to be by stressing to them the connections between physics and the things in which are already interested in. Harnessing an element of popular culture is the best way of doing that. (Lawrence Krauss,1998)
When the science fiction genre was just taking shape its writers were seen as missionaries for science. With the influential Hugo Gernsback seeing science fiction as a way of teaching and inspiring the public (James, 2000). Today films such as The Lawnmower Man (1992) and Matrix (1999) are believed to have fuelled the public's interest in virtual reality. This effect can be put to use, the recent films Armageddon and Apollo 13 (1995) would have helped to promote the American space program and justify its large expenditure. (King and Krzywinska in their book Science fiction cinema)
“Often the same person enjoys science fiction and science itself, since both can inspire the imagination in similar ways.”
(Krauss, 1998)
This is a view backed up by Jeanne Cavelos (author of The science of Star Wars) who tells how she was already interested in the ideas of space travel prior to seeing Star Wars, believing that it actually fuelled her interest.
Mark Brake in his article Science fiction in the classroom talks of his belief that science fiction is a good way of popularising and disseminating science. His view is backed up by David Allen Batchelor who in his work on the science of Star Trek states that it helps to attract and excite the public about advanced science and technology.
The level of interest in science fiction appears to be larger than the levels of interest now created by any real spacecraft. When the Washington DC Air and Space Museum once had an exhibit of the Enterprise, it became the museums most popular exhibit ever, easily beating the attendance figures to any exhibits of spacecraft that had actually been into space (Krauss,1998).
“Most people in the UK receive their science education through science fiction so it makes sense to study the link between science fiction and science fact.”
(Brake quoted on PhysicsWeb, 1999)
If this is true then we must hope that the public can tell the real science from the fiction.
Science fiction creators have two approaches that they can use when writing science fiction. The 'realistic' approach, in which the writers make an effort to base the story around science and technologies that seem relatively plausible, such as Arthur C Clarke. Or the 'fantasy' approach, in which we find an all-out leap into the world of imagination far beyond current possibility such as the work of Ray Bradbury. Although the two can never entirely be separated in a science fiction story. The film, Destination Moon (1950) in which the images of the moons surface were based on real images and the journey there was a painstakingly slow one is a good example of the realist approach. A possible third approach appears in films such as Armageddon which combine the previous two, through taking a contemporary spacecraft and then modifying it in a fantasy way to allow it to meet the needs of the story.
It is the fantastic visions of the future that have dominated science fiction over the last 20 years, with few films based around real space programs in evidence. It is significant that the only film based on the Apollo Moon program to date has been Apollo 13, which was based around the failure of technology and the human intervention which found a way round it. (King and Krzywinska and David Stork [2001])
David Allen Batchelor addresses the science of Star Trek. He reports that Gene Roddenberry; the creator of Star Trek knew some basic astronomy. He and the writers of the show would take the real science of a situation and then attempt to stretch it to provide the backing for an exciting story.
As Lawrence Krauss puts it using the words of Rodenberry:
“the Starship Enterprise is primarily a vehicle for drama. The science is thrown in and arbitrarily bent to fit the needs of the plot – not vice versa.”
(Krauss, 1998)
A good example of this being the 'warp drive', starting from the knowledge of the vast distances involved in travelling between the stars and the time scale on which it would happen, Roddenberry realised that the space ship must be fitted with a new piece of technology. They produced the idea of the 'warp drive', this allowed travel between destinations to take place during the one-hour show instead of over lifetimes. Also allowing Roddenberry to attempt to keep the stars at their really distances.
Staying with Star Trek, on the 15th September 2000 Marina Sirtis (Star Trek: The Next Generation cast member) gave a speech at the opening of the Star Trek: Federation Science exhibition at the Science Museum, in which she pointed out that in the 1960s Gene Roddenberry foresaw a world of sliding doors, touch sensitive controls, voice recognition and computer disks (BBC Online, June 2001).
The image some scientists would like to see is that of a science fiction show that is perfectly accurate to 'real science', and so are quick to dismiss programs such as Star Trek. This may be unfair, as it is intended as a fictional show and accurate science would not provide the excitement required for the viewers. The real science in Star Trek is an effort to pay homage to our achievements in science and technology, whilst the imaginary science is there to expand our minds at the same time as being entertaining. It is this respect for real science that Batchelor believes accounts for the programs following amongst the scientific community. (David Allen Batchelor, 2001)
Moving away from the public, Hugo Gernsback saw science fiction as something which could inspire working scientists, providing them with ideas and things to aim for (James, 2000). This view appears to receive backing even today. (As mentioned in the introduction) The work of science fiction authors such as Gregory have been helping NASA with plans for missions to Europa, looking at ways of breaking the icy covered surface. Similarly the Innovative Technologies from Science Fiction group are helping the European Space Agency, providing ideas and technology for future missions. NASA is also looking into the prospect of a 'warp drive' or massless engine that would propel a spacecraft to near the speed of light. (R C Rowe, 2001)
Science fiction can take the public right up to the frontiers of current science. But of course these scientific ideas need to be put to correct use. Cavelos remembers the character of Han Solo claiming to have 'made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs'. Here the word parsec is used as a measure of time when in science it is actually a unit of astronomical distance.
If as Brake says, that science fiction may be main people's main exposure to science, then such mistakes will lead to confusion.
Adam Roberts argues that scientific ideas such as the big bang theory are really “science-fictional”, seeing such ideas as “imaginative construction elaborated from a series of scientifically rigorous premises”. He believes that it could be argued that science related to the real world is no longer distinct from science fiction, that scientific advance is through 'imaginative' attempts at apprehension.
Observed in The Science of Science Fiction:
“the most important scientific content in modern science fiction are the impossibilities.”
Brake to sees science fiction as a form of theoretical science; it is able to move beyond the constraints of the accepted laws of real science.
Science fiction uses the ability to move away from the real world as an opportunity to tackle a range of issues.
“much science fiction implicitly raises concerns close to home, however exotic or distant the setting”
(King and Krzywinska, p22, 2000)
The genre allows a different perspective to be placed on the concerns of our own world. Science fiction can ask politically sensitive questions but in a less controversial and obvious way (King and Krzywinska, 2000).
For example, War of the Worlds by H G Wells addresses a concern of the age. In the famous book the Martians are portrayed as imperialists using their superior technology to invade England. In such a way Wells is able to explore the concerns about the British Empire, considering the violent way in which it was constructed as a result of its relatively more advanced technology (Roberts, 2000).
The message may not always be a good one. Roberts talks of some of the pulp science fiction of the 20s, 30s and 40s as being used to
“reinforce the narrow ideological construction of 'American-ness' by demonising some notional scapegoat.”
(Roberts, p70, 2000)
It is not easy to separate technology and society, it is something to which we find ourselves both familiar and at the same time estranged from (Idier & Roberts, 2000).
Science fiction is a form of symbolic creativity, able to explore the possible consequences of technology for society, indeed much of science fiction is really technology fiction more than anything else (D Idier, 2000). Science fiction plays a part in the way new technology impacts on the publics lives. Companies use science fiction to sell and showcase new products, in recent years increasingly through product placement. (King and Krzywinska, 2000)
Science fiction can have a tendency to fetishise technology, especially when it comes to that used by the military, shown in the way fans collect models and books containing the technical specifications of the ships and weaponry (Roberts, 2000).
Arguing the views of Scott Bukatman, most technology in science fiction now brings together the technological and the organic. He believes that the idea of the organic 'body' has long been repressed in the genre in favour of the technological, but that this repression could not last. The key technological machines within science fiction, the spaceship and computer/robot highlight this. The robot often-sharing human like form and the spaceship almost always being humanised.
For a different perspective, King and Krzywinska see the opposition between the central 'human' characters and the products of science and technology as being key to the genre. Allowing for explorations of the possible fates of humanity in an increasingly technologically dominated world, fear of technology as being a current trend. In recent years it has been computer networks and machines which are the main technological threat. Offering only extinction or slavery for humanity (The Terminator (1984) and The Matrix (1999)).
They use a structuralist analysis to see popular culture as a device through which society is attempting to work out difficult issues. For science fiction they see this as representing the working out of the opposition between humans and science, though they do admit that often the solutions to this opposition seen in science fiction are mostly not possible in the real world. This opposition is sometimes tackled directly in the films or in other films is just under the surface.
In the end they see this attempt of working out problems and removal of anxieties as something that may contribute to a success at the box office.
Does science fiction depict science and technology as being good things, providing a better future? Or are they shown as being potentially evil? King and Krzywinska look at this idea of utopia and dystopia in some depth.
The utopian vision is one of a world tamed by science and technology. The scientists who appear in such films are often presented as being clear-sighted, offering the creation of a better life. They are the visionaries and heros.
But most science fiction utopian visions ultimately play out to become illusory or oppressive, the utopian becomes a prison (King and Krzywinska, 2000).
Stories of technological nightmare are far more common place. The scientists now being portrayed as the villains of the story even though they often start off with the best of intentions. Now the vision of technology is of a threat to humanity's very survival, a grim nightmare. Often we see this dystopia as the produce of attempts to create utopia; perhaps as is argued in their book, this is a warning of the dangers of trying to use science to produce a perfect world (King and Krzywinska, 2000).
Dystopian visions may provide scope for simply better movies. Often utopia does not lead itself well to a good story, lacking tension and conflict. They offer up the example of Star Trek, which has provided a sustained vision of a technological utopian earth. But then nearly all of the stories play out away from earth (King and Krzywinska, 2000). In Star Trek it is the technology that provides the main ingredient in the solution to the problems of the earth (J Leach, Here come the men in black). In the end it may just be that the scale, spectacle and special effects of today's cinema offer themselves more to the images of dark destructive worlds. Vivian Sobchack suggests a historical explanation for the large numbers of dystopian visions, pointing out that the bulk of science fiction work has been carried out since the dropping of the atomic bomb (King and Krzywinska, 2000).
Edward James points out that there has always been contrasts, even within the work of a single author between those texts that see science and technology as powers for good and those that see them as producing dire consequences. He uses the response to the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima, which was split between those who saw the bright peaceful uses of atomic energy and those who saw the earth gutted by the results of radiation.
James believes that the trend over the past 50 years has been one of the public losing faith in the abilities of humanity to cope with the ever increasingly powerful and far reaching science and technology which it produces (2000).
And, as Idier suggests, a popular film can potentially have a far greater effect on the watching public than any technical reports provided by government.
“The portrayal of both scientist and the nature of scientific activity is of crucial importance for the issues relating to the public's attitude to science.”
(Brake, p16, 2001)
Brake then goes on to point out that within science fiction the scientists are all too often portrayed as “single-minded obsessives and social outcasts”. The fear is that this then leads to suspicions about science in the public's mind, diminishing children's interest in science and the diversity of scientific workplaces.
Christopher Frayling believes that popular science fiction movies present physicists and medical researchers as being impossibly mad or impossibly saintly. Similarly King and Krzywinska see the scientist as being portrayed in these stereotyped characters: crazed lunatics, nerdy cerebral types, good to bad, rigorous rationalist to nutty professor. They believe that these stereotypes follow a cyclic pattern and are often a good measure of the general approach of the story.
As the horror film gives way to the science fiction of the 1950s King and Krzywinska (2000) find a growth of the “benign and altruistic scientist”, representing progress and curiosity of the time. And they find this scientist to often have emphasis placed on their human qualities: individualism, emotion or a romantic pairing.
Frayling sees the image of the scientist coming into focus with James Whales's Frankenstein (1931). In this film Henry Frankenstein had a fully-equipped lab; “incomprehensible dials, galvanic batteries, piles of bakealite bric-a-brac and electrical arcs and sparks”.
Compare this image to that of the collecting “the instruments of life around me” as was the description of the original book. Frayling believes that it was the movement of “German expressionist style and romanticism into the camp horror setting” that led to the films box office success. Soon the movie companies were mass producing films of this style.
One of the most common stereotypes combines the rational with the absent-minded professor, a prime example being Doc Brown in Back to the Future. The eccentricity making the scientist seem more 'vulnerably' human, appears to protect the scientist from the darker implications of their work. The scientist is also often being far from macho, normally relying on brains to over come brawn.
The benign scientist is often led astray, with good intentions bringing about disaster, this may account for many of the films of 50s, which may have carried messages about communism (King and Krzywinska, 2000).
But of course scientists can also appear as evil and dangerous characters. King and Krzywinska believe that these characters were derived from the tradition of the horror film. Today they also still see the mad scientist as being a persistent stereotype, often producing monsters, sometimes without even knowing it.
Next under the eye of King and Krzywinska is the misguided Frankensteinian genius. This is the character that is often seduced by knowledge and power and in the end suffers for tampering with nature.
Frayling sees the mad science as the result of individual choice on the part of the scientist, through “over-obsessiveness and over specialisation or megalomania”.
Next is the computer geek, a character seen as often lacking the moral integrity of Frankenstein. A good example being Dennis Nedry, the nerd found in Jurassic Park. This stereotype is described as not being wantonly malicious but self centred and out of touch with the effects of his actions. The nerd often comes in for more negative treatment due to their links with technology and technological facility.
“In return for one version of techno-power the nerd is given all the attributes of social and moral ineptitude.”
(King and Krzywinska, p48, 2000)
They do see a change in recent years with this vision as increasingly the 'hacker' is becoming a glamorous sub-cultural icon (King and Krzywinska, 2000).
Turning to real scientists the rhetoric they come up with when trying to be dramatic about their new discoveries can often resemble science fiction dialogue. Statements from environmentalists about “tampering with things we shouldn't” and Stephen Hawking's famous line of the theory of everything: “the ultimate triumph of human reason – for then we would know the mind of God” are good example of this. As Frayling says “Frankenstein couldn't have put it better himself”.
Batchelor sees Star Trek as one of the only science fiction programs that consistently depicts both scientists and engineers as role models in a positive light. Andre Bormanis, a writer and consultant for the program also holds this view of the characters and he considers it to be one of the only shows on TV in which most of the characters are working scientists, even those in command have worked their way up from usually a science position.
“Because science fiction IS the future, isn't it? The books have essentially said so by putting the image in people's mind!”
(Rebecca, e-mail, 2001)
Mark Brake sees science fiction as
“an inspirational source guiding the direction of science development”
Some science fiction can be defined as being 'anticipation stories', these are stories which take place in the near future and appear to be plausible. Often these stories appear to be extrapolations from the current world, written by authors possessing a scientific background (Idier, 2000).
R C Rowe tells that many of his favourite science fiction authors come from a scientific background, believing that they enhance the genre with their work. They are people who have taken their knowledge about the advances of science over the last half century and used them as inspiration to provide an insight into the possibilities of the future. They are scientists who are able to “extrapolate, speculate and anticipate events” that few other scientists would attempt. Rowe believes that this is because they do not necessarily try to propose solutions to the problems that they foresee.
So what of the science fiction creators who do not have this background in science to draw on and simply use scientific elements as part of the story? In her book on the science of Star Wars, Jeanne Cavelos (p1) believes that it was George Lucas' use of scientific elements within the films that made them seem plausible. And now 20 years on:
“Say something is impossible today, and you will be explaining how it can be done tomorrow. So while George Lucas may not have attempted to create a scientifically accurate universe, science may actually be turning his vision into truth.”
She believes that science may actually make George Lucas' dreams a reality.
According to Cavelos, the world of Star Wars when the film first appeared in 1977 was distant from the scientific truths of the time. But she argues that today science appears to be moving towards the vision of George Lucas, citing physicists' theoretical methods for interstellar travel, the recent discoveries of large numbers of extra solar planetary systems, robotics advances towards more human like robots and even theories that leave a little room for the idea of the 'force'.
Startrek.com champions Star Trek's effects on the development of science by reporting on how it has helped to spawn technological ideas. Indeed, science fiction of the type of Star Trek and Star Wars is classified by Idier as being “space opera”. This group represents films describing technological space stories. They may spread the idea that the future of humanity lies in space and due to their pictorial nature Idier sees them as having a strong impact on the public, even leading to the US's integrated space defence program.
In his essay David Stork he describe Arthur C Clarke as a science fiction writer you tries to shed light on what may be possible in the future. He is often seen as being the author who came up with the idea for geosynchronous satellites.
But ultimately as pointed out by John Cramer:
“There are basic incompatibilities between good story telling and accurate prophecy. A good story needs conflict and dramatic tension.”
(Quoted in Idier, p261, 2000)
For many authors the purpose of science fiction is not to attempt to predict the future, they simply see the opportunity to write a story set in a place that does not refer to actual memory, allowing for society and technology to be seen in new ways. Indeed we have always been fascinated by the future (Idier, 2000).
In short, the vastness of space provides authors with a blank canvas on which to create, as by its nature it is so far removed from what is understood or even possible (Rebecca, e-mail, 2001).
Science fiction is well known for often breaking the laws of physics and other sciences, but this has not stopped a wave of literature and exhibitions explaining the science of these programs from becoming very popular (Physics World, 1998).
There is a school of thought that believes that the best way to teach science is to have people directly confront their own incorrect preconceptions. Science fiction leaves people with many misconceptions about science that can be confronted (Krauss, 1998).
Mark Brake (2001) holds the view that science fiction encourages students to study science and is a way in which they can look at science's interaction with the wider world. He now is the course leader of a degree in science and science fiction, situated at the University of Glamorgan, UK. The course involves modules on science and then complementary modules on science fiction themes. Brake states that the science fiction elements:
“focus on the relationship between science, culture and society”
(Brake quoted in editorial, physics World, 2001)
About the course Brake states:
“Our aim is to produce graduates who not only have a dynamic and pluralistic understanding of the nature and evolution of science but can also critically develop and communicate ideas about science and its cultural context.”
(Brake quoted in editorial, physics World, 2001)
Startrek.com recently reported on the writer/consultant Andre Bormanis's talk at the “Space in the Classroom” national conference at the U.S. Air Force Academy. The topic was how Star Trek can be used to talk about scientific issues. He believes that using science fiction can be a valuable tool for the teaching of science.
“When you approach science from the point-of-view of story, you can get the attention of students a lot more quickly and keep their attention better.”
(Bormanis quoted on Startrek.com)
This is also the view of Jon Ogborn (PhysicsWeb, 1998) who in 1998 was the director of the 16-19 physics initiative at the Institute of physics, who believes:
“Setting science within interesting narratives is crucial to keeping students involved”
They are not alone in their ideas of using science fiction in the classroom. In 1998 Physics World reported on its growth and on a lecture on the subject given by Leroy Dubeck at the annual American Association for the Advancement of Science. It began by stating that the recent popularity of books such as The Physics of Star Trek has made many teachers consider new ways of teaching.
Dubeck himself has written a book Fantastic Voyages: Learning Science through Science Fiction, in which we are told he uses movies such as The Day the Earth Caught Fire and 2010 to describe the basics of particle physics. He also teaches two science courses using science fiction. The first is a course teaching physics to arts students who need a core physics unit for their degree, and the second is a more specialised science course. Through these courses Dubeck is reported as finding that through using science fiction the students gain a better understanding of the principles involved, discovering that the students maintain a high level of interest throughout the courses and enrolement for the classes is higher than normal (PhysicsWeb, 1998).
As Lawrence Krauss says, if something in science fiction is impossible we should say so, but we can always find something in the real world to talk about which is related to it (Krauss, 1998).
Lawrence Krauss believes that the biggest mistake that we can make as science educators is to assume that the public are interested in what we have to say. He advocated that we should be chasing them, convincing them first to be interested by reaching out to them, initially motivation is more important than clarity. Motivation then is key to learning.
Although not all teachers are convinced of the benefit of such methods, finding them gimmicky, support has come from the National Science Foundation who helped with the development of a series of textbooks using science fiction (PhysicsWeb,1998).
As mentioned earlier there are many exhibitions making use of science fiction. One of the biggest of recent years has been the Star Trek: Federation science travelling exhibition.
“A science exhibit encompassing the Star Trek theme is a great way to motivate people toward and educate them about science”
(Gene Roddenberry, quoted South Florida Science Museum website, 2001)
The interactive exhibition was designed and produced by the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry in collaboration with Paramount Pictures. It has been touring around the world since early 1997 and its run is expected to last until past the spring of 2002. The exhibition uses the Star Trek theme to allow visitors to explore the worlds of physics, astronomy, physiology and the scientific method. The setting makes use of the set style of the recent TV programs and the voices of the cast members to provide what is designed to be an entertaining and familiar atmosphere. The total exhibition space is 5000 square feet and it costs $85,000 to rent for 3 months plus shipping costs.(ASTC website)
The Cumberland Science Centre in Nashville a few years ago used to teach a robotics camp. They included video clips from science fiction film and made use of the laws of robotics as set out by Isaac Asimov (Becky Fox Matthews, e-mail, 2001.)
Hints of science fiction are now creeping into science documentaries in the form of every increasing special effects. For a Hollywood blockbuster increasingly the special effects used in the film are a marketing selling point, they are seen as something that will draw people in (Hannah, 2001). It is no surprise that science documentaries such as Walking with Dinosaurs and more recently Space are making good use of the drawing powers of special effects.
Mark Brake hopes that science fiction can provide the bridge to public consciousness, providing the opportunity to tackle pseudo-science.
But King and Krzywinska find that some alien conspiracy theories talk of science fiction as a form of misinformation
.
“One widely circulated rumour is that the US formed an alliance with the aliens that has subsequently broken down. The conspiracy theory suggests that the series of films featuring 'nice' aliens in the early 1980s was made at the time of the alliance as part of a government strategy to prepare people for the future revelation of extra-terrestrial contact. The harsher portrayal of aliens that has followed in many films is interpreted as post-alliance preparation for potential confrontation.”
The number of new age or mystical belief systems that have chosen belief in a science fiction 'prop' is large. Under this heading we could include alien abductions through to the recent cult who committed suicide believing that their souls were to be taken away by a space craft hidden in the tail of the comet Hale Bopp. (Roberts, 2000)
There is debate about which programmes are science fiction and which are pseudo-science. Recently a group of 12-13 year old kids when questions said they saw Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the X-Files as being science TV programs, it also appeared that the group did not see a difference between these science fiction ideas and real science (Katie Eagleton, e-mail, 2001). In her work on the attitudes towards technology and anxiety in the film MiB Leach discusses the X-Files as a science fiction show (Leach, Here come the men in black, 1998).
A topic of much debate in recent months on science communication e-mail listings (such as Psi-com) has been whether science centres should be including pseudo-science ideas in their exhibitions. If science fiction truly is an educational resource should we be worried by this lack of distinction being drawn between the two?
- Science fiction is difficult to define. The two keywords most often used are 'science' and 'human', science fiction being a study of the interactions between the two.
- It is thought that science fiction inspires an interest in science.
- The science in science fiction can either be based on relatively plausible extrapolations from current knowledge, or it can be complete fantasy beyond the realms of current possibilities.
- Science fiction can be a type of theoretical science.
- The change away from the real world can be used to debate issues from a detached perspective, allowing society's fears to be addressed.
- Science fiction can have a powerful effect on the way in which the public accepts new science and technologies.
- Science fiction tends to be suspicious of science and technology, preferring to explore the darker, dystiopian visions.
- More often than not the image of the scientist portrayed in science fiction is one of a number of negative stereotypes, from 'mad' and/or 'detached from society' to 'absent-minded'.
- Though not attempting to predict the future, science fiction can be inspirational for both the public and scientists. With the image of space travel having the most powerful impact.
- Science fiction may be useful to science education by providing the means to hold the publics/students attention and interest, motivation being key to learning. It can provide misconceptions to be exploited and highlight science's cultural context.
- Science fiction appears to have strong links and associations with pseudo-science.
The aim of the study is to evaluate what effect the public considers popular science fiction has had on their understanding of science and technology.
To meet the aim of the evaluation the objectives are:
- To carry out a review of published literature to determine in which ways and to what extent it is believed that science fiction can affect the public understanding of science and technology.
- To carry out 'Expert' interviews with practitioners whose work is touched by the publics links to science fiction. The interviews being based around the findings of the literature review, allowing deeper discussion of the topics and how it is believed they affect the public today.
- To develop a questionnaire to be carried out with the general public investigating their views of how science fiction is affecting their understanding of science and technology.
Firstly the subject area of science fiction needed to be studied. This allowed for the main themes and ideas prevalent within the genre to be identified. It is these themes and ideas that form the basis for most studies carried out on science fiction and it was these themes and ideas whose influences on the public were to be tested.
Once these target areas of interest had been identified information on how they may be affecting the publics understanding of science and technology needed to be collected.
From these first two steps a set of statements about what was expected of science fiction and its effect on the public's understanding of science and technology from the data already collected was compiled.
Lastly these opinions were then to be tested by meeting with and collecting information from members of the general public.
The study was based in an inductive research method and in order to collect the relevant data took a primarily qualitative research approach, although quantitative methods to collect data were also used. This multi-method approach allowed for triangulation, using three different methods of data collection within the study to ensure that it is as full and balanced as is possible within the short time scale.
The first part of the research was to be by scrutiny of documentary evidence, where the term documentary is used as set out in Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill (2000, P190). Written documents being transcripts, books, journal and magazine articles and newspapers. Non-written documents being tape and video recording, pictures, drawings, films and television programmes. These documents representing my use of secondary data. I expected this section to be essential to my introduction to the subject of the study and the wider ideas and issues involved.
The next step was to move into answering the deeper questions that have arisen or could not be sufficiently dealt with by documentary analysis. And so a number of 'Experts' were interviewed. It was hoped that these experts would become apparent as the literary review and document analysis took place. The number of interviews was expected to be about six. The interviews were semi-structured, in that I will use a list of themes and questions that I will wish to discuss with the experts although they did vary from interview to interview (Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill [2000, P243]). These interviews were recorded by the use of a tape recorder and then transcribed for analysis at a later date and inclusion in the appendix.
Then I moved on to the general public themselves and here I introduced a quantitative approach to the collection of data by introducing a questionnaire. The questionnaire was in the form of an interviewer administered structured interview, I physically met the respondents and asked the questions face to face. The majority of the questionnaires were carried out in the city centre of Cardiff.
According to Bryman (1988) qualitative research can be defined by the use of six criteria:
- 'Seeing through the eyes of ..' or taking the subjects perspective.
- Describing the mundane detail of everyday settings.
- Understanding actions and means in their social context.
- Emphasising time and process.
- Favouring open and relatively unstructured research designs.
- Avoiding concepts and theories at an early stage.
(Armitage, 1998, p12)
It was decided that these criteria would be of greatest benefit to the study. The qualitative perspective concerns more with the understanding of individuals perceptions of the world, seeking insights instead of statistical analysis (Bell,1995,p6)
But as Bell then goes on to say, there are occasions when qualitative researchers draw on quantitative techniques and vice versa. And so to produce an in-depth study a questionnaire technique will also been included in the study, allowing the measurement and use of scientific methods to produce quantified and generaliseable conclusions.
The documentary evidence used in the study was expected to consist mainly of secondary sources, that is interpretations of events and information (the primary sources) that have been compiled. This data is often used to supplement information from other sources. It was expected that the sources for this information would be both local and national.
The key to the use of this form of data is in the selection of what is to be included. In many cases there is expected to be vast amounts of work available for study, but in the case of the publics views of the effects of science fiction on them there appears to have been little work carried out to date. The information was taken from works of literary criticism, media studies texts, popular science texts and articles from various science and teaching periodicals.
The documentary evidence will be used to meet the objectives of finding out what work has already been carried out in the subject area.
The study includes an attempt to gain a more in depth knowledge of the subject matter in the eyes of the media, sci fi writers and other scientists through the conducting of a series of semi-structured interviews.
The semi-structured method was adopted as it will allow for a list of themes and questions to be covered in each of the interviews whilst still allowing a level of flexibility and change between the approaches to the different categories of expert. The order of questions may be changed depending on the flow of the interview, allowing it to take a more natural course like a conversation. It also allows for the addition and subtraction of questions again depending on relevance to the situation. Such a structure will hopefully lead to an exploration or even explanation of the themes upon which I have already touched in document form and also their expectations of what the questionnaires to be carried out with the public will have showed.
The interviews were conducted either on a face to face basis with a single participant at a time or for those experts who could not be met due to geographical considerations were conducted through the exchange of e-mails. It was hoped that the interviews would become a discussion of the topic, whilst to record the face to face interviews a tape record was opted for. This was decided as it would be easy to miss information or simply slow down the discussion to record the interview through note taking. Saying this, some note taking still took place during the interview as it helped to maintain concentration and focus (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill [2000]).
The main advantage to using the interviews was that they allow for a probing of the subject with the experts that could not be achieved through other methods alone. As Bell (1995) suggests an interview can be used to follow up ideas, probe responses and investigate motives and feeling, which a questionnaire can never do. The disadvantages are the data quality issues of reliability, bias and validity.
The questionnaire section of data collection took the form of an interviewer administered structured interview, by physically meeting the respondents and asking the questions face to face.
The questionnaire will be made up of a mixture of both open and closed questions. This approach was taken to attempt to both retain the respondents' interest in completing the form and also to attempt to gather different types of data. I used the closed questions to collect factual data about the public's actual behaviour and responses to science fiction. To collect data about the public strength of beliefs and attitude I made use of a Likert-style rating system. This allowed the respondent to indicate how strongly they felt about statements made. The open questions then allowed for the opportunity to develop further on the respondent's answers and views. I did not want to cause inconvenience for the respondents and so kept the length of the questionnaire short.
Once the questionnaire had been compiled it was pilot tested. This was done by using a number of test runs of the questions with a number of people. This run through showed up any problems being created, these were attended to and another set of questionnaires tested before beginning the full survey. This is done to ensure that the respondents will be able to answer the questions with little difficulty and that the data from the completed forms will present the fewest number of problems when it is recorded.
These interviews were carried out in the city centre of Cardiff at various times of the day. This was done in an effort to capture the responses of a representative population of the general public. If the study had of been carried out within Techniquest then it is expected that the data would be biased from the very nature of it taking place within a science centre.
The advantages of the approach are that the interview format will decrease the chances of questions being misinterpreted and also produces a greater response rate eliminating any bias created by people who simply do not return the forms in a postal approach.
The main disadvantage is the risk of introducing bias myself whilst carrying out the questionnaire through the prompting of responses. As is stated by Oppenheim (1992) such prompting is one of the main causes of bias within question interviews. Other forms of bias may be introduced by the method of picking people to question, the interviewer may feel more comfortable approaching a certain group of people, age or sex. An effort to eliminate such an effect was made by asking every 10th person to walk past me. By its nature people responding in the way that they think the questionnaire wants them to may introduce other bias.
The questionnaires should indicate what the public thinks about the educational effects of science fiction.
The largest limiting factor of the study is the time frame over which it was conducted. The experts to be interviewed needed to be identified early on in the study to allow for the interviews to be set up. This is significant to the study as it was hoped that the interviews would provide a deeper insight to the subject of study before the questionnaire phase was undertaken with the public. The time frame also limited the questionnaire to the geographical area of Cardiff.