Quote:
Originally Posted by pwalker8
There is no generally accepted guideline. There is only various peoples personal preferences/prejudices. In quite a few of Heinlein's stories, the scientific/technical aspects are purely window dressing. In others, it's central to the story. Does that mean that only a few of Heinlein's stories count as "Real SF"? I certainly don't think so.
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I'm not going to argue that "the science/engineering/SFnal setting is essential to the plot" is the definition of "real SF", but I could maybe make an argument that it's the definition of "hard SF". All the categories are extremely fuzzy-edged, however. Unlike some people who play with hard/soft SF definitions, however, I include social sciences in "science". Embassytown and Story of Your Life are hard SF, based in linguistics, for example.