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Earth in science fiction

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The iconic photo of Earth known as The Blue Marble, taken by the crew of Apollo 17 (1972). This and similar images might have popularized Earth as a theme in fiction.[1]: 138 

An overwhelming majority of fiction is set on or features the Earth, as the only planet home to humans. This also holds true of science fiction, despite perceptions to the contrary. Works that focus specifically on Earth may do so holistically, treating the planet as one semi-biological entity. Counterfactual depictions of the shape of the Earth, be it flat or hollow, are occasionally featured. A personified, living Earth appears in a handful of works. In works set in the far future, Earth can be a center of space-faring human civilization, or just one of many inhabited planets of a galactic empire, and sometimes destroyed by ecological disaster or nuclear war or otherwise forgotten or lost.[2][1]

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Transcription

In 1988, Isaac Asimov predicted that we would all own computers connected to massive libraries and be able to access digital teachers and reference materials on demand, allowing us to learn at our own pace, wherever we want, about whatever we choose. So . . . basically this? [MUSIC] You know what's frustrating about tomorrow? . . . that it's not today. That makes it very hard to predict. But that doesn't stop us from trying. And lots of our predictions about the science of TOMORROW come in the form of science FICTION. Science SCIENCE is, for the most part, a historical study, built on observations of things that have already happened. But science FICTION has a decidedly tomorrow-y bent to it. Not all predictions are CORRECT, I mean you'd have to be a pretty big bojo to think that we're actually going to have hoverboards by October 21, 2015, but throughout the history of science fiction, people have gotten a lot of things amazingly RIGHT. Like in 1865, Jules Verne predicted that the US would send three men to the moon in a spaceship named Columbiad launched on a rocket weighing 20,000 pounds at a cost of 12.1 billion dollars. 104 years later, the U.S. sent three men to the moon in a spaceship named Columbia on a rocket weighing 26,000 pounds at a cost of 14.4 billion dollars. NOT BAD. Mark Twain, in his 1898 story "From the 'London Times' of 1904" predicted a worldwide network of interconnected telephone devices that would let people share information and he even predicted we would just waste time looking at what everyone else was doing. He wasn't the only one to predict the internet. Douglas Adams wrote about a handheld device that was the standard repository for all knowledge and wisdom in the galaxy, but that was in 1979, and the internet was already being built, so I don't know if it counts. But hey, you can read books on it! Arthur C. Clarke is also on the list of people who predicted internet-type computer things [ARTHUR C CLARKE TALKING] but his BOOKS got so many things right that you'd think he had access to some superior form of artificial intelligence. "Siri can you open the pod bay doors please?" Today artificial intelligence has advanced enough to win at Jeopardy, but so far no one has died from it . . . I think. Before Arthur C. Clarke wrote stories, he worked on radar for the Royal Air Force. In 1945, he wrote an article describing "extra-terrestrial relays", which essentially predicted AND laid out a plan for our entire modern system of geostationary communications satellites. To this day, the particular altitude of space that those satellites live is known as the "Clarke Orbit" In the 1911 story "Ralph 124C 41+", Hugo Gernsback, the namesake of science fiction's annual "Hugo awards", predicted that an emitted radio wave should reflect off distant objects and make them detectable like visible light, which we call radar, something that wasn't invented until almost 25 years later. In 1961's "Stranger In A Strange Land" Robert Heinlein predicted screensavers, although I'm not sure he knew we'd use flying toasters. In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury predicted flatscreen television, as well as "seashells" and "thimble radios" worn in the ears which I think we've all HEARD of. 50 years ago, during the 1964 world's fair, Isaac Asimov predicted that in 2014 we would have some robots, but they wouldn't be very good yet, that nuclear and solar power would replace fossil fuels, we'd have self-driving cars, we'd have unmanned missions to Mars, and everyone would wear killer sideburns and bolo ties Philip K. Dick is a decidedly more pessimistic predictor of the future, but he was . . . RIGHT. Maybe it's not all sunshine and roses out there. Minority Report's "Precogs" have been related by some to modern efforts to use neuroscience in the courtroom. Total Recall-level memory implantation is nowhere close to being real, but experiments in mice suggest that brain-to-brain neural linkage is not complete fiction. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep predicts a world full of bio-inspired engineering and human-like artificial intelligence, while A Scanner Darkly predicted a level of high-tech government surveillance that I think we all WISH was fiction, but I love the NSA, the NSA is our friend. But nobody, NOBODY, holds a Nostradmus-y candle to HG Wells. He, too predicted the iPad, oh AND automatic sliding doors, in 1899's When The Sleeper Wakes. He predicted the atomic bomb, in scary detail, including all of the radioactive fallout horror that it would bring, in 1914's "The World Set Free", even down to some of the nuclear PHYSICS involved. He even called it an "atomic bomb" which was not even a term that existed before that. In The Time Machine he predicted, well, the time machine (although he didn't explain how it works, so maybe we shouldn't count that one). The Shape of Things to Come predicted airborne warfare. Men Like Gods saw wireless communications. War of the Worlds (SPOILERS) reminded us that faced with man or even alien technology, bacteria will ALWAYS win. The Invisible Man used light refracting metamaterials for invisibility nearly a century BEFORE we even knew what metamaterials were. In The Island of Doctor Moreau he not only predicted genetic engineering, but asked a question that we still haven't answered: How does man safely manipulate nature when he is PART of nature? HG Wells was so good, and so often correct, about predicting the future, that he is called "the man who invented tomorrow". Or today. Of course, not all sci-fi is good at predicting the future, and sci-fi gets lots of stuff wrong, but you have to admit that some of these predictions are so spot on that you'd almost expect one of the authors to be from Gallifrey. One right prediction in any one body of work would be lucky, but this many right answers can't be luck. Clearly something sets these people apart. Many of the greatest sci-fi writers also had serious scientific training. Isaac Asimov had a PhD in biochemistry. Arthur C. Clarke degree in math and physics. HG Wells had a degree in biology. Of course it also helps to hang out with people like Carl Sagan. At its core, good science fiction must rest on good SCIENCE. It seems obvious, but this, I think, is why the best sci-fi authors are also the most frequently right when it comes to predicting the future. How far can we see into the future? It depends on what we're looking for. Isaac Asimov said that when we look at stars, or galaxies, or DNA we are looking at simple things, things that follow nice neat rules and equations. But when we look at human history, it's chaotic, it's unpredictable, our vision is limited. Science transforms the complex into the simple, it's how we explain the chaos. Science is how we see farther, and science fiction is where we write down what we see. I would like to know what YOU think down in the comments. Why makes some science fiction SO GOOD at predicting the future. And I PREDICT that I missed a TON of awesome science fiction that has become reality, so PLEASE leave a comment and tell me what I missed. Stay curious.

Related vocabulary

In a number of works of science fiction, Earth's English name has become less popular, and the planet is instead known as Terra or Tellus, Latin words for Earth.[1]: 139 [3] Inhabitants of Earth can be referred to as Earthlings, Earthers, Earthborn, Earthfolk, Earthians, Earthies (this term being often seen as derogatory), Earthmen (and Earthwomen), Earthpersons, Earthsiders, Solarians, Tellurians, Terrestrials, Terrestrians, or Terrans.[4]: 41, 43–48, 192, 233–234, 237–238 

In addition, science fiction vocabulary includes terms like Earthfall for landing of a spaceship on planet Earth; or Earth-type, Earthlike, Earthnorm(al) and terrestrial for the concept of "resembling planet Earth or conditions on it".[4]: 41, 43–48, 192, 233–234, 237–238 

The concept of modifying planets to be more Earth-like is known as terraforming. The concept of terraforming developed from both science fiction and actual science. In science, Carl Sagan, an astronomer, proposed the terraforming of Venus in 1961, which is considered one of the first accounts of the concept.[5] The term itself, however, was coined by Jack Williamson in a science-fiction short story ("Collision Orbit") published in 1942 in Astounding Science Fiction,[6][7][4]: 235 [8] although the concept of terraforming in popular culture predates this work; for example, the idea of turning the Moon into a habitable environment with atmosphere was already present in La Journée d'un Parisien au XXIe siècle ("A Day of a Parisian in the 21st Century", 1910) by Octave Béliard [fr].[9]

Themes

In general, the vast majority of fiction, including science fiction, takes place on Earth.[2]: 226, 228  To the extent that Earth is more than the obvious but forgettable background where the action of the story takes place, a number of themes have been identified.[1]: 137 

Earth

Many works of science fiction focus on the outer space, but many others still take place on Earth; this distinction has been subject to debates among the science fiction authors, visible for example in J. G. Ballard's 1962 essay Which Way to Inner Space?. Some critics of the "outer space adventures" have pointed to the importance of "earthly" concepts and imagery closer to contemporary readers' everyday experience.[2]: 228 [10] While it has been argued that a planet can be considered "too large, and its lifetime too long, to be comfortably accommodated within fiction as a topic in its own right," this has not prevented some writers from engaging with said topic.[a][1]: 138 [11]

Some works that focus on Earth as an entity have been influenced by holistic, "big picture" concepts such as the Gaia hypothesis, noosphere and the Omega Point, and the popularizing of the photography of Earth from space.[1]: 138  Others works have addressed the concept of Earth as a Goddess Gaia[b] (from Greek mythology; another prominent goddess of Earth whose name influenced science fiction was the Roman Terra or Tellus[4]: 41 ). Bridging these ideas, and treating Earth as a semi-biological or even sentient entity, are classic works like Arthur Conan Doyle's When the World Screamed (1928) and Jack Williamson's Born of the Sun (1934).[2]: 227 

Shape

A map of "The Interior World", from The Goddess of Atvatabar by William Bradshaw (1892)

Depictions of the Earth as being flat are uncommon in modern works, the sphericity of the planet having been proved around 200 B.C. by Archimedes and Eratosthenes. Exceptions to this include Terry Pratchett's satirical Discworld series—which was inspired by Hindu cosmology—and deliberately provocative works like S. Fowler Wright's novel Beyond the Rim from 1932.[1]: 137–138 [2]: 226  There have also been fictional accounts of a hollow Earth, such as Edgar Allan Poe's 1838 novel The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket inspired by John Cleves Symmes Jr.'s model featuring openings at the north and south poles whereby the interior can be accessed.[1]: 137  A few writers have likewise engaged with another old fringe theory, that of Counter-Earth – a hypothetical body of the Solar System that orbits on the other side of the solar system from Earth.[c][2]: 227 

Many stories portray Earth as known to modern science, but the exploration of its subterrean depths, relatively consistent with the knowledge of modern geology, is still subject to a number of works. Brian Stableford listed among "notable accounts of burrowing expeditions" into such an Earth works such as Harry Harrison's "Rock Diver" (1951).[1]: 138 

Planetary engineering

Large scale planetary engineering includes ideas such as adjusting the Earth's axial tilt,[d] or moving the Earth from its orbit.[e][1]: 138–139  Some works deal with geoengineering, a term usually referred to large-scale projects attempting to deal with the problem of climate change; a theme common in many works of climate fiction.[13] In the extreme case, Earth can be consumed in its entirety, all of its mass repurposed in construction of megastructures such as a Dyson sphere.[f][2]: 227 

Cover of Science Fiction Quarterly Summer 1940, depicting the destruction of Earth

The end of Earth

Various versions of the future of Earth have been imagined. Some works focus on the end of the planet; those have been written in all forms – some focused on "ostentatious mourning";[g] others more of a slapstick comedy;[h] yet others take this opportunity to explore themes of astronomy or sociology.[i][14][1]: 139  The genre of climate fiction can often mix the themes of near and far future consequences of the climate change, whether anthropogenic[j] or accidental.[k][13][2]: 227  In other works, often found in the apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction and the Dying Earth genres, Earth has been destroyed or at least ruined for generations to come; many such works are therefore set in the background of Earth changed into a wasteland.[l] Some of the works in these genres overlap with the climate change genre, as climate change and resulting ecological disasters are a commonly used plot device for events that trigger the fall of human civilization (other plots involve the destruction of Earth from human warfare, alien invasions,[m] or from various sorts of man-made incidents[n] or accidental disasters).[13][16][17][2]: 227–228  Many such works, set either during the disaster, or in its aftermath, are metaphors for environmental concerns or otherwise warnings about issues the writers think humanity needs to be concerned about.[2]: 227 [17]

One planet among many

For many works set in the far future, Earth is just one of many inhabited planets of a galactic empire, federation or larger civilization, and many similar planets have been found or created (common themes in space opera), all of which challenges the idea of Earth's uniqueness.[o][1]: 139  In some works, Earth is still a center of the known universe, or at least a significant player on the galactic scene.[p][2]: 227  In others, Earth has become of so little importance that it is a mostly forgotten backwards world.[q][1]: 139 [2]: 227 [18] In Clifford D. Simak's Cemetery World (1973) Earth is a planet-size cemetery and in Gordon R. Dickson's Call Him Lord (1966), a museum.[2]: 227  At its extreme, in some settings, knowledge of Earth has been simply lost, making it a mythological place, whose existence is questioned by the few who even know the legends about it.[r] In some of these works, a major plotline can involve future civilizations or intrepid explorers seeking the "lost cradle" or Earth.[s] Finally, some stories told from the perspective of aliens focus on their discovery of Earth.[t][2]: 228 [21]

A different history

Some works look backwards – or perhaps sideways, not to the future of Earth, but to its past; here, works of science fiction can overlap with historic fiction as well as prehistoric fiction. This can happen particularly through the genres of alternate history[u] as well as time travel (where as Gary Westfahl observed, most time travellers travel through time much more than space, visiting the past or future versions of Earth).[2]: 226 

See also

A photomontage of the eight planets and the MoonNeptune in fictionUranus in fictionSaturn in fictionJupiter in fictionMars in fictionEarth in science fictionMoon in science fictionVenus in fictionMercury in fiction
Clicking on a planet leads to the article about its depiction in fiction.

Notes

  1. ^ for example, Camille Flammarion's Lumen (1887), David Brin's Earth (1990) or Terry Pratchett's, Ian Stewart's and Jack Cohen's The Science of Discworld (1999)[1]: 138 [11]
  2. ^ as seen, among others, in the 1990 cartoon Captain Planet and the Planeteers[2]: 227 
  3. ^ ex. John Norman's Tarnsman of Gor (1966)[2]: 227 
  4. ^ ex. Nat Schachner's Earthspin, 1937[1]: 138–139 
  5. ^ for example, Homer Eon Flint's The Planeter (1918), Neil Bell's The Seventh Bowl (1930), Edmond Hamilton's Thundering Worlds (1934), Fritz Leiber's A Pail of Air (1951), Frederik Pohl's and C.M. Kornbluth's Wolfbane (1957), Roger McBride Allen's The Ring of Charon (1990)[1]: 138–139  and Liu Cixin The Wandering Earth (2000), the latter becoming a Chinese blockbuster movie in 2019[12]
  6. ^ ex. Karl T. Pflock's Conservation of Mass (1982)[2]: 227 
  7. ^ George C. Wallis' The Last Days of Earth (1901), Edmond Hamilton's Requiem (1962)[14][1]: 139 
  8. ^ Douglas Adams' The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, (1980)[14][1]: 139 
  9. ^ Frank Belknap Long's The Blue Earthman (1935) or Brian W. Aldiss' Hothouse (1962)[14][1]: 139 
  10. ^ for example, George Turner's The Sea and Summer (1987), John Barnes' Mother of Storms (1994), Kim Stanley Robinson's Science in the Capitol trilogy begun with Forty Signs of Rain (2004)[13]
  11. ^ for example, Fred Hoyle's The Black Cloud (1957), Philip José Farmer's Flesh (1960), Val Guest's The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961), John Christopher's The World in Winter (1962) and J. G. Ballard's The Drowned World (1962)[14][13]
  12. ^ ex. Kevin Reynolds's Waterworld (1995)[2]: 227 
  13. ^ for example, in Karel Čapek's War With the Newts (1936); Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1978) or in the 2000 movie Titan A.E.[2]: 227–228 
  14. ^ ex. Piers Anthony's Rings of Ice (1974),[2]: 227–228  Hajime Yatate's Cowboy Bebop (1998)[15]
  15. ^ James Blish's Earthman, Come Home (1953)[1]: 139 
  16. ^ ex. Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek (1965); see also Terran Federation[2]: 227 
  17. ^ such as in Poul Anderson's The Chapter Ends (1954),[1]: 139 [2]: 227  or Yoshiki Tanaka's Legend of Galactic Heroes series (1982)[18]
  18. ^ ex. in Isaac Asimov's Foundation series (1942)[1]: 139 
  19. ^ for example, E. C. Tubb's Dumarest saga (1967),[1]: 139  Keiko Takemiya Toward the Terra (1977)[19] and Glen A. Larson's Battlestar Galactica (1978)[20]
  20. ^ Edmond Hamilton's The Dead Planet (1946); Hal Clement's Iceworld (1953),[2]: 228  Iain M. Banks's The State of the Art (1991)[21]
  21. ^ for example, Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter's Long Earth series[22]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Stableford, Brian M. (2006). "Earth". Science Fact and Science Fiction: An Encyclopedia. Taylor & Francis. pp. 137–139. ISBN 978-0-415-97460-8.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Westfahl, Gary (2005). "Earth". In Westfahl, Gary (ed.). The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Themes, Works, and Wonders. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 226–228. ISBN 978-0-313-32951-7.
  3. ^ Nicholls, Peter; Langford, David (2012). "Terra". In Clute, John; Langford, David; Sleight, Graham (eds.). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (4th ed.). Retrieved 2021-08-24.
  4. ^ a b c d Prucher, Jeff (2007-05-07). Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-988552-7.
  5. ^ Sagan, Carl (1961). "The Planet Venus". Science. 133 (3456): 849–58. Bibcode:1961Sci...133..849S. doi:10.1126/science.133.3456.849. PMID 17789744.
  6. ^ "Science Fiction Citations: terraforming". Retrieved 2006-06-16.
  7. ^ Pinkus, Karen; Woods, Derek (2019). "From the Editors: Terraforming". Diacritics. 47 (3): 4–5. doi:10.1353/dia.2019.0023. ISSN 1080-6539. S2CID 230227506.
  8. ^ Edwards, Malcolm; Stableford, Brian; Langford, David (2020). "Terraforming". In Clute, John; Langford, David; Sleight, Graham (eds.). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (4th ed.). Retrieved 2021-08-24.
  9. ^ Bardini, Thierry (2014-01-02). "Decompicultures: decomposition of culture and cultures of decomposition". Green Letters. 18 (1): 9–21. doi:10.1080/14688417.2014.890529. ISSN 1468-8417. S2CID 144624019.
  10. ^ Clute, John; Langford, David; Nicholls, Peter (2015). "Inner Space". In Clute, John; Langford, David; Sleight, Graham (eds.). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (4th ed.). Retrieved 2021-08-21.
  11. ^ a b "Terry Pratchett and the real science of Discworld". the Guardian. 2015-05-19. Retrieved 2021-08-20.
  12. ^ "The Wandering Earth is now the second-highest grossing movie in Chinese history". shanghaiist. 2019-02-18. Retrieved 2021-08-20.
  13. ^ a b c d e Langford, David (2023). "Climate Change". In Clute, John; Langford, David; Sleight, Graham (eds.). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (4th ed.). Retrieved 2023-12-20.
  14. ^ a b c d e Stableford, Brian; Langford, David (2021). "End of the World". In Clute, John; Langford, David; Sleight, Graham (eds.). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (4th ed.). Retrieved 2023-12-20.
  15. ^ Rigsby, Jared (2020-06-30). "Cowboy Bebop: What Happened to Earth?". Genre Bomb. Retrieved 2021-08-24.
  16. ^ Clute, John; Langford, David (2013). "Dying Earth". In Clute, John; Langford, David; Sleight, Graham (eds.). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (4th ed.). Retrieved 2021-08-20.
  17. ^ a b Nicholls, Peter; Clute, John; Langford, David (2023). "Ruined Earth". In Clute, John; Langford, David; Sleight, Graham (eds.). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (4th ed.). Retrieved 2023-12-20.
  18. ^ a b "Legend Of The Galactic Heroes: 10 Things You Never Knew About This Long-Running Anime". CBR. 2020-05-21. Archived from the original on 2020-06-11. Retrieved 2021-08-24. This theme can also be seen in how detailed the backstory is given for why Earth is marginal in the series's current setting.
  19. ^ Jackson, Paul (2011). "The Past Presents the Future: Toward the Terra". Mechademia. 6: 309–312. doi:10.1353/mec.2011.0001. ISSN 1934-2489. JSTOR 41511587. S2CID 123163950.
  20. ^ Muir, John Kenneth (2015-09-15). An Analytical Guide to Television's Battlestar Galactica. McFarland. p. 16. ISBN 978-1-4766-0656-9.
  21. ^ a b Christie, Mike (1990). ""The State of the Art" by Iain M. Banks (Book Review)". Foundation. 80. ProQuest 1312035909.
  22. ^ Lacey, Lauren J. (2014-03-08). "Heterotopian Possibilities in Science Fictions by Stephen Baxter, Terry Pratchett, Samuel Delany and Ursula K. Le Guin". In Bernardo, Susan M.; Palumbo, Donald E.; Sullivan, C. W. (eds.). Environments in Science Fiction: Essays on Alternative Spaces. McFarland. pp. 23–26. ISBN 978-1-4766-1503-5.

Further reading

This page was last edited on 16 March 2024, at 00:14
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