Actual science in science fiction

[james_davis_nicoll]

Not applied sciences, I mean, or feats of engineering but the actual process of science. Is this a suitable topic for SF, by which I mean "can it be the seed for a story?" Or maybe better yet, "how does one use it as the seed for a story?"

One example would be the Steerswoman books. I think part of what makes that possible is that the protagonist is discovering scientific models that we are already familiar with, so the author is not saddled with the problem of coming up with a new scientific model.

I am not fussy about "Yes, this was cutting edge science 200 years ago and it still is today" stories, where whatever bit of pop-science that made the cover of DISCOVER is still new and exciting centuries from now.

Comments

Re: I probably should have clarified that I meant non-nonsensical science.

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

Yeah but "forensics in the average mystery novel" includes things like a pathologist deciding to go check out a possible body-dumping site by herself, in the middle of the night, without mentioning her idea to the police for whom she works....

Re: I probably should have clarified that I meant non-nonsensical science.

[robertprior.livejournal.com]

People do do incredibly silly things, though. Including people who should know better.

Especially if they are very tired and stressed. Dad worked in infectious diseases -- some of the close calls they had were scary.

Re: I probably should have clarified that I meant non-nonsensical science.

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

I find that hard to believe.

On an unrelated note, does anyone know if chronic first and second degree burns on the right calf of the leg can have long term health implications?