Good science fiction isn’t just about the engineering technology of using new ideas in physics and chemistry to put a rocket into space. Science fiction writers take what are usually called the hard sciences (biology, physics, chemistry, geology, etc.), add in the social sciences (psychology, sociology, anthropology, etc.) bring in history, look at religion and current social issues, and above all, they always ask “What if?”

好的科幻小说不仅仅是只通过物理和化学上的新想法把一支火箭放在空间里的工程技术.科幻小说作者掌握的是通常被称作硬科学(生物学,物理,化学,地质学,等等)的学说,再加上把社会科学((心理学,社会学,人类学,等等)渗入历史,研究宗教和当前社会问题,总之,他们总是问“Whatif?”