The BA Festival of Science: "Science in science fiction films is a bit silly"
Posted by Katrina Charles, BA Media Fellow
My first day at the festival started early with press conferences, watching the British (and international) science media in action. I took a bit of time out to go and see some of the other activities, a lot of which are aimed at getting school kids interested in science. There were robots, exploding things, kids using bicycles to light a (very small) house, and a giant blow-up cell that kids could walk inside.
Once all the press conferences were over, I wandered off to enjoy one of the adult sessions of the festival: “Science fiction and you”, where the presenters showed the influence of science fiction literature on our view of science, and extraterrestrials.
Jon Turney, an author and academic based at Imperial College London, pointed out that "depictions of scientists and science in films is a bit silly".
But author Stephen Baxter illustrated the role of science fiction in exciting aspiring young scientists with the examples of the young boys Wernher von Braun and Robert Goddard, who were inspired by the tales of Martians travelling to Earth by Kurd Lasswitz (Two Planets) and H. G. Wells (War of the Worlds), respectively. Both von Braun and Goddard went on to become leading rocket scientists.
Unfortunately Baxter didn't speak about the influence of science fiction on his own application to become an astronaut. Apparently he was rejected because he couldn't speak French. Questions were raised about which aliens were thought to speak French.
Science fiction shows children and adults alike what it is that scientists do in their work, according to Turney. Sure, the facts may be liberally applied, and the future predictions might be questionable, but, says Turney, stories like Gwyneth Jones’ Life and Gregory Benford’s Timescape do give insights into scientific labour and the qualities of mind needed to be a good scientist.
