Science fiction has become an elusive term for a wide range of literature and film. To understand what the genre means, it is better to look at a range of work, then isolate some common thread or theme. It is important to re-think the broad meaning of the word "science".

Many earlier science fiction works, such as C. S. Lewis' magical waterworld of "Perelandra", are set on "other planet" worlds. Others, in more recent years, such as Ray Bradbury's short stories collected in "Dandelion Wine", are set in elusive, shadowy, timeless worlds of the imagination. And then there is Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale", which is set in a disturbing, dystopian world fractured with elements of past and future.

Sometimes, this surrealism may be transposed into some defined or indefinable future. Some science fiction films, in particular, have blurred the boundaries of present and future. The popular series of "Stargate" began with mysterious findings around the Egyptian pyramids, then launched into a range of adventures, breaking all sense of time and space barriers. The Stargate itself became a visual wonder of possible technology.

Character names may have an aura of some legendary gods or heroes, but also may be new names developed by the author to suit this "other world". Phillip K. Dick, however, in "Minority Report", chose to place ordinary citizens with ordinary names like John, Joe and George, struggling to survive in future worlds threatened by terrorists, in the form of Ivans, and quirks of nature.

So far, the element of "science" in these works seems to be a little obscure. However, knowing the origins of the term may help. The word "science" comes from the Latin word for knowledge. Armed with this interpretation, science fiction could be understood as "a creative extension of knowledge".

Science fiction, then, appears to be an imaginative interpretation of surreal science, or knowledge, in novel, short story or film format. There are elements of reality superimposed with technological and natural possibilities. To say that science fiction is set in the future oversimplifies the nature of other worldliness present in works by authors like Ray Bradbury. Some worlds are disturbing parallels to our own world, right now!

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