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

[daev.livejournal.com]

There's a book I once saw about how science actually works. I can't remember the author, but the title is something like "Science As A Collective Enterprise."

I'd like to sell it on RASFW with the subtitle Ipecac For Randroids.

[krfsm.livejournal.com]

Ipecac is, I believe, an emetic (that is, it induces vomiting).