Considers science fiction as an imaginative forum to focus on the relationships between science, culture, and society. Outlines some of the ways in which using the genre can help achieve a dynamic and pluralistic understanding of the nature and evolution of science. (Author/KHR)

Critiques three contemporary films, "Rocky IV,""Blade Runner," and "The Terminator." Constructs an evolving dystopian shadow myth that expresses the culture's repressed fears about its relationship to technology. Offers implications for the reinterpretation of the dystopian myth and for the conduct of other cultural…

Addresses two misunderstandings about science fiction and fantasy: that fantastic literature is not serious; and that modern scientific civilization neither has nor needs mythology. Argues that values can be transmitted through science fiction and fantasy, which are modern-day forms of mythology. (RS)

Through various classic texts, this article examines the concept of "library" and the many forms in which libraries are portrayed in science fiction. A sidebar contains a bibliography of recent anthologies of science fiction stories and novellas. (AEF)

Discusses how the author blends oriental myth, fantasy, and science to produce unique science fiction. (PRA)

Discusses what makes fantasy writing and science fiction easy. States that, for the writer, science fiction and fantasy allow more freedom to develop the story. Asserts that science fiction allows adolescents to explore their concerns in a seemingly safe and removed way. Notes that it is difficult to write believable and consistent stories for…

Asserts that not all science fiction is great. Discusses ways to tell the difference between the good and the bad. Encourages even those teachers who are most leery of a genre with which they are unfamiliar to jump in and try science fiction as a way of opening up student minds and imaginations. (PRA)

This article examines the work of several anthropologists from the 1960s to the 1980s who used images of the future in their anthropology classrooms in order to stimulate alternative thinking in their students. In response to the apparent inevitability of "monofutures" characterized by globalization, I suggest the necessity for such an approach…

This article is for teachers looking for new ways to motivate students, increase science comprehension, and understanding without using the old standard expository science textbook. This author suggests reading a science fiction novel in the science classroom as a way to engage students in learning. Using science fiction literature and language…

Molecular evolution provides an interesting context in which to use problem-based learning because it integrates a variety of topics in biology, biochemistry, and molecular biology. This three-stage problem for advanced students deals with the structure, multiple functions, and properties of lactate dehydrogenase isozymes, and the related…

This paper discusses pedagogical advantages and challenges of using science-fiction movies and television shows in an introductory science class for elementary teachers. The authors describe two instructional episodes in which scenes from the movies "Red Planet" and "The Core" were used to engage students in critiquing science as presented in…

Suggests that science fiction can be used as a vehicle for teaching a broad range of content subjects incorporating an interdisciplinary approach. (RB)

Analyzing the setting of six recent "blockbuster" films, this study outlines numerous instances of the Western's influence on several contemporary science fiction films, "Star Wars,""Battlestar Galactica,""Star Trek: The Motion Picture,""The Black Hole,""The Empire Strikes Back," and…

"Star Trek II" is a treatment of the penultimate stages of the monomyth in which the hero descends into the underworld and is reborn. This psychological sense of rebirth is evoked in modern audiences by the film. In particular, the doppelganger (psychic double) motif, so often associated in film, literature, and myth with the…

An interview with Howard E. Smith, Jr., who edits science and junior books at McGraw-Hill, and with Thomas G. Aylesworth, who edits books for young readers at Doubleday. They discuss the selection of authors and subjects for books; science fiction and biography; characteristics of good science books; and foreign books. (LS)