Science/Engineering Fiction and the Engineering Sciences--First-Year Seminar

Catalog description

Examines the technology predictions of authors in view of the engineering sciences on which the underlying devices of their stories are based. E SC 121S Science/Engineering Fiction and the Engineering Sciences (1) (FYS) From the times of Jules Verne, books, then movies and TV, have utilized engineering/science and pseudo-engineering, in envisioning devices which were not then available, but perhaps became so in later times. From Verne's nuclear driven submarine to his voyage to the moon; to Mary Shelly's electrically created monster; to Dick Tracy's wrist radio (cell phone); to the warp speed of the Jedi, there are successes and failures as to predictions of what would some day be possible. These are examined and discussed.