Science in Science Fic

Twenty years ago Australia's expert on science fiction, Peter Nicholls, wrote this unique and informative book about the well-known ideas in science fiction's stockpot. In a way, it's ironic that an Australian should have written this book. The publishing of science fiction in Australia is on nothing like the scale of America or Britain, but we've got a core of talented writers making themselves known. There's more to Australian culture than a love of sport. Unlike the TV shows that explain how a magician does his tricks, "The Science in Science Fiction" is not a book that tries to take the sense of wonder out of an imaginitive genre. Rather, it discusses the viability of ideas which science fiction writers commonly exploit, e.g. time travel, hyperspace or cloning, describing how these things may be achieved in the future, and the steps scientists are currently taking to make fact out of fiction. If there is one thing this book teaches us, it is that we shouldn't be too dismissive of things that sound like idle day-dreaming. There was a time not so long ago when people scoffed at the idea of walking on the Moon. Look where we are now. Unfortunately, it is also possible for us to bring about the end of the world with those much talked about "weapons of mass destruction". Towards the end the book does provide a list of failed predictions and wrong science. Quite rightly, Nicholls points out that the space craft in "Star Wars" would be inaudible in space and that laser beams would be invisible, but he does concede that films like "Star Wars" would be less fun if they stuck too rigidly to the facts. Invisibility sounds great until you realise that invisible retinas would result in blindness.It is interesting to read about the section on cloning, because at the time of writing no one had yet succeeded in the cloning of mammals. It would be another fifteen years before the controversy over Dolly the Sheep erupted. This information about cloning is accompanied by an amusing illustration of two Ali clones in a fierce boxing match.Science fiction has provided a wealth of inspiration for both writers and artists. Things may not be achieved in the way they imagined, or in the time that they predicted, but we can still accept the phrase "all things are possible".

The book is great, with great pictures and lots of detail, using both fiction and science to explore what can and can not be. In the end the book shows that there is only THREE things that are not possible and will never happen. The rest is limited only by our imagination.

"The Science in science fiction" effectively presents how SF is based in solid fact. It explains, often in detail, how SF ideas and technology are based on real-life scientific advances and cutting-edge research. Excellent colour illustrations and detailed examples from SF novels round out the no-nonsense links the author traces between fact and fiction, leaving readers with the impression that what many pass off as "fantasies" may one day be accepted facts. Writers, in particular, beginning writers of SF would find this book particularly useful in avoiding the impossibilities one all-too-often finds in new or lower-quality SF. Readers, too, will appreciate the simplicity of the layout and the directness of the subject treatment, and the non-technical layout makes it easier for the layman to understand. All in all, a very good book, although I was let down by the lack of speculation on possible future advances.