Title

Fear of First Contact: How Science and Fiction Inform Our Search for Alien Life

Speaker

Daniel Kraus
Patrick S. Tomlinson
Clarence Chang
Sata Prescott, Northern Illinois University

Files

Description

Science fiction and cosmic horror stories have shaped popular conceptions of extraterrestrials. These works examine the alien, the other and the fear of the unknown. They’ve forged our collective understanding and even influenced approaches to space exploration and policy. Sci-fi authors Daniel Kraus ("Bent Heavens", "The Shape of Water") and Patrick S. Tomlinson ("Gate Crashers", "In the Black") and physicist and cosmologist Clarence Chang (Argonne National Laboratory) speak to how science and science fiction influence one another as humanity pushes further into space, looking for signs of life and evidence of the origins of the universe. Additionally, NIU Library’s Sata Prescott will showcase the library’s collection of H.P. Lovecraft holdings, dime novels, and pulps that explore ideas of alien and other.

Publication Date

10-21-2020

Keywords

science, science fiction, alien life, H.P. Lovecraft, dime novels

Legacy Department

University Libraries

Recommended Citation

Kraus, Daniel; Tomlinson, Patrick S.; Chang, Clarence; and Prescott, Sata, "Fear of First Contact: How Science and Fiction Inform Our Search for Alien Life" (2020). Future Telling: Science + Fiction Webinars. 3.
https://huskiecommons.lib.niu.edu/events-futuretelling/3