ISSN 1758-6488
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Final Frontiers? Non-fiction |
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Dear Sir,
As British science fiction writers, we are continually forced to balance scientific practice, current knowledge and future developments with the demands of fine story telling. Getting that balance right is hard, but worthwhile, because credibility is so important both to audiences and the scientific community.
In Britain, though, scientists, and people in arts, TV, movie and literary worlds do not work together as they should. This is a major problem: we all desperately need to understand each other’s constraints to create works that are entertaining, enlightening, and scientifically authentic. But worryingly, Britain is falling behind the United States, where organisations such as The National Academy of Sciences’ Science and Entertainment Exchange are forging these new and productive relationships between scientists and the entertainment industry.
This is why the workshop at The University of Manchester we are taking part in this week will, we hope, be the first step to creating a similar substantive body in the UK. More support will be needed to make this dream a reality, so we call on scientists and the creative community to back us. A new body dedicated to this task must surely benefit the millions of people around the world, who value and enjoy British fiction, film, television and the other arts.
SIGNATURES
Justina Robson,
Simon Ings,
Alastair Reynolds,
Ken Macleod,
Geoff Ryman
Paul McAuley
