How well did you know your Industrial Revolution science fiction?

1. The 19th Century was a time of great scientific breakthroughs. But when was the word 'scientist' first used, and by whom?

d. 1834, by William Whewell. Whewell, of Trinity College, Cambridge, suggested the word to replace 'natural philosopher' or 'Naturforscher'. You can read Ira Flatow's interview with a modern scientist on the subject, if you like.

2. Scientists, schmientists – when was the word 'science fiction' coined?

d. 1851. The culprit was a man named William Wilson¹. In Wilson's 1851 book, A Little Earnest Book About a Great Old Subject², he says:

'Campbell³ says, "Fiction in Poetry is not the reverse of truth, but her soft and enchanting resemblance." Now this applies especially to Science-Fiction, in which the revealed truths of Science may be given, interwoven with a pleasing story which may itself be poetical and true   – thus circulating a knowledge of the Poetry of Science, clothed in a garb of the Poetry of life.'

3. In 1771, a French writer named Mercier came up with L'An 2440. According to this utopianist, what evils were missing from Paris in the Year 2440?

d. All of the above. What Mercier had against pastry-chefs, we don't know, but hey, it's Paris.

4. One of the great science fiction visionaries of the early 19th Century was Mary Shelley – but she didn't come up with ideas in a vacuum. What Greek myth does she explicitly draw on for her 1818 novel Frankenstein?

c. Prometheus. The full title of the work is Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus. Prometheus, you will remember, brought fire (hence technology) to man, but suffered for it. Shelley's Frankenstein had good intentions.

5. More about Mary Shelley. When did she think the world would end?

a. 2100. At least, that's when her novel The Last Man takes place. Dystopias 'r' us.

6. What was innovative about Edward llis' The Steam Man of the Prairie (1865)?

c. It was 'pulp' fiction. The dime novel fed a growing market. Science fiction had found the niche it was to occupy for a long time.

7. People were gullible in the 19th Century, too. What famous science fiction hoax was perpetrated by the New York Sun in 1835?

a. They reported life on the moon⁴ In great detail, no less: allegedly, a telescope revealed giant bat-men who built temples, and tailless beavers that lived in houses and lit fires. The Sun blamed all this 'research' on astronomer Sir John Herschel, who was annoyed, especially when he got lots of inquiries. The Sun never printed a retraction, either.

8. What great 19th-century science fiction novelist wrote a dystopian novel that was first published in the time it was written about?

b. Jules Verne. His novel, Paris in the 20th Century (Paris, again) was first published in 1994. People were astonished at how much he got right – writing in the 1860s, Verne foresaw cars, skyscrapers, the computer, the internet, the Eiffel Tower, and WMDs. Wow.

9. What 19th-century poet foresaw air traffic and aerial warfare?

d. Tennyson, in Locksley Hall.

Saw the heavens fill with commerce, argosies of magic sails,

Pilots of the purple twilight dropping down with costly bales;

Heard the heavens fill with shouting, and there rain'd a ghastly dew

From the nations' airy navies grappling in the central blue...

10. Although cinema has its beginnings in the 19th Century, it wasn't until 1902 that the first scifi film came out. What features did this blockbuster have in common with the 2000 film Space Cowboys?

d. All of the above. Plus ça change, Georges Méliès' Voyage a la Lune features bearded astronomers who seem to have come from Unseen University. They trade their pointy hats for toppers, and go for a sleepover on the Moon. It snows, and they dream of pretty girls. It's a French film, what do you expect? If you don't believe us, check it out. You don't even have to pay Netflix for it.

Use these fascinating factoids to astound your friends at the next scifi con. (Wait till they've had a few PGGBs first.)

Dmitri Gheorgheni

07.05.12 Front Page

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