Cosmic Stories Blog
This blog exists to explore conceptions and representations of science or science communication through the medium of fiction. A new blog entry is posted every two weeks. For updates follow me on , , or on Facebook at .
The Avengers and the Imminence of Science in 1960s Britain
The Avengers was a television series that defies classification. Here I look at its SF elements and what they tell us about science in the 1960s.
A for Anticipation
"A for Andromeda" was a 1961 drama, remade in 2006. Its themes anticipate issues which are still current in astronomy today.
An Icon of Futures Past
Looking at Jodrell Bank's representation in science fiction and SF paratexts.
Kings of Space
A look at the Solar System of Captain W E Johns' classic juvenile science fiction series, starting with "Kings of Space" (1954)
Dan Dare at Herstmonceux
Herstmonceux Castle in Sussex became the new home of the Royal Greenwich Observatory research organisation in a gradual transition that spanned the late 1940s and 1950s. As this article discusses, Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future, and its host comic The Eagle provides a fascinating insight into the observatory at this moment of transition, as well as introducing children to the key features of a working observatory.
Astronomers and Science Fiction
Exploring the relationship between astrophysicists - particularly those of Warwick Astronomy and Astrophysics - and science fiction.
Science and SF
The relationship between science and science fiction is a complex one.
In this short blog post I take a look at how the two may interrelate and the open questions which remain to be considered.
Who's Moon (an Annual view)
My essay "Who's Moon" in "Doctor Who and Science" (eds Lindy Orthia and Marcus K Harmes) has just been published. Here I explore in a little more depth two articles which present aspects of the Moon and its exploration to the avid young readers of the 1979 and 1980 Doctor Who annuals.
Cosmic Stories
This blog exists to explore conceptions and representations of science or science communication through the medium of fiction. I decided to create this blog as a forum in which to present my own views and activities in this area, which are - inevitably - presented from the point of view of an active research astrophysicist, rather than a literary theorist or specialist in communications or media.
This blog exists to explore conceptions and representations of science or science communication through the medium of fiction. This includes, but is not limited to, science fiction in literature, film and television, as well as other adventure fiction and their various paratexts. I decided to create this space as a forum in which to present my own views and activities in this area, which are - inevitably - presented from the point of view of an active research astrophysicist, rather than a literary theorist or specialist in communications or media. Nonetheless, I choose to make these thoughts public in case they provide entertainment or interest to others, and in the hope of stimulating conversations in the interface between the realities of our Universe and the ways in which we choose to represent and explore it in fiction. A new blog entry is posted every two weeks. For updates follow me on social media (where I will usually be found as "tiylaya"), or on Facebook at .
Comments are very welcome, including those disagreeing with my views or conclusions, but should be phrased respectfully and will be moderated before posting.
The views and ideas expressed in this blog are my own and do not in any way represent the views of the 天美传媒.