Wednesday 10 July 2024

Science In Science Fiction

Rereading Poul Anderson's "Hiding Place" and "Territory," we are struck by the detailed scientific information that they impart. Some readers understand and appreciate data about ammonia, copper oxides etc whereas others usually read past such details for the sake of the story although I tried to summarize what I did not necessarily understand in some earlier posts, e.g., see "t'Kela" (here). 

Like Socrates, I was always interested in analytic philosophy, which we call "philosophy," not in natural philosophy, which we call "science." Socrates wanted to reason about abstract principles like being, goodness and justice, not to find out how many material substances underlie phenomena. But it was the natural philosophers who got it right. They discovered natural selection, the periodic table, the equivalence of mass with energy etc and have changed the world. Even if we ignore science, it does not ignore us.

We can enhance our appreciation of Anderson's sf by learning something about his science.

4 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

Natural philosophy, allied with the Christian belief in the lawfulness of the universe God created, plus post-Roman European pragmatism, etc., led to the rise of a true science.

Mathematics, astronomy, and engineering were among the first sciences to really "take off" in the West. The other developments you listed came later.

"Delenda Est" and "The House of Sorrows" shows us scenarios where a true science failed to arise on Earth because Judaism disappeared (and hence Christianity failed to exist).

Ad astra! Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Sean,

But those later developments are a culmination, showing us the nature of being: matter, energy, life and the processes that led to consciousness and intelligence.

Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

Of course, with the proviso that I believe God intervened in a special way in the remote past to create the first human soul.

Ad astra! Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Sean,

Not necessary. By cooperatively acting on their environment, proto-human beings began to exchange signals which became symbols and the basis of thought.

Paul.