This is a site dedicated to Hard Science Fiction, that area where the line between science and fiction is blured, like an elctron around its nucleus; authors, movies, reviews, comments. Ideas, comments are welcome: suge...@hardsf.net
This is a site dedicated to Hard Science Fiction, that area where the line between science and fiction is blured, like an elctron around its nucleus; authors, movies, reviews, comments. Ideas, comments are welcome: suge...@hardsf.net
September 28th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
I am having trouble with your definition of ‘hard science fiction’. Can you elaborate. What do you mean, where science and fiction are blurred? Is it where the science is more plausible than it is fiction?
October 28th, 2009 at 10:45 pm
I had a lot of trouble with that one as well. I initially thought that it was an emphasis on technically dense stuff. By that definition, Star Trek would be harder SF since for an example, they actually try to give a plausible theory behind their propulsion systems. Contrast this with Star Wars, where it is left undiscussed, would make it less hard. I also thought it was fiction, where having a firm understanding of science would be an asset in giving a deeper understanding and fulfillment. For example, in Mark Budz’ “Till Human Voices Awake Us”, one line was “..Silicon Beach, which was crowded with colourful benzene ring shaped umbrellas…”. If you had studied chemistry, you would be able picture what the shape of the umbrellas was, and derive greater enjoyment from the words for your understanding.
Boy, was I ever wrong. Eventually I got curious and did some research (Wikipedia was a good start). Seems the hardness of science fiction has to do with how consistent it is with our current understanding of science in the real world. Travelling faster than the speed of light (wormholes not withstanding) is a big no no and will reduce the hardness of the fiction. Something like growing organs in beakers is pretty hard, as current technology allows us to grow some types of tissue (heart for instance ), so is a logical extension of current technology. Apparently there are whole subdivisions of the hardness of science fiction, with the hardest being classified as diamond hard.
It is all pretty confusing, and I am not sure it is worth the skull sweat, but regardless, I love SF of any hardness!