The Golden Path

Dune ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 115-117
Author(s):  
Christian McCrea
Keyword(s):  
Science Fiction ◽  
History Of Science ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Right ◽  
Golden Path

This chapter examines the unexpected longevity of David Lynch's Dune, a film that was for many deemed dead on arrival. It assesses Dune's lasting legacy from absurd tie-in merchandise to incredible comic translations to the videogames that changed game history in significant ways. It also emphasizes how Lynch's Dune demands the attention like no other film as it unfolds ceremonially into a dream already in motion. The chapter discusses how Dune remains a focused, singular vision that startles and delights in its difference in the history of science-fiction cinema. It reviews every dashed hope and upraised hand of anguish that believed Dune's literary universe could be adapted if given the right conditions. It talks about how Dune represents so much to so many in search of parables of failure, promise, corrupt systems and ineffable creative possibility.

‘At the Expense of Human Values’

2020 ◽  
pp. 35-48
Author(s):  
Joshua Grimm
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Science Fiction ◽  
History Of Science ◽  
Cognitive Dissonance ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Silicon Valley ◽  
Human Values ◽  
Mad Scientist ◽  
History Of ◽  
The U.S

Ex Machina plays against type extremely well, and it is, in part, particularly effective because of the genre tropes are relatively consistent. There’s really only one term to cinematically describe a reclusive, temperamental genius working on a project he hopes will change humanity: the mad scientist. In the history of science fiction film, the mad scientist has traditionally either been directly responsible for a crisis (potential or realized) by creating the problem, or indirectly responsible by trying to control something so powerful that no one could possibly control it. The latter was used largely in the 1950s and 1970s by reflecting the two perceived threats during those eras: atomic/nuclear power and pollution, respectively. But in these films, the extent of the power being studied must be balanced against what that scientist is trying to accomplish. In Ex Machina, Nathan’s portrayal is a fascinating one, embodying the Silicon Valley, “work hard, play hard” bro-culture we see in the U.S. tech industry, and he’s able to completely detach his own actions/desires from his work, a cognitive dissonance that allows him to create a line of slaves at the same time he tries to reproduce artificial intelligence. This chapter will place Nathan within the larger context of science fiction’s history of mad scientists, analyzing similarities and determining what those differences mean.

scholarly journals emil wohlwill, galileo and his battle for the copernican system

2001 ◽  
Vol 14 (s1) ◽  
pp. 371-373
Author(s):  
hans-werner schütt
Keyword(s):  
History Of Science ◽  
Natural Sciences ◽  
Galileo Galilei ◽  
Human Interest ◽  
Great Physicist ◽  
Copernican System ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Right

galileo galilei is one of the few figures in the history of science who has attracted the imagination even of laymen to the natural sciences. the battle of this great physicist against the domination of his church, a battle which he ultimately lost, manifests fundamental human interest that extends beyond the individual. galileo pits the right of the thinking individual against the right of an institution that defends its claim to set norms for individual thinking because it posseses superhuman truths.

scholarly journals La vida imaginaria del científico. El caso del cómic ‘Los Proyectos Manhattan’

2015 ◽  
pp. 117
Author(s):  
Francisco Sáez de Adana Herrero
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Science Fiction ◽  
History Of Science ◽  
Comic Book ◽  
Manhattan Project ◽  
Second World War ◽  
World War ◽  
Book Series ◽  
History Of ◽  
Second World

This article analyses the Manhattan Project comic-book series, which recounts an alternative ending to the Second World War, where the Manhattan Project hides another mission more closely related to science fiction. Here we discuss how the concept of the so-called «imaginary life», a term coined by Marcel Schwob, has been applied to the history of science in the twentieth century.

scholarly journals New ways: the pandemics of science fiction

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Glyn Morgan
Keyword(s):  
Science Fiction ◽  
History Of Science ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Current Crisis ◽  
The Social ◽  
Current Events ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Media ◽  
Creative Space

In unprecedented times, people have turned to fiction both for comfort and for distraction, but also to try and understand and anticipate what might come next. Sales and rental figures for works of fiction about pandemics and other disease outbreaks surged in 2020, but what can pandemic science fiction tell us about disease? This article surveys the long history of science fiction's engagement with disease and demonstrates the ways in which these narratives, whether in literature or film, have always had more to say about other contemporary cultural concerns than the disease themselves. Nonetheless, the ideas demonstrated in these texts can be seen perpetuating through the science fiction genre, and in our current crisis, we have seen striking similarities between the behaviours of key individuals, and the manner in which certain events have played out. Not because science fiction predicts these things, but because it anticipates the social structures which produce them (while at the same time permeating the culture to the extent that they become the touchstones with which the media choose to analyse current events). This paper demonstrates that science fiction can be a valuable tool to communicate widely around a pandemic, while also acting as a creative space in which to anticipate how we may handle similar events in the future.

scholarly journals We’re All Wonders by R. Palacio

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Borle
Keyword(s):  
Science Fiction ◽  
Picture Books ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Small Children ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Right ◽  
Old Friends

Palacio, R.J.  We’re All Wonders. Alfred A. Knopf, 2017This is one of several picture books which R.J. Palacio has spun off her bestselling novel, Wonder, which introduced Auggie, a boy missing his left eye. There are few picture books about children with facial deformities, so this is a welcome addition. In condensing the novel into a picture book, however, much of the positive content has been lost. This is a sad story. Auggie is not accepted by other children. When he feels sad he puts helmets on his dog and himself to isolate himself from people’s stares. However, a child and dog with helmets are likely to attract as many stares. Auggie’s other coping mechanisms include: an imaginary trip to Pluto, where his “old friends” are one-eyed creatures that look a bit like sheep with tentacles, and wishing that “other people can change the way they see”. Given that there is a long science fiction history of scary one-eyed space aliens and monsters, it seems strange that Palacio would associate her character with them.  Wishing that the world was different does not make it different. We do not see the positive things that were in the novel such as people sticking up for Auggie or his intelligence and achievements.Palacio’s artwork is bright and easily accessible to small children. Strangely, though, the final image shows only the right half of Auggie’s face, with the earth replacing his eye, while the left half, that is the focus of the whole story, is missing.This book would be good for classrooms where there are children with physical differences, but it would be important for teachers to add a positive spin to the story. Recommended:  3 stars out of 4Reviewer:  Sean BorleSean Borle is a University of Alberta undergraduate student who is an advocate for child health and safety. 

“The Electric Boy1 Grows Up”: Science Fiction for a Young Adult Audience

2019 ◽  
pp. 43-76
Author(s):  
Joseph W. Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Young Adult ◽  
Science Fiction ◽  
History Of Science ◽  
Speculative Fiction ◽  
Dystopian Literature ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Over Time

Chapter 2 shows in a compressed, somewhat truncated way, the unique history of science fiction (sometimes called speculative fiction). This chapter also shows some of the myriad theoretical approaches that have been used in the study of science fiction over time. It then demonstrates how those approaches have been used by giving close readings of science fiction texts intended for young adults. This is in an effort to show the difference between science fiction and dystopian literature. It shows that it is a literature directly concerned with the subject’s encounter with the o/Other.

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