SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Friday 31 March 2023
Welcome to the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, Fourth Edition. Some sample entries appear below. Click here for the Introduction; here for the masthead; here for Acknowledgments; here for the FAQ; here for advice on citations. Find entries via the search box above (more details here) or browse the menu categories in the grey bar at the top of this page.
Site updated on 29 March 2023
Sponsor of the day: The Telluride Institute
Thomas, D M
(1935-2023) UK poet and author who made use of sf themes most explicitly in such early Poetry as "The Head-Rape" in New Worlds for March 1968 and the two-part "Computer 70: Dreams & Lovepoems" (March-April 1970 New Worlds), a sequence assembled with other poetry of interest in Logan Stone (coll 1970); or the later "S. F." (in The Umbral Anthology of Science Fiction Poetry, anth ...
Entropy
In its strict meaning, "entropy" is a thermodynamics term, first used by the German physicist Rudolf Clausius (1822-1888) in 1850 to describe the amount of heat that must be put into a closed system to bring it to a given state. The Second Law of Thermodynamics – often stated in terms of work as "it is impossible to produce work by transferring heat from a cold body to a hot body in any self-sustaining process" – can alternatively be rendered: "Entropy always increases in any closed ...
Fontana, D C
(1939-2019) US author, primarily writing for Television; she was associated from the beginning with Star Trek, initially as Gene Roddenberry's secretary, eventually as the story editor of the first series for its first two seasons (after which she moved to freelance work elsewhere). At least two of her scripts, Star Trek: "This Side of Paradise" (1966 chap) and ...
Hilda
UK/Canadian animated online tv series (2018-current). Netflix. Based on the Graphic Novels by Luke Pearson beginning with Hildafolk (graph 2010). Executive producers Clint Eland, Kurt Mueller, Luke Pearson and Stephanie Simpson. Directed by Andy Coyle. Writers include Kenny Byerly, Ben Joseph, Luke Pearson and Stephanie Simpson. Voice cast includes Rachel August, Ameerah Falzon-Ojo, Daisy Haggard, Rasmus Hardiker, John Hopkins, Dino Kelly, ...
McDowall, Alistair
(1987- ) UK playwright whose plays tend to incorporate elements of Fantastika into plots often set in North-East England, with an effect of gonzo spoofery. Brilliant Adventures (performed May 2013 Royal Exchange, Manchester; 2013 chap) uses the device of a Time Machine to generate farcical encounters now and in the Near Future; Captain Amazing (August 2013 ...
Langford, David
(1953- ) UK author, critic, editor, publisher and sf fan, in the latter capacity recipient of 21 Hugo awards for fan writing – some of the best of his several hundred pieces are assembled as Let's Hear It for the Deaf Man (coll 1992 chap US; much exp vt The Silence of the Langford 1996; exp 2015 ebook) as Dave Langford, edited by Ben Yalow – plus five Best Fanzine Hugos ...