Story Archives of 'Science Fiction'

In the mid-19th century, science fiction writer Jules Verne predicted what Paris might look like in the 1960s. He described fax machines, glass skyscrapers and high-speed elevated trains. It was the stuff of fantasy at the time, the inventions of a fiction writer. Now let’s skip ahead 30 years to 1899, when an actual scientist, physicist Lord Kelvin, wrote that "radio has no future... heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible... and X-rays will prove a hoax."

It might seem counter-intuitive that the flashy predictions of an artist would prove more accurate than those of a scholar. But Verne's ideas, like those of many sci-fi writers, were rooted in scientific realities.

A new book looks at the relationship between the rigors of science and the imagined world of sci-fi. It’s by theoretical physicist and best-selling author Michio Kaku, and it's called "The Physics of the Impossible: A Scientific Exploration into the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation and Time Travel." Dr. Kaku joined Word of Mouth host Virginia Prescott to put our popular notions from Star Trek and Star Wars under the microscope of possibility.

Read an excerpt from "Physics of the Impossible" on Force Fields and Plasma Windows

(Photo by Nick Carchidi)

Bradbury’s classic book explored issues like media dependence, censorship and worries that this generation doesn’t read as much as past ones did…issues that still remain relevant a half century later. Earlier this month we broadcast a live show at the State Library on Bradbury’s book; today we play it back for you.

Guests

• Mark Timney, Associate Professor of Journalism at Keene State College
• Jeanne Cavellos, a New Hampshire-based Science Fiction Writer and Professor at St. Anselm College

Science Fiction is a genre that is sometimes so misunderstood, it can seem like its definition is open to interpretation. Tonight on the Front Porch, we're going back in time to the earliest roots of sc-fi literature to get a better understating of it. We'll find out why Mary Shelly's "Frankenstein" is widely considered the very first example of science fiction, and how the genre has evolved in the 200 years since its publication.

Our guest is Jeanne Cavelos, author of many books, including the Babylon 5 series. She'll lead a discussion called One Mother, Two Fathers: The History of Science Fiction tomorrow (Friday, October 5) at 7 p.m. at the Christa McAuliffe Planetarium in Concord. It's presented by the New Hampshire Humanities Council and the Center for the Book at the NH State Library. It's part of the Big Read project.

Kurt Vonnegut, the prolific author of satire and science fiction, passed away last night. He was known for his dark humor and sometimes bleary point of view. But an undeniable hopefulness and morality was at the heart of his work. We'll explore his life and his legacy.

Our guests are:

• Susan Neville, professor of English at Butler University and the author of Sailing in the Inland Sea.
• Todd Davis, assistant professor of English at Penn State Altoona, and the author of Kurt Vonnegut's Crusade: Or How a Post-Modern Harlequin Preached a New Kind of Humanism.
  

The popularity of sci-fi and fantasy books is growing phenomenally. New Hampshire authors Debra Doyle and James Macdonald are a part of that growth. He's a former Navy officer, she holds a Ph. D. in literature, and together they put their credentials to good use in Land of Mist and Snow. We're going to put their alternate Civil War history under the magnifying glass and discuss the fine line between fantasy and science fiction.