A good science fiction story is a story with a human problem, and a human solution, which would not have happened at all without its science content.
Interpretation
Science fiction addresses human issues through a lens of scientific possibilities.
This quote by Theodore Sturgeon emphasizes that the essence of a good science fiction narrative lies in its exploration of human challenges and solutions, while being deeply intertwined with scientific concepts. It suggests that the unique scenarios presented in science fiction are not merely fantastical but are essential to framing and solving real human dilemmas, showcasing the genre's ability to reflect on the human experience in the context of scientific exploration and innovation.
In practice
During a panel discussion on the impact of technology on society.
I repeat Sturgeon's Revelation, which was wrung out of me after twenty years of wearying defense of science fiction against attacks of people who used the worst examples of the field for ammunition, and whose conclusion was that ninety percent of it is crud.
I sent The World Well Lost to one editor who rejected it on sight, and then wrote a letter to every other editor in the field warning them against the story, and urging them to reject it on sight without reading it.
Science fiction, outside of poetry, is the only literary field which has no limits, no parameters whatsoever. You can go not only into the future, but into that wonderful place called other, which is simply another universe, another planet, another species.
There are people who have tremendously important things to say, but they say it so poorly that nobody would ever want to read it.
Love's a different sort of thing, hot enough to make you flow into something, interflow, cool and anneal and be a weld stronger than what you started with.
Cancer was not disorganized chromosomal chaos. It was organized chromosomal chaos
We wish to discuss a structure for the salt of deoxyribose nucleic acid. D.N.A. This structure has novel features which are of considerable biologic interest.
Civilization begins with distillation
Many people have the impression that there is significant scientific disagreement about global climate change. It's time to lay that misapprehension to rest. There is a scientific consensus on the fact that Earth's climate is heating up and human activities are part of the reason. We need to stop repeating nonsense about the uncertainty of global warming and start talking seriously about the right approach to address it.
One aim of physical sciences had been to give an exact picture the material world. One achievement of physics in the twentieth century has been to prove that that aim is unattainable.
There's no tradition of scientists knocking down the Sunday school door, telling the preacher, That might not necessarily be true. That's never happened. There're no scientists picketing outside of churches.
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