This weekend I'll be at Science Online 2013 in North Carolina, moderating a panel with io9's Annalee Newitz on science and science fiction. It's a topic near and dear to both our hearts, and Annalee kicked off a pre-discussion last week with her post exploring the evolutionary biology of Star Trek . I'd like to do the same by talking a bit about the history of how science has fed into popular culture over the years -- especially science fiction.The prevailing scientific worldview of a given era has always been reflected in the art and literature of the time -- not to mention the theology. This was certainly the case in the 1500s, when the ancient Ptolemaic worldview still prevailed, with the Earth nestled at the center of the solar system, and the moon, Sun and known planets at the time revolving around it in perfect circular orbits. That movement was believed to produce a celestial music -- the "music of the spheres" -- undetectable to sinful human beings on the fallen Earth. Anything below the moon was "sublunary," separate from the rest of the solar system's state of grace. [More]
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