Hard sci-fi is when writers take time to understand current science and understanding how things would work, and then apply it to the future. Arthur C. Clarke is the default example of hard sci-fi.
Basically, “hard” sci-fi uses real world science to figure out how something would work in a future setting. And hard sci-fi really tries to figure out if something is practical outside of a set piece. “Soft” sci-fi is more about social problems of the real world and beyond, like Star Trek. But there isn’t an exact formal definition for where hard starts and soft begins, and vice versa.
And I think 95% of scifi fans would agree that neither is better or worse, it just fits the story as its needed. Personally I love hard scifi as a concept, but my favorite scifi stories are all soft, like Star Trek.
Glad to see The Expanse on the TV show list. First couple episodes a dude loses his head and the blood coalesced into a blob, I knew right then and there it was going to be a good show
I’d say the classic example of hard sci-fi is The Martian. There’s only one scientifically inaccurate scene in the whole book, and that’s when a martian sandstorm strands Watney. Weir did all the math, and indeed was so insightful about NASA’s internal politics they demanded to know his source.
“Hard” science fiction usually means that the futuristic concepts and fancy technology are based on (and limited) by our current understanding of the physical universe - if you had enough engineering ability, you could actually do the things presented in the story. This is in contrast to things like Star Wars and Star Trek, where the things they’re able to do are basically fantasy dressed up with a technological skin.
Three-Body , the chinese hard sci-fi series is about this question.
Is hard Sci fi different from Sci fi? What’s makes it hard?
Hard sci-fi is when writers take time to understand current science and understanding how things would work, and then apply it to the future. Arthur C. Clarke is the default example of hard sci-fi.
Basically, “hard” sci-fi uses real world science to figure out how something would work in a future setting. And hard sci-fi really tries to figure out if something is practical outside of a set piece. “Soft” sci-fi is more about social problems of the real world and beyond, like Star Trek. But there isn’t an exact formal definition for where hard starts and soft begins, and vice versa.
And I think 95% of scifi fans would agree that neither is better or worse, it just fits the story as its needed. Personally I love hard scifi as a concept, but my favorite scifi stories are all soft, like Star Trek.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_science_fiction
Glad to see The Expanse on the TV show list. First couple episodes a dude loses his head and the blood coalesced into a blob, I knew right then and there it was going to be a good show
I’d say the classic example of hard sci-fi is The Martian. There’s only one scientifically inaccurate scene in the whole book, and that’s when a martian sandstorm strands Watney. Weir did all the math, and indeed was so insightful about NASA’s internal politics they demanded to know his source.
“Hard” science fiction usually means that the futuristic concepts and fancy technology are based on (and limited) by our current understanding of the physical universe - if you had enough engineering ability, you could actually do the things presented in the story. This is in contrast to things like Star Wars and Star Trek, where the things they’re able to do are basically fantasy dressed up with a technological skin.
in hard sci-fi the science isn’t fictional.
It’s when they make the aliens strangely sexy in a way only you can appreciate.
Wait when did this happen? I only remember the aliens and nanofibers (and that fucking boatscene, damn)
Or did you mean the books, I just assumed it was about the TV show
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