with Vic Callaghan and Michael Gardner. The spirited debate continued as we walked home under the looming spire of the Ulm Munster—I cannot thank these two gentlemen enough for their good humor and intellectual curiosity. And Michael doesn’t even like SF!
Part of the joy of writing this book was having some really compelling and fascinating conversations with Cory Doctorow, Sidney Perkowitz and Chris Warner. I consider my discussions with these three to be a privilege and I will always be indebted to them.
This book is filled with references and quotes from numerous authors, scientists and researchers. SF prototypes would not be possible without their imagination and intelligence: Brian Aldiss, David Wingrove, Michael Ashley, Isaac Asimov, Stanley Asimov, Kelley Baker, John Baxter, Gregory Benford, Elizabeth Malartre, Julian Bleecker, Nick Bostrom, John Brady, Michael Brooks, Arthur C. Clarke, Frank Close, Peter David, Karl Schroeder, Paul Dourish, Genevieve Bell, Simon Egerton, Graham Clarke, Victor Zamudio, Will Eisner, Russell Evans, Syd Field, Gardner Fox, Ron Goulart, Lois Gresh, Robert Weinberg, Stephen Hawking, Sarah Perez-Kris, T. D. Ferro, J. R. Porter, Kar-Seng Loke, Scott McCloud, Alan Moore, Steven Schneider, Nathan Shedroff, Chris Noessell, Mary Shelley, Alan Stelle, H.G. Wells and Paula Zizzi.
Over the years SF prototyping has seen the support of some incredible people and I don’t think we would have made it this far without them: Justin Rattner, Tadayoshi Kohno, Sumi Helal, Duckki Lee, Wolfgang Minker, Michael Weber, Hani Hagras, Achilles D. Kameas, Juan Carlos Augusto, Jeannette Chin, Don Wallace, April Miller, Antonio Tatum, Jim Olsen, Klaus Obermaier, Sean Hanna, Darrin Johnson and Vernor Vinge.
I want acknowledge the University of Washington and Professor Sarah Perez-Kriz’s “Science Fiction Prototyping” class for piloting this book and developing some thoughtful and engaging SF prototypes.
Thanks to Mike Morgan for his courage to publish this book and his enthusiasm for its rather unconventional subject matter.
Sandy Winkelman takes my words and turns them into not just pictures but whole worlds—my collaboration with him has been incredibly important to me and I could never thank him enough 25.
Contents
1. The Future Is in Your Hands
“Shall We Play a Game?”: What You Can Expect from This Book
Religious Robots: Trouble at the Piazzi Mine
3. How to Build Your Own SF Prototype in Five Steps or Less
Step 1: Pick Your Science and Build Your World
Step 2: The Scientific Inflection Point
Step 3: Ramifications of the Science on People
Step 4: The Human Inflection Point
Writing the Outline in Five Easy Steps: An Example of Nebulous Mechanisms
When Science Came to Science Fiction
A Conversation with Cory Doctorow
The Link Between Science and Science Fiction
It Is a Process, Not a Prediction
Turning Your Outline Into Short Story SF Prototype
5. The Men in the Moon: Exploring Movies as an SF Prototype and a Conversation with Sidney Perkowitz
