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Article: science fiction
- Article from:
- The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
CopyrightThe Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press. (Hide copyright information)
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science fiction literary genre in which a background of science or pseudoscience is an integral part of the story. Although science fiction is a form of fantastic literature, many of the events recounted are within the realm of future possibility, e.g., robots, space travel, interplanetary war, invasions from outer space.
Science fiction is generally considered to have had its beginnings in the late 19th cent. with the romances of Jules
Verne
and the novels of H. G.
Wells
. In 1926, Hugo Gernsback founded the pulp magazine
Amazing Stories,
devoted exclusively to science fiction, particularly to serious explorations into the future. Good writing in the field was further encouraged ...