Hear Joe Haldeman speak about The Craft of Science Fiction in an MIT podcast from his talk that we mentioned last November. From the intro:

The thing about science fiction," says Haldeman, "is that it's a form of writing but it's also a way of looking at things - a mode of thought." Early sci-fi writers sought to educate young people, and direct them toward careers as scientists or engineers. Not all of the writing was stellar. Some of the "old stuff can be ugly stuff," he says. Haldeman can't read the Foundation trilogy now - "My eyes lock," the writing's so bad. But some of the stories from the 1930s inspired the scientists on both sides of World War 2, those behind radar, the atom bomb and Germany's V1 and V2 rockets. Today, as fewer people read novels, Haldeman says, science fiction has become less important. "The idea that science fiction can educate isn't there anymore."

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Posted by John DeNardo at Wednesday January 24, 2007 at 12:27 AM
© Wednesday January 24, 2007 at 12:27 AM SF Signal