Astrobiology in Science Fiction Introduction

Throughout the pages of Astrobiology: The Living Universe, you'll find that we try to illustrate difficult or futuristic concepts with examples taken from science fiction films and novels - and why not, since science fiction often utilises 'real science' and merely extrapolates that into the future for imaginary scenarios. Nothing within Astrobiology is fictional - everything is grounded in real facts and while science fiction might not describe what has happened, it does describe what might happen.

Within this section, we'll try to expand on some of the ideas often depicted in science fiction by relating to the facts behind them. We'll also highlight a number of novels and films that we feel have special relevance to astrobiology and that will help you understand astrobiology just that little bit better.

A useful resource for this section is the Astrobiology in Science Fiction Companion Guide - this can be accessed here, or by clicking on the 'Teachers' button above. Clicking on 'Teachers' in any page within the Astrobiology in Science Fiction section will automatically take you to the relevant part of the companion guide.

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