How Great Science Fiction Works

Clearly defining what science fiction is and is not; how science fiction is distinguished from, yet often confused with, other literary genres; exploring Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein", which is often considered the first science fiction novel.

Looking at some of the most important names in 19th-century science fiction; they inspire the 20th-century science fiction story; exploring select works from each author; understanding their writings and lives; how they influence science fiction.

There is a subset of science fiction that looks at the past; how science fiction writers often mix real life with fiction; how they invoke mechanisms such as time travel to explore alternate histories emerging from pivotal points in the past.

How many science fiction stories tackle massive timescales, taking readers from the very beginning to the very end of the universe; examining the ideas science fiction writers propose about evolution, anthropology, physics, religion and more.

The concepts of utopia and dystopia; exploring the questions of whether people's lives can be better or worse; an in-depth look at some of the most poignant portrayals of utopian and dystopian societies; the social contexts that inspire them.

Science fiction battles a bad reputation; the rise of pulp science fiction through serials, magazines and short stories at the turn of the 20th century and through the 1950s; the obstacles the genre has to overcome through this period in history.