Between Science and Society: Charting the Space of Science Fiction (Politics, Literature, & Film)

In 'Between Science and Society: Charting the Space of Science Fiction', Douglas A. Van Belle uses interviews with 24 science fiction authors to analyze the conceptual space that science fiction occupies between science and society. Using these interviews, Van Belle studies the similarities and differences between the academic and professional understandings of the genre. 'Between Science and Society' argues that, for authors, all of the aspects of the genre that are emphasized by academics, such as science communication and depictions of scientists, are secondary to the artistic effort to entertain through storytelling. Through his interviews, Van Belle explores both the genre?s place in relation to science and society and key elements to surviving as a professional science fiction author. Van Belle creates a definition of science fiction based on the creative ideals expressed by these authors and compared to those that arise from the academic perspective, showing that academics are struggling to engage one of the two central ideals of the genre Cover Between Science and Society Series Between Science and Society: Charting the Space of Science Fiction Copyright Contents List of Figures Introduction Heresy as Method Notes Chapter 1 The Interviews Interview Structure Interviews as a Research Tool Notes Chapter 2 Kevin J. Anderson Origin Story Compromises on Science Interactions with Scientists The Teaching Moment Between Science and Society What Should I Have Asked? Note Chapter 3 Steven Barnes Origin Story Compromises on Science and the Scientist Interactions with Scientists The Teaching Moment Between Science and Society What Should I Have Asked? Chapter 4 Greg Bear Origin Story Compromises on Science The Teaching Moment Between Science and Society What Should I Have Asked? Notes Chapter 5 Gregory Benford Origin Story Compromises on Science Interactions with Scientists The Teaching Moment Between Science and Society What Should I Have Asked? Chapter 6 Ben Bova Origin Story Compromises on Science Interactions with Scientists Teaching Moment Between Science and Society Question I Should’ve Asked Chapter 7 David Brin Origin Story Compromises on Science Interactions with Scientists The Teaching Moment Between Science and Society What Should I Have Asked? Chapter 8 Brenda Cooper Origin Story Compromises on Science Interactions with Scientists Teaching Moment Between Science and Society What Should I Have Asked? Chapter 9 Stephen R. Donaldson Origin Story Compromises on Science Interactions with Scientists The Teaching Moment Between Science and Society What Should I Have Asked? Note Chapter 10 Eric Flint Origin Story Compromises on Science The Teaching Moment Between Science and Society What Should I Have Asked? Chapter 11 David Gerrold Origin Story Interactions with Scientists Compromises on Science The Teaching Moment The Hollywood Question Between Science and Society What Should I Have Asked? Chapter 12 Joe Haldeman Origin Story Compromises on Science The Teaching Moment Between Science and Society What Should I Have Asked? Chapter 13 Ian Irvine Origin Story Interactions with Scientists Compromises on Science The Teaching Moment Between Science and Society What Should I Have Asked? Chapter 14 Nancy Kress Origin Story Compromises on Science Interactions with Scientists The Teaching Moment Between Science and Society What Should I Have Asked? Chapter 15 Jack McDevitt Origin Story Compromises on Science Interactions with Scientists The Teaching Moment Between Science and Society What Should I Have Asked? Chapter 16 Rebecca Moesta Origin Story Compromises on Science Interactions with Scientists The Teaching Moment Between Science and Society What Should I Have Asked? Chapter 17 Simon Morden Origin Story Interactions with Scientists Compromises on Science The Teaching Moment Between Science and Society What Should I Have Asked? Chapter 18 Larry Niven Origin Story Compromises on Science The Teaching Moment Between Science and Society What Should I Have Asked? Note Chapter 19 Robert J. Sawyer Origin Story Compromises on Science The Teaching Moment Between Science and Society Screen and Print What Should I Have Asked? Chapter 20 Karl Schroeder Origin Story Educational Background Teaching Moment Between Science and Society What Should I Have Asked? Chapter 21 Melinda Snodgrass Origin Story Compromises on Science The Teaching Moment Print and Screen Between Science and Society What Should I Have Asked? Chapter 22 Stephen Michael (S. M.) Sterling Origin Story Compromises on Science The Teaching Moment Between Science and Society What Should I Have Asked? Chapter 23 Charles Stross Origin Story Interactions with Scientists Compromises on Science The Teaching Moment Between Science and Society What Should I Have Asked? Note Chapter 24 Vernor Vinge Origin Story Compromises on Science Interactions with Scientists The Teaching Moment Between Science and Society What Should I Have Asked? Chapter 25 Connie Willis Origin Story Compromises on Science Teaching Moment Between Science and Society What Question Didn’t I ask? Chapter 26 Charting the Space of Science Fiction The Science Fiction Ecosystem Chapter 27 Storytelling as the Essential, Defining Element of Science Fiction The Professional Storyteller Other Communicative Roles as Secondary or Incidental to Storytelling Storytelling and the Depiction of the Scientist Storytelling as the Feature, Not the Flaw Chapter 28 Science as the Rules of the Game Plausible But Not Necessarily Accurate Stories about the Human Impact of Science Science as the Story Science and the Path to the Future Multiple Applications of Science as the Norm Chapter 29 The Science Fiction Community and a Sketch of the Science Fiction Ecosystem How the Ecosystem Might Matter Chapter 30 The Academic Implications of How the Creators of Science Fiction Define Science Fiction From Description to Definition Storytelling as the Foundation Storytelling and Estrangement The Indefinability of the Science of Science Fiction Defining Using Exclusion and Critical Ideals Rather than Boundaries The Scientific Novum as an Ideal and an Art Conclusions (or the Lack Thereof) Note References Index About the Author