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Originally Posted by tHeFiRsTiDioT
Would you also classify Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park (to take a very known example) as Hard SF (or even SF for that matter?)
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I would say that Jurassic Park is a borderline case. Certainly the science is integral to the plot. The problem is that some of the science is not entirely plausible. I need to slightly amend my criteria from above; the science not only needs to be accurate to the best knowledge of the author, the author needs to have seriously researched the topic to make sure that the science is plausible.
The funny thing is, you can sometimes take bigger leaps when you take the trouble to get the science right. Greg Bear's Darwin's Radio is a good example of this. He took the time to get the background science right before he started working with his speculations. While not a thriller like Jurassic Park, the ideas in it seem more radical.
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Bill