The Evolution of Science Fiction discussion

Contact (1985) by Carl Sagan is our February group read. According to the Wikipedia article, it started as a screenplay, became a novel when that stalled, & was then made into a movie later on. It's a first contact novel written by one of the best faces of science. I remember watching his Cosmos show in the early 80s. Great stuff.

I'm in for this one. I have a copy from the library and plan on starting to read it Sunday.

I'm reading it. Definately SF: the US president is a woman.

Leo wrote: "I'm reading it. Definately SF: the US president is a woman."

Interesting, what is the first story with this idea? The earliest black president I saw - in 1944 Robot Inc

It's interesting, based on SETI, a project that Sagan was into. It did a great job of popularizing the idea.

After reading three chapters, I realize just how much patience those scientists who are scanning the sky need in order to perform their job.

Oleksandr wrote: "Leo wrote: "I'm reading it. Definately SF: the US president is a woman."

Interesting, what is the first story with this idea?..."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_...

1924: a film based on The Last Man
1932: Betty Boop becomes president!
1939: story "Greater Than Gods", by C.L. Moore

For black presidents in fiction:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African...

I'm skeptical in advance about Sagan's ability to write fiction. I liked the guy, but he's known for non-fiction.

Rosemarie wrote: "After reading three chapters, I realize just how much patience those scientists who are scanning the sky need in order to perform their job."

He captures it well. Of course, we know what is coming despite the Fermi Paradox. I've never thought it was a paradox given the size of the universe & time spans involved. We're a really tiny needle that has existed for less than an eye blink in the almost 14 billion year old & 93 billion mile wide universe.

I have trouble with billions. They're unimaginable, so I use this trick to gain some perspective.
100 seconds, just over a minute & a half.
1000 seconds, about 17 minutes.
1 million seconds, not quite 2 weeks.
1 billion seconds, over 32 years! Oy! I still don't understand them, but it gives me a little bit of an idea of how badly I don't understand them - if that makes any sense.

Here is another fun timeline.
https://waitbutwhy.com/2013/08/puttin...

Ed wrote: "I'm skeptical in advance about Sagan's ability to write fiction. I liked the guy, but he's known for non-fiction."

It shows indeed, I think. The writing is contemplative, not very lively, like a scientist would do I guess. But it is not a big problem, and the story is fascinating.
Wikipedia says that Sagan got a $2 mln in advance for his first fiction book! (That is $1 every second for 4 weeks in a row, Jim.)

Jim wrote: "I have trouble with billions. They're unimaginable"

This doesn't help much, but it's nice to stare at:
https://youtu.be/jfSNxVqprvM

Both great, Leo. LOL!

I'm halfway through the book and I'm loving it so far. What I love the most is the feeling that everything is real. I mean, if something like first contact with other spices happens I believe this would be more or less the reaction in our civilization. And I like it that Sagan takes time and looks at it in different lenses (religion, politics, world peace etc.)
Also it feels weird when you think about most of the programs we sent to the cosmos are a complete embarrassment to human spices.

Shant wrote: "...Also it feels weird when you think about most of the programs we sent to the cosmos are a complete embarrassment to human spices."

You mean TV programs?

I'm halfway, for me it is a bit too much talk and politics and too little action. But I guess that is what would happen.

I'm about two thirds into the book and the action does pick up. I also notice how much technology has changed since the book was written in 1985, especially regarding instant messaging.

You mean TV programs?"
Yeah. When you think about all the commercials, soap operas, porn, news, etc its kinda embracing. Although there are also good bits like documentaries or art programs.
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Thinking about Contact, how original is this novel in showing math as a universal language between alien life forms ?

Also its interesting to me that if the aliens understood the Olympic broadcast? When you think about it more you question whether the aliens would even understand our programming. The cultural differences between different human civilizations can be huge and we are from the same species. A different kind of life with different evolution on different planet would perceive the world on fundamentally different level and might not even understand what is happening on that Olympic broadcast.

I read this so long ago, I hardly remember it. I think I read it right after the movie came out. I was a little disappointed in the book, but that was then and now my tastes in science fiction have mellowed. I might like it now.

I went looking for the movie, and found out that I must have seen it because I rated it 3 stars. Wasn't impressed enough to remember it.

I thought the end was a bit far out for my taste.

I'm at 3/4 now and the trip has finally started. A bit disappointing to wait so long, I started skimming little pieces already. The social aspects on world scale of the message and the machine are interesting though. But now I've fastenend my seatbelts (which the 5 didn't need) and off into the unknown.

I finished it yesterday and I have mixed feelings about it. The novel starts great with SETI project and it is clear that the author knows what he is writing about. I assumed it will be like Rendezvous with Rama and Airport and 'getting technical' is what lacks in more modern SF I've read. Then there is "the journey", which for me was the weakest part, in line with earlier stuff like the last part of 2001: A Space Odyssey. The final denial and math part was good once again

I finished it on Saturday and I agree that the section with the trip was weaker than I expected, but I like the multi-cultural team, containing two women.
There was actually some character development as Ellie realized what a failure she was as a daughter.

The journey was interesting but quite thin, agreed. But to my surprise after that I actually liked the ending of the book, finishing two storylines on the last pages, one very big and the other very small, both making you think and wonder.

I was impressed by the way he handled the heroine in a mid 80s novel.

I loved the book and thought it was well thought out. For me, I thought the journey was pretty good. I was actually surprised how well it was written. I was not expecting that from him.

I had not finish yet and I agree with Papaphilly. How he dealt with all the consequences and all the problems that would show up in these circumstances were so well developed.

The "Pale Blue Dot" photo is 25 years old today.
https://www.space.com/28564-voyager1-...

Sagan promoted it & used it as the title of his nonfiction book of that name Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space. It's really good. I reread it about a year ago & gave it a 5 star review here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Jim wrote: "The "Pale Blue Dot" photo is 25 years old today.
..."
Don't believe what they tell you Jim. It's 30 years.
And believe it or not, we have been receiving some congratulations from out there: https://www.universetoday.com/144968/...

Ooops! That bit with the FBRs is interesting. I saw another article about them the other day, too.

Finished, at last. It was awesome. Not only by the science fiction aspect but as a whole. Carl developed the characters remarkably well. As always, the good science fiction works deals not only with the science but also how its influence affects us humans. I loved the info about Ellie at the ending. Hadden was inspired, in a scifi-ish-before-things-happened way, in Elon Musk? haha

I watched the movie ages ago, I don't remember if it was faithful or not and how faithful it was.

Rafael wrote: "Finished, at last. It was awesome. Not only by the science fiction aspect but as a whole. Carl developed the characters remarkably well. As always, the good science fiction works deals not only wit..."

It was pretty close to the book with some minor differences. Both worked on their own level.

I saw a post that Cosmos: Possible Worlds by Ann Druyan (Sagan's widow) comes out today. it's supposed to be a sequel.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D6C6P29