The Road to Science Fiction

doi:10.5771/9781461673521

The Road to Science Fiction

From Gilgamesh to Wells

Published 2002

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doi.org/10.5771/9781461673521
ISBN print: 978-0-8108-4414-8
ISBN online: 978-1-4616-7352-1
Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham

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Abstract

Now in Paperback!

Between an ancient Roman's trip to the moon and the fantastic tales of H.G. Wells lies a journey through time and space and an awesome evolution in scientific thinking. From Gilgamesh's search for immortality to Lucian's odyssey on the moon; from Jonathan Swift's hilarious satire on scientists in Gulliver's Travels to Mary Shelley's horrifying description of a scientist who has gone too far in Frankenstein from Edgar Allan Poe's balloon trip in the year 2848 to Jules Verne's prophesies of the impact of scientific inventions on future civilization; from Edward Bellamy's utopian escape from the industrial Revolution to H.G. Wells's magnificent story of Earth threatened by an inescapable menace-here are the chief ancestors of the modern science fiction story. For the first time, these and other key works are gathered together in one anthology, complete with revealing commentary on the authors, their eras, and the role each played in establishing what we today recognize as science fiction.

The Road to Science Fiction is a six-volume anthology of science fiction that covers the development of science fiction from its earliest prototypes in the Sumerian Gilgamesh and the Greek epics to approximately 1990. Created originally to provide anthologies for use in classes, these volumes have become mass-market sellers as well, since they are not only a source of outstanding stories but also explain what constitutes science fiction, how it developed and the contribution the authors and the stories have made to the evolution of science fiction.

Cloth edition previously published in 1979.

Schlagworte

anthology short stories short story

Chapter Expand | CollapsePage
Preface
- Dedication Page
- Table of Contents
- Introduction
1–12 The First Voyage to the Moon 1–12
- From A True Story
13–21 Strange Creatures and Far Traveling 13–21
- From the Voyages and Travels of Sir John Mandeville
22–30 The Good Place that is no Place 22–30
- From Utopia
31–41 The New Science and the Old Religion 31–41
- From the City of the Sun
42–62 Experience, Experiment, and the Battle for Men's Minds 42–62
- From the New Atlantis
63–78 A New Look at the Heavens and Another Trip to the Moon 63–78
- Somnium, or Lunar Astronomy
79–86 Commuting to the Moon 79–86
- From A Voyage to the Moon
87–118 The Age of Reason and the Voice of Dissent 87–118
- From "A Voyage to Laputa"
119–127 Imaginary Voyages in the Other Direction 119–127
- From the Journey to the World Underground
128–145 Visitors from Space 128–145
- From Micromegas
146–158 Science and Literature: When Worlds Collide 146–158
- From Frankenstein
159–185 Science as Symbol 159–185
- Rappaccini's Daughter
186–200 Anticipations of the Future 186–200
- Mellonta Tauta
201–223 Expanding the Vision 201–223
- The Diamond Lens
224–255 The Indispensable Frenchman 224–255
- From Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
- From Around the Moon
256–275 Lost Civilizations and Ancient Knowledge 256–275
- From She
276–303 The New Frontier 276–303
- From Looking Backward
304–314 New Magazines, New Readers, New Writers 304–314
- The Damned Thing
315–335 A Flying Start 315–335
- With the Night Mail
336–348 The Father of Modem Science Fiction 336–348
- The Star
349–349 About the Editor 349–349

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