User talk:Joemanfredi/sandbox

Science fiction is still a relatively new genre, having only been established in the nineteenth century, with books like Frankenstein. It was in the early part of the twentieth century, however, when it started climbing in popularity. According to Wikipedia, different people argue about what the first work of science fiction could’ve been. Brian Aldiss argues Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was the first work, while Issac Asimov and Carl Sagan agree it was Johannes Kepler’s Somnnum. In the 1880’s and 90’s, other authors began getting into science fiction. Robert Louis Stevenson wrote his famous thriller about Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in 1886. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, best known for his Sherlock Holmes stories, even wrote The Lost World, a story about a group of men who venture to an island and find actual living dinosaurs. Today, there are so many authors of science fiction. It’s difficult to go into a book store or a library without finding a whole section on the subject. Many books seen today are reprints of older novels by authors who were best-selling at the time, most of which still are. There are two authors who are best known for shaping the future of Science Fiction, Jules Verne and H.G. Wells. In fact, according to renowned sci-fi author Issac Asimov, Wells was actually inspired by the works of Verne, although Verne had no love for Wells’ work. He claimed Wells’ methods were too fantastic, how he pulled the explanations of how this works from the air. Meanwhile, in order to get us to the moon, Verne fired a metal pod from a gigantic cannon. Since those early days, the genre has continued to evolve, becoming about more then simply strange machines and visitors from space, although that’s still a large part of it. There are different branches, merging science fiction with genres like fantasy, horror, and even romance. Sci-fi fantasy, or space-operas, were made popular about a century ago. Since then, science fiction has gone on to other venues beyond books, most notably movies and television. Movie became very popular, although the majority of them were made on a limited budget. In the late 1960’s, Gene Roddenberry broke new ground with Star Trek, using science fiction to make a statement about social issues. Of course, they also did adventures without the issues. Another popular venue, one that predates television, is comic books. Superman is the most commonly known example, although at first the only sci-fi element of that series was Superman himself as he fought crime. The excessive alien invasions and bizarre time travel adventures didn’t begin until after about ten years in. As time goes on, science fiction is not all that changes. Whether we realize it or not, it has become an influence on our daily lives. It wasn’t so long ago that portable personal communication devices were seen only on Star Trek. Today, we have the cellular phone, the earliest of which even resembled those same television props. For a long time, the most advanced computer was called an abacus. Now we have computers that can do everything that can almost fit in the palm of your hand. Not even a century ago, all of those accomplishments would’ve only been thought of in the realm of science fiction, though most likely given different names. Yet here we are. Given this, it might not be so long before we’re flying through space from one galaxy to another and back in a week’s time.

Digital reference.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_fiction, Web. 28 September 2012 Digital reference.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_Verne, Web. 30 September 2012 Digital reference.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._G._Wells  Web. 30 September 2012 Digital reference.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definitions_of_science_fiction web. 23 August 2012 “Digital Library.” Encyclopaedia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/528857/science-fiction Web. Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc. “Digital Library.” Robert J. Sawyer, The Canadian Encyclopedia http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/science-fiction Web. 2012 Asimov, Isaac “The Contribution of H.G. Wells.” The Time Machine/The War of the Worlds Fawcett Premier 1968