Olin College of Engineering
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2010 AHS Capstone Projects
AHS Capstone Projects
5-1-2010
An Investigation of the Impact of Science Fiction
on the Careers of Scientists and Engineers
Logan Dethrow
Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, [email protected]
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An Investigation of the Impact of Science Fiction
on the Careers of Scientists and Engineers
Logan Dethrow
5/6/2010
INTRODUCTION
James Cameron’s recent film, Avatar, has grossed over $2 billion as of January 31, 2010. This
blue alien and space ship laden film is the most recent example of a science fiction work that
has gained widespread exposure to the general populace. It follows in the footsteps of such
works as the Star Wars series, and E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial and many others, all of which
have been exposed to millions of viewers worldwide. Due to the wide exposure of these science
fiction blockbusters, along with less widely known works, including written works, television
shows, and comic books it is clear that most people have at least casual exposure to the genre.
While for most of these people, science fiction is just another brief source of amusement and
wonder, are there some who have their horizons broadened by the imaginative ideas on which
science fiction is based? Do any of those people go on to innovate in technical fields as
scientists and engineers? By locating and examining examples of technical innovators inspired
by science fiction, we can gauge some of the impact of the science fiction on the world.
BACKGROUND
EARLY SCIENCE FICTION AUTHORS (1800S)
In the 1800s, science fiction was in its infancy. Through the works of authors such as Mary
Shelley, Edgar Allen Poe, Jules Verne, and H.G. Wells, the genre developed into a form that is
recognizable today. Many common science fiction themes, such as alien invasion, time travel,
supernatural powers, and space exploration were first described in these early works.
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MARY SHELLEY
Brian Aldiss makes the claim that Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) was the first Science
Fiction novel (Kafka, 1975). In the preface of the novel, Shelley attempts to make her story into
more than a ghost story.
“THE event on which this fiction is founded has been supposed, by Dr. Darwin, and some of the
physiological writers of Germany, as not of impossible occurrence. I shall not be supposed as
according the remotest degree of serious faith to such an imagination; yet, in assuming it as the
basis of a work of fancy, I have not considered myself as merely weaving a series of
supernatural terrors. The event on which the interest of the story depends is exempt from the
disadvantages of a mere tale of spectres or enchantment. It was recommended by the novelty
of the situations which it developes; and, however impossible as a physical fact, affords a point
of view to the imagination for the delineating of human passions more comprehensive and
commanding than any which the ordinary relations of existing events can yield.”
This disclaimer serves as a sort of early citation of the scientific merit of the extrapolations in
the story. Through the establishment of scientific credibility up front, the story is intended to
be even more thrilling for the reader. In particular, the idea of the “view to the imagination”
echoes in later thought experiment works of science fiction. A similar task is administered in the
opening sequence of The Twilight Zone (Serling, 1959-1964): “Picture if you will”.
Shelley, while highly educated and well read, was not a scientist herself. She relies upon the
research of others for the scientific foundation of her book. This becomes acutely evident
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when Dr. Frankenstein creates his monster and decides to leave a description of the
reanimation process out of his account.
By framing the story in a series of letters from Captain Robert Walton, Shelly establishes an
illusion of credibility for the story. The story is retold by a somewhat neutral third party that is
not Dr. Frankenstein or the creature. This also gives Dr. Frankenstein an opportunity to explain
things in great detail without this seeming out of place. This makes Robert Walton an early
example of the classic science fiction viewpoint character.
H.G. WELLS AND JULES VERNE
H.G Wells and Jules Verne were both active in the late 1800s and served to flesh out the various
standard themes of science fiction. Topics that are covered include time travel, extraterrestrial
being encounters, supernatural powers, travel through outer space, and the exploration of
exotic locales on Earth. Neither Verne nor Wells were scientists, although Verne was highly
regarded as a dedicated scholar that was current on all advancements in technology. Many
commentators on his works have pointed out the uncannily correct predictions about a variety
of things, including the Apollo program, undersea travels, and the development of modern
cities.
THE MAGAZINE ERA (1926-1960)
During the time period of science fiction which has come to be known as the magazine era,
around 1926-1960, the dominant form of science fiction was in pulp periodicals of short science
fiction stories. The magazine era is further subdivided into the Gernsback period, and the
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Campbell period, named after the two most famous magazine editors of the period, Hugo
Gernsback and John W. Campbell Jr. (Atterbery, 2003). The criteria for admission to a pulp
magazine in this era were the scientific merit and novelty of the ideas portrayed, with literary
prowess receiving less scrutiny. (Atterbery, 2003)
The demographics of the science fiction community during the magazine period have been
described as being written by scientists, for other scientists. (Hirsch, 1958) One 1953 study
found that of eighteen leading science fiction writers, eight had degrees in science or
engineering, four worked in technical roles, and two had PH.D’s in chemistry. It is during this
period that the exchange of ideas between the technical community and the science fiction
community is most clearly documented. During this period, it was shown through extensive
coding of a sampling of the genre, that the portrayal of scientists in science fiction was most
often positive, and also the main character of the story was often a scientist him or herself.
(Hirsch, 1958)
ASIMOV’S PREDICTION
One scientist that also wrote science fiction as a “hobby” was quite prominent throughout this
time period. Isaac Asimov held a PhD in chemistry and was also very popular in the major
magazines. In 1957 he wrote an article lamenting the lack of young people that are going into
technical fields. He is exasperated at the clichéd portrayal of female characters in television
and film that are considered ugly and boring because they work in a scholarly position such as
librarian or schoolteacher. He goes on to say that audiences are being subconsciously taught
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that education is a social hindrance and that education is unnecessary, and in fact
counterproductive in reaching happiness.
As a potential solution, Asimov prescribes science fiction as a way to broaden the horizons of
the next generation of young people. He mentions that science fiction “at its worthiest and
most intelligent, however, is found in the magazines…” (Asimov, 1957). He predicts that
through increased exposure to science fiction, society will begin to have an increased respect
for brains. Even when the scientist in the story is the antagonist, science in general is presented
in an exciting manner that inspires readers. Finally, as an example of this beginning to happen,
he gives an example of a letter written in to Astounding Science Fiction, one of the pulp
magazines, from a student that was inspired by science fiction to pursue a technical degree,
and has also received a scholarship to help do so. Asimov predicts that events like this will
become more common.
NEW AGE SCIENCE FICTION
Beginning in the late 1950s and into the 1960s pulp magazines began to wane in popularity. In
its place, science fiction novels rose to popularity, due to the increased profitability for the
authors. A new generation of science fiction authors came into popularity in this time as well.
Overall, these new authors tended to be trained as writers, not as scientists. This resulted in
an improvement in the literary quality of science fiction, but also contributed to a rise in “soft
science fiction”, which deals with more psychological, less technically detailed topics. During
this time, the link between technical fields and science fiction is not well documented. It is
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possible the ties were underground, or have not been researched. Another possibility is that
the two communities moved apart and the interchange of ideas ceased to flow.
HARD SCIENCE FICTION
Even during the new age era, hard science fiction authors, like Larry Niven and Frederik Pohl
continued to write science fiction. This newer generation of hard science fiction writers kept up
the old tradition of exacting detail and scientific accuracy while adapting to the novel format
during the 1960s and 1970s.
PAST ATTEMPTS TO EXAMINE THE IMPACT OF SCIENCE FICTION
Little research on the realization of Asimov’s prediction has been carried out. A short article in
2001 by Gregory Benford tried to point out the ties between science fiction and the scientific
community. Unfortunately, Benford needed to cite an example from World War II to show a
connection between an actual scientist and science fiction. Is it truly the case that the strong
connection between science fiction and the scientist and engineering communities was lost
along with the magazine era? Are modern readers of science fiction influenced in a manner
similar to the way Asimov predicted?
FRAMEWORKS FOR INVESTIGATION
Asimov and Benford both propose an impact on scientific or engineering fields that will be
caused by science fiction. In order to focus
FRAMEWORK 1: MOTIVATION
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Asimov suggested that the positive portrayal of scientists in science fiction would make people
consider scientists to be role models. He pointed out that even when the scientist is the
antagonist in the story, science is the central plot device and is “presented, almost invariably, as
an exciting and thrilling process; its usual ends as both good in themselves and good for
mankind; its heroes as intelligent people to be admired and respected.” (Asimov, 1957) Based
on Asimov’s proposed effects of science fiction, observations that would indicate this
framework would be someone attributing their decision to pursue a technical career to their
exposure to science fiction, someone indicating an increased satisfaction in their work due to
their exposure to science fiction, an overall correlation between the sales of science fiction
books and film tickets with an increased enrollment in technological major programs at
colleges, especially of women and other underrepresented groups, and sociological studies
indicating an improved public opinion of people working in technical roles.
This unintentional public relations campaign for scientific careers is the first effect that was
investigated during the interviews.
FRAMEWORK 2: PREDICTION
The second framework suggested by the background research was derived from Benford’s
“Where Might it Lead?” Benford points out many developments that were described by
science fiction. These developments include robots, lasers, computers, waterbeds, remotecontrolled hands, and the cold war concept of mutually assured destruction. (Benford, 2001)
Characteristic signs of this effect would be someone relating something they worked on to a
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concept they had read about previously in science fiction or someone deciding to pursue an
idea that had previously been considered purely science fiction material.
Because there were no apparent examples of someone pursuing research due to an interest in
science fiction topics, this was a second interesting effect to look for while carrying out
interviews.
INTERVIEWS
METHODOLOGY
Two subjects were selected based upon their early exposure to science fiction and technical
training. Each subject was filmed while answering a set of questions about their experiences
with science fiction, their technical work, and their thoughts about the two framework
questions. The subjects were instructed to give detailed answers if possible in order to give a
better idea of what form these effects might take. The set of questions was ordered loosely
from the least specific, most general questions up to the final questions that directly asked
about the framework questions.
SUBJECTS
Video 1 goes here.
MIKELL TAYLOR
As demonstrated in Video 1, Mikell Taylor primarily deals with robotics engineering. She
graduated with a B.S. in Engineering from Olin College in 2006 and currently works for Bluefin
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Robotics. As mentioned in Video 2, Mikell is most familiar with classic “Golden Age” science
fiction as well as the Star Wars Expanded Universe.
JESSICA TOWNSEND
Jessica Townsend is currently an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Olin College.
As mentioned in Video 1, she has done mechanical engineering work in the past, working on jet
engines. Jessica also favors “Golden Age” science fiction works. She likes golden age works,
especially those by Robert Heinlein, for their bold visions of exciting worlds and enjoys
considering the social implications of the developments in science fiction.
Video 2 goes here.
FRAMEWORK 1: MOTIVATION
As shown in Video 3, Mikell does not consider science fiction the reason that she chose to
pursue robotics as a career. It is unclear whether science fiction had an impact on her decision
to pursue an engineering education. However, it is clear that through comparing her work to
science fiction, she gains a great deal of satisfaction in her work. She also finds the shared
mental model of a robot useful when explaining her job to people of different generations than
her own.
As shown in Video 3, Jessica immediately agreed that science fiction played a part in her
decision to originally pursue astronomy as a major. She mentions wanting more than the pure
physics that were taught in high school without applications to relate them to. Jessica also
mentions not liking science more than any of her other classes around the same time as when
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she started reading science fiction. This apparently changed after she started reading science
fiction, and seems to indicate that science fiction helped form Jessica’s interests.
Video 3 goes here.
FRAMEWORK 2: PREDICTION
When asked about the connections between her work and science fiction that she has read,
Mikell said that there haven’t been any direct parallels that could be drawn. As shown in Video
4, Mikell did feel that it was necessary to defend real life robots against the negative
“Terminator” image they are often given in science fiction. This is unexpected, and the
opposite of the model put forward by Benford. In this situation, the engineer is actually
consciously building something in contradiction of the predictions made by science fiction.
In Video 4, Jessica could not draw any parallels between prior work and science fiction that she
had read. She did indicate that she has noticed parallels in the past between science fiction and
current events in science. She gave the example of privatized space tourism, which was
predicted by Robert A. Heinlein.
Video 4 goes here.
CONCLUSIONS
FRAMEWORK 1 CONCLUSIONS
Based on the statements of the two engineers interviewed, it appears that for some people,
science fiction continues to drive interest and excitement in technical fields. Whether it is being
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used as a common platform to discuss technical topics or inspiring students to seek out
applications of the concepts they learn in physics class, science fiction can still be a useful
intermediary between the literary and technical fields.
FRAMEWORK 2 CONCLUSIONS
Evidence of science fiction concepts directly inspiring the research or work of the interview
subjects was not apparent. The applicability of the second framework could still exist for some
modern scientists and engineers. One reason the subjects might not have identified with this
framework is that it would be most applicable when breaking new scientific ground. Many
engineers work on improving existing designs through incremental progress. The constraints of
these existing projects do not always leave room for innovative solutions to be implemented.
Further studies with scientists and engineers that are deemed to have performed innovative
results might yield more evidence of the second framework.
OVERALL CONCLUSIONS
Overall, this project has shown that science fiction is still relevant to at least a part of the
scientific community. Although it is not as common for science fiction authors to also work in
technical roles as it was at the height of Isaac Asimov’s fame, there is still an apparent flow of
ideas from the science fiction authors to the readers of the genre.
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WORKS CITED
Asimov, I. (1957). The By-Product of Science Fiction. AIBS Bulletin , 25-27.
Atterbery, B. (2003). The magazine era: 1926-1960. In E. James, & F. Mendlesohn, The
Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction (pp. 32-47). Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge
University Press.
Benford, G. (2001). Where might it lead? Nature , 399.
Bould, M. (2003). Film and television. In E. James, & F. Mendlesohn, The Cambridge Companion
to Science Fiction (pp. 79-95). Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
Hirsch, W. (1958). The Image of the Scientist in Science Fiction a Content Analysis. The
American Journal of Sociology , 506-512.
Kafka, J. (1975). Why Science Fiction. The English Journal , 46-53.
Serling, R. (1959-1964). The Twilight Zone. CBS Inc.
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