At ImagiCon last weekend, one of the panels was on the role of true science in science fiction.   It was a very interesting panel of Southern science fiction authors.  Despite their differences in background, the panel got along well.

• Allan F. Gilbreath started out the group.   He’s a novelist, poet, and short story writer.  He covers a wide range of topics, especially dark fantasy and science fiction. He had an open manner and a sense of humor that made the whole session a lot less stuffy.

• Stephanie Osborn was the most interesting author represented, personally.   She has over twenty years experience in civilian and military space programs. With degrees in Astronomy, Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics, she had the strongest background in science of the whole panel. She has written a mystery, Burnout, based on her experiences at NASA, about a space shuttle catastrophe.  In the ensuing investigations, it turns out the disaster was no accident.  Her work was at her editor’s when Columbia exploded, and she had a friend on board.  It took her a while to face her work again, but when she finally did, she double checked her accuracy on the science and investigatory procedures at NASA.  She didn’t have to change a word.  I wish I had more time to listen to her talk.  I did briefly get to sit in on the “Space Race” panel, where she told stories of Soviet launches.  She also talked about our current space program, and how we simply do not have the technology necessary to go to the moon right now.

• William H. Drinkard was promoting his new book, Elom. He describes it as “Clan of The Cave Bear meets Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”  He was frustrated at his publisher for trying to peg his book as fantasy because there was travel that was faster than light speed, which everyone knows is “not science.”  (At this, Stephanie snorted and asked, “How do they explain tachyons then?”)

• Van Allen Plexico is a comic book writer, currently publishing with a small press.  In fact, he was more interesting in that arena, and I plan to talk about small presses and self publishing later.  As you can imagine, his comic books aren’t real hard scifi.  He joked that his stance on true science in Science Fiction was, “I’m agin it!”

A main theme of the night was that  science and science fiction have a symbiotic relationship.   Obviously, there are different levels of science fiction.  A hard science fiction book that botches basic principles is a disaster, but space opera is given a lot more leeway.  And comic books are expected to be pure fluff.   All of the panelists agreed that there was a time and place for all of these elements.  No matter how in depth the science really is can still serve to capture the imagination and drive the readers or viewers to want to learn more.  The original Star Trek of the 60s, paired with the Apollo fire, inspired young Stephanie to enter the space program.  She looked at what was happening in real life, and realized people had died for this cause, and at the same time, she saw that Star Trek, or some version thereof, was where it could be going.   Many people were lit afire with the tales of what one day might be reflected in 2001.  While science obviously inspires fiction, it can work in reverse, as well.  Inventions were “invented” in fiction decades before scientists figured out how to make them work.  Psychologically, science fiction can prepare us for new things ahead of time.  We all know that a Kindle is really a proto Hitchhiker’s Guide.  War of the Worlds, written in 1898, featured robotic workers.  These ideas enter our mind and make us able to grasp new concepts quickly when technology catches up with the art.

We also discussed the decline of hard science fiction, and how it coincides with fewer Americans entering science and math fields.   During the panel, I was by far the youngest in the crowd.  At one point, a young girl had stopped in, listened for a few minutes with a bored look on her face, and then turned around and left.  Science is failing to capture the imagination of our young.  Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke are considered too hard, or too boring, for young people to read.  Also, most of the science fiction that is truly popular right now is truly fantastic or just botched. Think about Armageddon.  Most people didn’t even realize how crazy the science was.  I remember being told to shut up and watch the movie when I was protesting about a whole asteroid the size of Texas hurtling at the Earth that fast, but all of NASA just missed it.  And then they just swung good old Hubble over to take a gander at it!!

The same issues come up in historical movies and novels, by the way.  People don’t understand the basics, and are satisfied with entertainment.  Someone recommended that disgusting film, King Arthur, because I was a history and English major and it was historically accurate!  I scoffed at the mere thought of a historically accurate King Arthur movie, but I love the Arthuriad and all the myriad takes on it, so I watched it.  I hated it, and the history was awful.  And please, someone, tell Keira Knightly to eat a biscuit.  The reason she’s tolerable in the Pirates movies is because you can’t see her pointy spine.  Ugh!

Instead of blaming science fiction of today,  we talked about the trends in science fiction reflect the trends in science, and vice versa.  As a society, we’re slipping in our education.  We’re teaching to tests, and not getting fundamentals. As science and math are being dumbed down, so are stories about them.  My (first grade!) son is learning to use a calculator in school before he has truly gotten down basic addition and subtraction!  Teenagers in Pre Cal and Trig are doing functions on their calculators without having mastered long division.  There is an extent to which science builds on itself, and every computer programmer doesn’t have to learn to program in binary. At the same time, science is UP in China and India.  Someone joked about how we will be able to provide fine entertainments for our new masters, with our emphasis on sports and Hollywood.   (It’s funny because it’s true!)

The true joy of science fiction is the joy of knowledge, learning, and imagination. I left with an appetite for more, and am very glad that I went.  I left with many concepts to ponder, and a few recommendations of good authors to read.