Science Fiction Poetry (with Biology): Jonathan Vos Post

April is National Poetry Month, so before the calender turns to May, I'm kicking off what will be an occasional series of posts featuring science fiction poetry - with biology, of course - that's available for free online.

Jonathan Vos Post - called "greatest nerd of all times"¹, and creator of the Ultimate Science Fiction Poetry Guide - also writes science fictional poetry.

Two of the poems he has made available on his web site have biological themes:

• "The Twilight of Genetic Engineering" (1992), which is a bleak take on our possible genetically engineered future
• "Prologue from Dr. Norton Moise" (1987), which is about "the Adrenal gland and the evolution of human beings"

Read more poetry by Jonathan Vos Post

And check out his page on the Ultimate Science Fiction Web Guide about Ecology and Biology

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1. From Vos Post's  LiveJournal profile:

Jonathan Vos Post is a part-time Professor of Mathematics, who has also taught Anthropology, Astronomy, Computer Science, Ecology, Literature, Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology, and other subjects. He is also a professional Science Fiction author who has co-authored or co-edited with Ray Bradbury, Richard Feynman, Sir Arthur C. Clarke, and many others, for his nearly 900 publications, presentations, and broadcasts. A failed actor, who has sold some plays; a failed musician, whose lyrics have made it to MTV; he has finally succeeded as a husband and father, and is thus a happy man, eager to share his delight in life. His primary concern is attempting to answer three little questions: (1) what is the universe, and how does it work?; (2) what is a human being?; and (3) what is the place of a human being in the universe?

 Tags:science fiction, poetry

Scientists in SF

Jon Turney has an interesting post on the LabLit blog - Can science fiction be lab lit? - about the depiction of scientists in science fiction.

"Lab lit" is fiction that features scientists working at science. There isn't really a clear bright line between "science fiction" and "lab lit", and it's not clear whether realistic stories about scientists set in the very near future should be one or the other. I usually consider such stories science fiction (as does Turney, apparently), and the LabLit folks consider them to be lab lit.  But even if you exclude such novels - Gwyneth Jones's Life, for example - there are some good depictions of scientists in SF.

You should read Turney's post to find out which novels he considers to be some of the best examples of scientists in SF.

Turney also cites an informal survey of scientists in SF made by Lucy A. Snyder. In her article - The Portrayal of Scientists in Science Fiction - she compares scientists in short stories from the mid-1990s to the 1950s. It's by no means a comprehensive study, but it seems that over the years the portrayal of scientists in SF has gotten more positive and much more diverse:

In summary, the '50s anthologies I sampled portray scientists as main characters in 10 out of 32 stories (31.3%), and of these 10, 4 are negative portrayals. [...]

I went through six consecutive months of Analog [from the 1990s] and analyzed the stories in the same way that I had the '50s anthologies. Of the 36 total stories in these issues, 16 (44.4%) featured scientists as main characters. And of these portrayals, none were negative except insofar as scientists were shown to be fallible human beings.

[. . .] On the whole, the scientists portrayed in Analog are likeable, highly intelligent, and occupy a sort of moral high ground. There is also a much greater diversity of scientists in these stories as compared with the '50s anthologies. In addition to the traditionally-portrayed medical doctors and physicists, the stories featured liberal doses of paleontologists, ecologists, and other biologists.

So not only more likable, but more biologists!  That's consistent with my own impressions of scientists in SF short stories, but I'd love to see a more systematic study that compares more than 30-ish stories from each era. 

Heck,  I'd do the myself if someone would provide me with the required extensive SF collections the study would require!


Tags:science fiction, scientists

The Crossed Genres "Science in My Fiction" Contest

I've been totally remiss in not promoting the Crossed Genres "Science in My Fiction" contest.

Here’s how it works: Authors write a science fiction or fantasy short story which is inspired by a scientific discovery or innovation made or announced within the past year. It can’t be peripherally added: the science must be integral to the story. Writers must include a link to a relevant article or study of the applied science when they submit their stories.

We’ll be looking for thoughtful, creative and well-researched application of science to a story. This doesn’t mean you should neglect your plot or characters, though! The best entries will be those which use science to enhance the plot, setting and characters, rather than dominate them.

First place is $250, a 2-year online subscription to Crossed Genres, and a print copy of the Crossed Genres Year One anthology.  There are cash prizes for second and third place too.

Get all the details and submit an entry.

Crossed Genres is also running a fundraiser at Kickstarter to raise the money to put the winning stories into print. 

The print edition this drive funds will be the one and only time the contest winners are put into print - it's now or never! Pledging to the drive is the only way to get a copy of the winning stories!

If we successfully raise the funds, the print edition will be thoroughly edited by the editors of Crossed Genres, and published with original cover art.

There are some great bonuses you can get along with the print edition, so be sure to check it out and consider making a donation.


Deadline for story entries is June 30th.

Deadline for donations is May 31st.

@ SIMF: Perception, Neurology and Fiction

Check out my latest post for the "Science in My Fiction" blog:

Perception, Neurology, and Fiction.

My previous SIMF post: You Are What Your Grandad Ate

And there have been a number of other great biology in science fiction-related posts over there - go read!

Tags:science fiction, neuroscience

The Second Variety

Hi readers. I'm doing a bit of catching up and have got a number of posts I'm working on.

In the mean time, I thought I'd point out a short story just added to Project Gutenberg, which absolutely blew me away the first time I read it: "Second Variety" by Philip K. Dick.

The story was originally published in 1953, and I read it for the first time about 30 years after that. I suspect that it wouldn't have nearly the same impact on a teenager reading the story for the first time today¹, particularly if the reader is familiar recent series on the SyFy channel².

Even if it isn't as novel an idea as it was 50 - or even 25 - years ago, I do think it's well worth reading.

Read Philip K. Dick's "Second Variety"

(via Free Speculative Fiction Online)

1. I originally read "Second Variety" in a short fiction anthology. I was a bit surprised that the original version was illustrated with what I would consider "spoilery" drawings. I'm not sure if that would have changed my perception of the story the first time I read it or not.

2. Speaking of series on the SyFy channel, I tuned in to the recent Riverworld-inspired miniseries, and was sure I had missed the first few episodes - the characters had a riverboat, and period clothing, and metal stuff, and blue aliens. It turns out I had only missed about 30 minutes and many the hardships that were obstacles for the characters in Philip Jose Farmer's novels were absent from the SyFy version. Despite Tahmoh Penikett, I just couldn't get into it. I'm not sure I'd have enjoyed it even if I hadn't read the originals. Oh well.

3. And just so that no one is confused, there really isn't any biology  in "Second Variety". I just got excited when I saw it was available online.


Image: Wounded soldier, WWI