Science Fiction Citations: The Book!

[mabfan]

Folks may recall that a while back, the Oxford English Dictionary announced an initiative for Science FIction Citations. Essentially, they were looking for the first usage of words associated with science fiction and fandom. The webpage is a treasure trove of the first known uses of science fiction staples, like "hyperspace" (first known use by John W. Campbell in 1931) or "terraform" (first known use by Jack Williamson in 1942).

Now it looks like the project is about to bear some interesting fruit. In November, Oxford University Press will publish Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction by Jeff Prucher. According to their catalog, the book is the "first historical dictionary devoted to science fiction" and it will show "exactly how science-fictional words and their associated concepts have developed over time, with full citations and bibliographic information."

Needless to say, this is a book that both gnomi and I immediately pounced upon as perfect for our library. And I suspect it will be of more than passing interest to many of you...

Comments

[rhysara.livejournal.com]

Wow, that would have been very very useful when I was writing my thesis.

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

What was your thesis, and does this statement mean I want to read it? :-)

[rhysara.livejournal.com]

My thesis was on the "effect of science fiction on the future of design and technology".

At the time I did it, nobody anywhere had given any thought to the subject. In the last few years however it's starting to pop up as a theme. I would have prefered this happen when I was working on the stupid thing as my research was very difficult, but I'm happy it's getting attention now.

[braintraumered.livejournal.com]

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/s/charles-sheffield/borderlands-of-science.htm

one of a small collection of non-fiction science fiction books i have. This one is a good conversational about the science used in science fiction.

A historical timeline of the words would be nice in that dictionary, but nicer still would be another column as to when science caught up and investigated certain ideas and started using the words themselves.

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

I have that book in both hardcover and softcover. I miss Charles a lot.