Prophets of Science Fiction (2011)

Genre

documentary television program

Country

United States

Length

1 season, 8 episodes

Rated

16

Rating

7.7 of 10 from 16 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This documentary series looks at famous science fiction writers and examines their lives and work. It shows how their imaginative stories anticipated real scientific advances and motivated readers to make those visions happen.

informativebiographicalspeculativeeducationalearnestoccasionally overblownserious

What happens

Prophets of Science Fiction is an American documentary television series produced and hosted by Ridley Scott for the Science Channel. The program premiered on November 9, 2011 (2011-11-09). The series covers the life and work of leading science fiction authors of the last couple of centuries. It depicts how they predicted and, accordingly, influenced the development of scientific advancements by inspiring many readers to assist in transforming those futuristic visions into everyday reality. The stories are told through film clips, reenactments, illustrations and interviews. The first episode received mixed reviews. Commentators appreciated the approach of combining coverage of contemporary scientific research and biographical exposition, but criticized the series as "light on the substance and heavy on the exaggeration". The series' attempts to link Mary Shelley's Frankenstein to developments such as organ transplants, supercomputers and DNA research were described by one critic as far-fetched but by another as successful. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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