Terraforming: Ecopolitical Transformations and Environmentalism in Science Fiction (Liverpool Science Fiction Texts and Studies LUP)

This book explores the emergence and development of terraforming in science fiction from H.G. Wells's The War of the Worlds (1898) to James Cameron's blockbuster Avatar (2009). Terraforming is the process of making other worlds habitable for human life. Its counterpart on Earth - geoengineering - has begun to receive serious consideration as a way to address the effects of climate change. This book asks how science fiction has imagined the ways we shape both our world and other planets and how stories of terraforming reflect on science, society and environmentalism. It traces the growth of the motif of terraforming in stories by such writers as H.G. Wells and Olaf Stapledon in the UK, American pulp science fiction by Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke, the counter cultural novels of Frank Herbert, Ursula K. Le Guin and Ernest Callenbach, and Pamela Sargent's Venus trilogy, Frederick Turner's epic poem of terraforming, Genesis, and Kim Stanley Robinson's acclaimed Mars trilogy. It explores terraforming as a nexus for environmental philosophy, the pastoral, ecology, the Gaia hypothesis, the politics of colonisation and habitation, tradition and memory. This book shows how contemporary environmental awareness and our understanding of climate change is influenced by science fiction, and how terraforming in particular has offered scientists, philosophers, and many other readers a motif to aid in thinking in complex ways about the human impact on planetary environments. Amidst contemporary anxieties about climate change, terraforming offers an important vantage from which to consider the ways humankind shapes and is shaped by their world. Terraforming Is The Process Of Making Other Worlds Habitable For Human Life. Its Counterpart On Earth – Geoengineering – Is Receiving Serious Consideration As A Way To Address Climate Change. Contemporary Environmental Awareness And Our Understanding Of Climate Change Is Influenced By Science Fiction, And Terraforming In Particular Has Offered Scientists, Philosophers, And Others A Motif For Thinking In Complex Ways About Our Impact On Planetary Environments. This Book Asks How Science Fiction Has Imagined How We Shape Both Our World And Other Planets And How Stories Of Terraforming Reflect On Science, Society And Environmentalism. It Traces The Growth Of The Motif Of Terraforming In Science Fiction From H.g. Wells’s The War Of The Worlds (1898) To James Cameron’s Blockbuster Avatar (2009), In Stories By Such Writers As Olaf Stapledon, Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, Frank Herbert, Ursula K. Le Guin, Ernest Callenbach, Pamela Sargent, Frederick Turner And Kim Stanley Robinson. It Argues For Terraforming As A Nexus For Environmental Philosophy, The Pastoral, Ecology, The Gaia Hypothesis, And The Politics Of Colonisation And Habitation. Amidst Contemporary Anxieties About Climate Change, Terraforming Offers An Important Vantage From Which To Consider The Ways Humankind Shapes And Is Shaped By Their World. Terraforming Is The Process Of Making Other Worlds Habitable For Human Life. This Book Asks How Science Fiction Has Imagined How We Shape Both Our World And Other Planets And How Stories Of Terraforming Reflect On Science, Society And Environmentalism. This Title Was Made Open Access By Libraries From Around The World Through Knowledge Unlatched. Introduction : Terraforming : Engineering Imaginary Environments -- Landscaping Nature's Otherness In Pre-1960s Terraforming And Proto-gaian Stories -- The American Pastoral And The Conquest Of Space -- Ecology And Environmental Awareness In 1960s-1970s -- Edging Towards An Eco-cosmopolitan Vision -- Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy -- Conclusion. Chris Pak. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 223-234) And Index. "This book explores the emergence and development of terraforming in science fiction from H.G. Wells's The War of the Worlds (1898) to James Cameron's blockbuster Avatar (2009). Terraforming is the process of making other worlds habitable for human life. Its counterpart on Earth--geoengineering--has begun to receive serious consideration as a way to address the effects of climate change. This book asks how science fiction has imagined the ways we shape both our world and other planets and how stories of terraforming reflect on science, society, and environmentalism. It traces the growth of the motif of terraforming in stories by such writers as H.G. Wells and Olaf Stapledon in the UK; American pulp science fiction by Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein, and Arthur C. Clarke; the countercultural novels of Frank Herbert, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Ernest Callenbach; Pamela Sargent's Venus trilogy; Frederick Turner's epic poem of terraforming, Genesis; and Kim Stanley Robinson's acclaimed Mars trilogy. It explores terraforming as a nexus for environmental philosophy, the pastoral, ecology, the Gaia hypothesis, the politics of colonisation and habitation, tradition, and memory. This book shows how contemporary environmental awareness and our understanding of climate change are influenced by science fiction, and how terraforming in particular has offered scientists, philosophers, and many other readers a motif to aid in thinking in complex ways about the human impact on planetary environments. Amidst contemporary anxieties about climate change, terraforming offers an important vantage from which to consider the ways humankind shapes and is shaped by its world."--Page 4 of cover This text explores the emergence and development of terraforming in science fiction from H.G. Wells's 'The War of the Worlds' (1898) to James Cameron's blockbuster 'Avatar' (2009)