What is it about?
Writers of science novels are increasingly intent on conveying the authenticity of scientific research but they face two difficulties: (i) readers who are not scientifically trained may not understand the material or find it boring; (ii) such factual material may damage the artistic integrity of the work. This paper considers the techniques novelists use to accommodate the science content while avoiding the 'information dump'.
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Why is it important?
Scientists have traditionally had difficulties in communicating their work to lay people. Yet it is important that the processes and topics of current science research should be available to the whole community for a broader consideration of the ethical and social consequences. Writers of science novels can bridge this communication gap by exploring the sociological context of science. Their techniques are therefore valuable to both scientists and non-scientists.
Perspectives
Science novels (as distinct from science fiction) are proliferating, and addressing a wide range of disciplines. I find this a most interesting innovation in fiction, as such novels perform an educative role not only about the content of scientific research but also about the ethical and social flow-on of the research which, in the past, was largely unknown until too late to modify.
Dr Roslynn D Haynes
University of New South Wales
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Bringing Science into Fiction, Zeitschrift für Anglistik und Amerikanistik, January 2016, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.1515/zaa-2016-0015.
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