Materials science in science fiction

Materials science in science fiction is the study of how <a href="/facts/Materials_science/N5HrXRYW">materials science</a> is portrayed in works of <a href="/facts/Science_fiction/d9hE2Lwt">science fiction</a>. The accuracy of the materials science portrayed spans a wide range – sometimes it is an extrapolation of existing technology, sometimes it is a physically realistic portrayal of a far-out technology, and sometimes it is simply a plot device that looks scientific, but has no basis in science. Examples are:

<ul><li>Realistic: In 1944, the science fiction story "<a href="/facts/Deadline_(science_fiction_story)/zbeRkvfb">Deadline</a>" by <a href="/facts/Cleve_Cartmill/JFk8CKne">Cleve Cartmill</a> depicted the <a href="/facts/Nuclear_weapon/QVdBcMdm">atomic bomb</a>. The properties of various radioactive isotopes are critical to the proposed device, and the plot. This technology was real, unknown to the author.</li>
<li>Extrapolation: In the 1979 novel <a href="/facts/The_Fountains_of_Paradise/wkvYpGyR">The Fountains of Paradise</a>, <a href="/facts/Arthur_C._Clarke/2XJ6UGDB">Arthur C. Clarke</a> wrote about <a href="/facts/Space_elevator/VUBYsbM6">space elevators</a> – basically long cables extending from the Earth's surface to <a href="/facts/Geosynchronous_orbit/nR2yaeUg">geosynchronous orbit</a>. These require a material with enormous tensile strength and light weight. <a href="/facts/Carbon_nanotube/atuDPPaG">Carbon nanotubes</a> are strong enough in theory, so the idea is plausible; while one cannot be built today, it violates no physical principles.</li>
<li>Plot device: An example of an unsupported plot device is <a href="/facts/Ringworld/Hpeugaxm">scrith</a>, the material used to construct <a href="/facts/Ringworld/Hpeugaxm">Ringworld</a>, in the novels by <a href="/facts/Larry_Niven/yNRlamWe">Larry Niven</a>. Scrith has unreasonable strength, and is unsupported by known physics, but needed for the plot.</li></ul>
Critical analysis of materials science in science fiction falls into the same general categories. The predictive aspects are emphasized, for example, in the motto of the <a href="/facts/Georgia_Institute_of_Technology/HKtrUSao">Georgia Tech</a>'s department of materials science and engineering – Materials scientists lead the way in turning yesterday's science fiction into tomorrow's reality. This is also the theme of many technical articles, such as Material By Design: Future Science or Science Fiction?, found in <a href="/facts/IEEE_Spectrum/tmbdcCq5">IEEE Spectrum</a>, the flagship magazine of the <a href="/facts/Institute_of_Electrical_and_Electronics_Engineers/UddC4pUW">Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers</a>.
On the other hand, there is criticism of the unrealistic materials science used in science fiction. In the professional materials science journal <a href="/facts/JOM_(journal)/KR1p773r">JOM</a>, for example, there are articles such as The (Mostly Improbable) Materials Science and Engineering of the Star Wars Universe and Personification: The Materials Science and Engineering of Humanoid Robots.

Materials science in science fiction open-in-new

Materials science in science fiction