The Poison of Misinformation: Analyzing the Use of Science in Science Fiction Novels, Including an Original Short Story

The purpose of this thesis was to read a variety of science fiction novels and understand how the science progresses each novel. For the novels Creature by Peter Benchley, The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton, Dune by Frank Herbert, and The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi, I considered the role of science in relation to plot and character development. For Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, I analyzed the creativity that the author used with science in addition to the role science played in the novel. For Jaws by Peter Benchley, I researched the accuracy of the science used and determined that the majority was accurate. With all of these analyses in mind, I created a template to guide authors in writing science fiction. Finally, I wrote my own science fiction short story, titled "Poison."

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Oregon

Year dc:date.issued

2015

Author dc:creator

• Piazzola, Clara

• Creative Writing
• Science
• Science fiction
• Marine biology
• Literature analysis
• Scientific accuracy
• Public education
• Jaws
• Jurassic Park

Statement dc:rights

• Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0-US

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1794/20355

OAI record oai:identifier

https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/server/oai/request?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=dim&identifier=oai%3Ascholarsbank.uoregon.edu%3A1794%2F20355