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An Encyclopedia of Sci-Fi Technology?
RobotWisdom asks: "Is there a wiki somewhere that I haven't found, dedicated to cataloging all the technological innovations imagined by science fiction writers? So that if someone wants to explore a particular class of innovation like weapons, or medical, or transportation, they can (eventually) easily find summaries of all the major thinking on that topic? And if it hasn't been started yet, does anyone have the wherewithal to start it?" If such a thing isn't available in one place, what sites have you found that catalog the technology of specific sci-fi mythologies?
David Darling has tons of info on spaceflight and advanced propulsion concepts. Some of them are present-day stuff, like ion thrusters and solar sails. Others are pure wild speculation, various forms of faster-than-light travel, etc. It's incredibly readable and quite broad.
Are you familar with ShouldExist and HalfBakery? They're also not sci-fi-specific, but a good place to check out ideas and post your own.
I like Peter F. Hamilton's rejuvenation and memory storage crystal technology. He invented the technology in one book, Misspent Youth, and then carried it over to his Commonwealth Saga. His space travel technology in the Night's Dawn trilogy isn't as interesting, but the neural implant and artificial intelligence technologies he describes in Fallen Dragon is phenomonal.
How we know is more important than what we know.
My wife and I played the alphabet game of sci-fi species while on our latest road trip. When we returned home I tried to look up letters we had difficulty with. There were a few lists of species, but they were all missing one or another major component - some had Star Trek, but not Babylon 5, or had Babylon 5 but not Farscape, or, well you get the idea.
This Sci-Fi encyclopedia is a damn fine idea and I might just throw in a few submissions of my own. Where's the petition I sign to get this one rolling?
No sig for you. YOU GET NO SIG!
Silly robot, there is life beyond the web.
Now, all of those encyclopedias of science fiction are stored in the library at the University of Texas. You very likely live nowhere near Texas. The point is that there are about a zillion encyclopedias of science fiction around, and you can find them easily. Check YOUR local library. Even if you haven't got a university library, I'll bet your local library has atleast one of these, unless, possibly, you live in a town with a very very small library. In which case you can get it through inter-library loan, or buy it cheap from a used bookseller.
Now, I'm no luddite; if somebody wants to build a gigantic science fiction wiki, terrific, have fun. I'm just annoyed that so many people now think of the Internet as the One True Source of Information, which contains All Wisdom and Knowledge. Good grief.
Technovelgy.com has (as of today) 1,056 science fiction ideas and inventions from 314 different works by 135 different authors. The material is cross-referenced by book, author, subject matter category, timeline and alpha-sort. Entries range from Jules Verne's "retro rockets" to Cordwainer Smith's "laminated mouse brain computer" to Robert Heinlein's "waldoes" to Larry Niven's "Ringworld" to ... you get the picture.
I accept contributions from all readers; I'm currently redoing my site and database to allow reader additions and alterations (wiki-style). Tagging by readers is also on the way.
The site also offers hundreds of articles about recent science and technology advances that were presaged by science fiction writers.
Any discussion of how I can improve the site is appreciated!
Bill Christensen
Technovelgy.com