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'''Science fiction''' is a form of [[literature]] that includes some form of speculation as to a possible [[science|scientific]] discovery, invention, or project that has not yet come to pass at the time of writing. Such a project is usually, but not always, intended as a metaphor for an unsettling social change, or a vehicle to introduce a discussion of such change. A speculative project may, but does not necessarily, violate the laws of nature as most scientists understand them. A speculative discovery may be either a new scientific law, or a revision of an existing law, or of an object, substance, environment, or even an entire [[civilization]] previously unknown to man.

'''Science fiction''' is a form of [[literature]] that includes some form of speculation as to a possible [[science|scientific]] discovery, invention, or project that has not yet come to pass at the time of writing. Alternativey, it may explore the implications of a kind of a sentient being, society or civilization that is significantly different than any with which we are familiar. Such a project is usually, but not always, intended as a metaphor for an unsettling social change, or a vehicle to introduce a discussion of such change. A speculative project may, but does not necessarily, violate the laws of nature as most scientists understand them. A speculative discovery may be either a new scientific law, or a revision of an existing law, or of an object, substance, environment, or even an entire [[civilization]] previously unknown to man.

== History of Science Fiction ==

== History of Science Fiction ==

Modern science fiction as most people understand it today began in 1818 with the novel ''[[Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus]]'' by [[Mary Shelley]], with various works by [[Nathaniel Hawthorne]] and [[Edgar Allen Poe]], and with the novel ''[[The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde]]'' by [[Robert Louis Stevenson]]. These works mainly were warnings to a brash mankind that some avenues of scientific investigation would be better left unexplored. The projects resulting from them, however much good they might promise, inevitably bring harm upon the investigator, those closest to him, and any number of innocent bystanders. This applies even to [[Jules Verne]] and his works (such as ''[[Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea]]'' and ''[[From the Earth to the Moon]]''), because the heroes in them almost always come to sad ends.

Modern science fiction as most people understand it today began in 1818 with the novel ''[[Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus]]'' by [[Mary Shelley]], with various works by [[Nathaniel Hawthorne]] and [[Edgar Allen Poe]], and with the novel ''[[The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde]]'' by [[Robert Louis Stevenson]]. These works mainly were warnings to a brash mankind that some avenues of scientific investigation would be better left unexplored. The projects resulting from them, however much good they might promise, inevitably bring harm upon the investigator, those closest to him, and any number of innocent bystanders. This applies even to [[Jules Verne]] and his works (such as ''[[Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea]]'' and ''[[From the Earth to the Moon]]''), because the heroes in them almost always come to sad ends. Many of these works are also explorations of human psychology, or of philosophical questions regarding what man is. Stevenson's work, for example, investigates the problem of good and evil, and of the conflict between these forces within an individual.

Toward the end of the nineteenth century, [[Herbert George Wells]] and [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]] sounded similar dark themes in their work. But their warnings were less about someone investigating something he shouldn't and more about possible dire futures for human civilization and the planet itself. Wells' ''[[The Time Machine]]'' is the best illustration of this concept. Wells also was among the first to speculate on [[Extraterrestrial life|extraterrestrial]] attacks upon the [[earth]], with his classis ''[[The War of the Worlds]]'' (1898).

Toward the end of the nineteenth century, [[Herbert George Wells]] and [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]] sounded similar dark themes in their work. But their warnings were less about someone investigating something he shouldn't and more about possible dire futures for human civilization and the planet itself. Wells' ''[[The Time Machine]]'' is the best illustration of this concept. Wells also was among the first to speculate on [[Extraterrestrial life|extraterrestrial]] attacks upon the [[earth]], with his classis ''[[The War of the Worlds]]'' (1898).