Quote:
Originally Posted by Elfwreck
It's easy to say "Tolkein is fantasy; Heinlein is science fiction; Lovecraft is horror."
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Henry Gee wrote a book called The Science of Middle-earth:
Quote:
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By now, it should come as no particular surprise to anyone that the genres of science fiction and fantasy have a strong following in the scientific community. The Science of Middle-earth marks the latest in a recent spate of publishing to use a popular story as a springboard to advance the public discussion of science. As a zoologist and author of several books on vertebrate evolution, and an editor of Nature, Gee uses his considerable store of scientific knowledge in his approach to Middle-earth. His premise is that this place is presented as an intact world and therefore subject to the same scientific scrutiny as any other ecosystem. He blends scientific knowledge with theory and imagination to extrapolate what could be: how Fëanor might have used materials now only conjectured to exist to grow the palantíri, what physiological traits would be necessary for dragons to fly, and how string theory might explain something of how the Ring functions. Such extrapolations, of course, lie at the very heart of science–and likewise at the heart of fantasy. Playing upon this intrinsic connection, the author applies a number of scientific disciplines to explain and explore the wonders of Middle-earth.
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If you go by the definition that it is called SF if it is possible, you end up with Tolkein is SF.
Quote:
Originally Posted by piperclassique
You could do a Venn diagram....
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Someone already did:
