These 16 essays from the fifth annual J.Lloyd Eaton Conference at the Univer­sity of California, Riverside, seek to come to grips with science fiction’s core, the core at which “science must ulti­mately seem to outweigh the fiction.”

Never before has hard SF been the topic of such extended discussion by such qualified people. The dialogue con­stitutes new (and potentially shocking to a traditional literary critic) modes of lit­erary criticism, modes that take into ac­count the impact of scientific specula­tion and method on our culture and on the ways our culture invents stories and myths.

Essayists include writer/scientist pro­fessors Robert L. Forward, David Brin, and Gregory Benford. Noted critics and writers with scientific backgrounds or interests include: James Gunn, Frank McConnell, George Guffey, John Hunt­ington, Paul Carter, Patricia Warrick, Paul Alkon, Robert M. Philmus, David Clayton, Eric S. Rabkin, Herbert Suss­man, Michael Collings, and George E. Slusser.

George E. Slusser is Curator of the Eaton Collection at the University of California, Riverside.

Eric S. Rabkin is Professor of English at the University of Michigan.