Okay, science fiction fans: we're up to the Industrial Revolution. What do you know about science fiction developments in this great period?

This one is multiple-guess, er, -choice.

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

a. 1500, by Leonardo da Vinci

b. 400 BCE, by Democritus

c. 1897, by Bram Stoker

d. 1834, by William Whewell

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

a. In the Classical Age

b. During the Renaissance

c. In 1795

d. In 1851

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?

a. Priests

b. Prostitutes

c. Pastry-chefs

d. All of the above.

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?

a. Icarus

b. Hercules

c. Prometheus

d. Pandora

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

a. 2100

b. 2440

c. 2525

d. Never

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

a. It took place on Mars.

b. It was the first science fiction novel to be filmed.

c. It was 'pulp' fiction..

d. It had a young hero.

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 moon.

b. They reported dinosaurs in the New York sewers

c. They reported UFOs near Lake Placid.

d. They published accounts by time travellers.

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

a. HG Wells

b. Jules Verne

c. Edgar Allan Poe

d. Mary Shelley

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

a. Longfellow, in Hiawatha

b. Byron, in The Prisoner of Chillon

c. Poe, in Ulalume

d. Tennyson, in Locksley Hall

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?

a. The astronauts are all old men.

b. One of the astronauts has to sacrifice himself to save the others.

c. Landing is by 'splashdown' in the ocean.

d. All of the above.

You know the drill: click on the image for the answers.

Dmitri Gheorgheni

07.05.12 Front Page

Back Issue Page