Friday, February 18, 2011

The Importance of Science Fiction as Literature, Part II

Science Fiction and Science

Science fiction. You're right, it's crazy. In fact, it's even worse than that, it's nuts. You wanna hear something really nutty? I heard of a couple guys who wanna build something called an airplane, you know you get people to go in, and fly around like birds, it's ridiculous, right? And what about breaking the sound barrier, or rockets to the moon? Atomic energy, or a mission to Mars? Science fiction, right?Look, all I'm asking is for you to just have the tiniest bit of vision. You know, to just sit back for one minute and look at the big picture. To take a chance on something that just might end up being the most profoundly impactful moment for humanity, for the history… of history. –Carl Sagan, Contact

Several years ago I fell in love with Hard Science Fiction. That is to say, science fiction that is accurate with scientific laws, physics, technology, etc. Many authors have used their knowledge of science to write accurate and entertaining novels about the possible future of humanity. This method of viewing science fiction, I feel is an important one to have: that there are many SF novels out there that are the authors vision of what the future could be. A great example of this is Arthur C. Clarke's classic 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Now, unlike his vision of where we would be in the year 2001, we do not have rotating space stations, simulating artificial gravity. We do not have people venturing out into the outer gaseous planets of our solar system, however, I believe that if we had kept up the same initiative and vigor in the space program that we had in the late 60's and early 70's,1 we could have easily achieved what Clarke had (around the same time as the missions to the Moon) envisioned for the future of space exploration.

While we have missed the mark he had set for us, the ideas that he proposed in his 2001 are valid and likely destinations for the human race.

One of the biggest roles of science fiction is to prepare people to accept the future without pain and to encourage a flexibility of mind. Politicians should read science fiction, not westerns and detective stories. Two-thirds of 2001 is realistic — hardware and technology — to establish background for the metaphysical, philosophical, and religious meanings later.”


Dr. Ronald L. Mallett, Ph D, a professor at the University of Connecticut grew up reading SF. More precisely, he grew up reading books on time travel. In his book, Time Traveler Mallett discusses how when he was a boy his father – due to poor health – passed away. He, after reading an graphic novel adaption of The Time Machine became obsessed with the idea of time travel. So much so that he eventually majored in theoretical physics, all with the hidden desire to find a way to travel back in time. Because of The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells the notion of time travel became a reality to him.

Mallett, after become a full professor at Uconn, speculated that a circulating beam of laser light would twist time into a loop, distorting spacetime and allowing one to travel to any point of light in the circulating spiral or light. He first theorized the affects of bending light while observing inertial frame dragging, which was caused by rapidly rotating black holes. The frame dragging created closed time loops making time travel into the past possible. Light, having the same affect on spacetime as a massive rotating black hole should be able to, Mallett theorized, create closed time loops. Enabling time travel.

However, this method of time travel only lasts during the period of time the machine is left on. So, if he was to turn his time travel machine on in the year 2015 and it was left on until the year 2100 an object, (or individual) would be able to travel to any time period between the two dates.

Even today, with ground breaking physics being done, if you ask someone about time travel their first (and typically only) notion is that is it something only within the bounds of SF. And it is. That is the beauty of the thing. Dr. Mallett has brought science fiction to life. Through the ideas brought to us by men like H.G. Wells, and even Mark Twain in his book A Connecticut Yankee in King Aurthur's Court we get this vision of a world in which people can travel through time, and with this idea scientist can find a multitude of theories to make time travel happen. Anything from Mallett's frame dragging/closed time loop theories, to quantum foam, relativity, branch theory and Frank Tipler's theories in a rotating cylinder, time travel is quickly become a part of our reality.

Through science fiction there are many other examples in which science has pulled ideas from what was first thought of by SF writers. Dan Simmons Hyperion Cantos, speculated in human evolution, Issac Asimov's I Robot stories give us a possible (and becoming even more likely) view of where technology and robotics can take us. Snow Crash, by Neal Stevenson gives us a near future view of a world link to what he calls the metasphere. A cyber world in which viruses can be uploaded to the human brain. Philip K. Dick's book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is another example of the evolution of robotics, especially in consciousness studies.

And there are many many other examples in SF of scientific achievements that can be met, or even some that have been met and thought first in sci-fi.

It is through the imaginations of these writers that we are able to gain ideas into the progression of science, what it will or can become, and through those visions scientists now can speculate and theorize about the universe. Without H.G. Wells, Dr. Ronald Mallett may not have ever learned about the notion of time travel and never become a physicist and discover a valid a likely way to make time travel possible, without Clarke we may no be able to see where space travel could take us. These individuals are more than authors, but are inventors, futurists and visionaries and through science fiction we can gain a greater understanding of science and where science can possible go in future years.

*Next, Part III: Science Fiction and Philosophy.

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