Reflections on the Fantastic: Selected Essays from the Fourth International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts, and: Storm Warnings: Science Fiction Confronts the Future, and: Imprisoned in a Tesseract: The Life and Work of James Blish (review)

1988 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 325-326
Author(s):  
Donald M. Hassler
Keyword(s):  
Science Fiction ◽  
International Conference ◽  
The Arts ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Fantastic

Imagining the Future

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Torok ◽  
Paul Holper
Keyword(s):  
Science Fiction ◽  
Technological Breakthrough ◽  
The Future ◽  
3D Printed ◽  
The Fantastic ◽  
Changing World

Flying through time and flying in cars. Living underwater and living forever. Robot servants. 3D printed food. Wouldn’t it be amazing if science fiction became science fact? We’re living in a rapidly changing world. Hardly a week passes without an exciting technological breakthrough. That’s the power of human innovation – it never stops happening. Inventors keep inventing. Get prepared for the fantastic future with this guide to the unbelievable and incredible inventions just over the horizon. Invisibility, instant transportation, holograms and lots of gadgets were once the dreams of science fiction … now they might become science fact! Imagining the future is the first step in arriving there. If you can dream it, perhaps one day you can invent it. Strap yourself in and get ready for the future! Imagining the Future is perfect for kids aged 9-13.

How the Ray Gun Got Its Zap! Part II—Handheld Ray Guns

2021 ◽  
pp. 182-190
Author(s):  
Stephen R. Wilk
Keyword(s):  
Science Fiction ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Pop Culture ◽  
Washington Irving ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
Fiction Writers ◽  
The Fantastic ◽  
Century Science

The earliest “ray guns” in fiction were large, unwieldy devices that might more appropriately be called “ray cannons.” The devices used in stories by Washington Irving, H.G. Wells, and early 20th century science fiction writers were large devices that required their own mounts. This reflected the reality of real experimental ray devices and the various experimental “death rays” that inventors were trying to develop and sell to armies all over the world. The idea of the small, handheld ray gun changed the nature of the device in fiction and its place in pop culture forever. Now the ray gun could be a futuristic sidearm and both symbolize the future and provide a shorthand way to signal the fantastic nature of the stories.How and why did this development take place? What were the results of the change, in both Pop Culture and Real Life?

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