Infographic: The History Of Science Fiction

These days, a big percentage of the movies that we cover could be considered science fiction. Sure, there are different off-shoots of that, alternate subcategories and maybe a bit of stretching, but everything from obvious ones like Star Wars and 2001: A Space Odyssey to less obvious ones like A Clockwork Orange or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind all have their roots in sci-fi.

So where did those roots come from? How did science fiction as a whole come to be? When did science blend with fiction and through what steps did that take over the centuries to create a show like Lost or the movies mentioned above? It seems like an impossible thing to figure out but a web-user nicknamed ninebelow has tried. They came up with an awesome visual representation of the history of science fiction, going from its most basic roots in the emotions of fear and wonder, and tracing it through the history of science and art, coming up with the great films, television and novels we enjoy today. Check it out after the break.

Thanks to Metafilter (with a heads up from the Daily Wh.at) for this image. Click on it for a high-resolution version.

Pretty frigging cool, right?

The image was created as an entry to a science mapping exhibit at Indiana University. I really hope it won.

There is too much going on in this image to do it justice but here are some initial impressions.  I love the way it starts with emotions, and then morphs into ideals and blends that in with both applied and theoretical science, all while tracking the published art and philosophy that documented all of that thinking. Also, whether you agree with it or not, you can find something you love and trace it all the way back to its most basic roots. For example, it shows that all fantasy adventure, first in print and then in film, was based off Ludvig Holberg's 1741 work Niels Klim. Is that true? Would we have the films we watch today without that work? I honestly have no idea, but it's pretty cool to think about.

What do you see on here that intrigues you?