Editing Hard science fiction

{{short description|Science fiction with concern for scientific accuracy}}
[[File:Clarke sm.jpg|thumb|alt=Photograph of a man sitting in a chair.|[[Arthur C. Clarke]], one of the most significant writers of hard science fiction]]
[[File:Poul anderson.jpg|thumb|alt=Black and white photograph of a man, in the foreground, sitting at a table.|[[Poul Anderson]], author of ''[[Tau Zero]]'', ''Kyrie'' and others]]

'''Hard science fiction''' is a category of [[science fiction]] characterized by concern for scientific accuracy and logic.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hard SF |url=https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/hard_sf |access-date=2025-04-03 |website=sf-encyclopedia.com}}</ref><ref name="wolfe1986">{{cite book |last=Wolfe |first=Gary K. |author-link=Gary K. Wolfe |url=https://archive.org/details/criticaltermsfor0000wolf/page/50/mode/2up?ref=ol&view=theater&q=%22hard+science+fiction%22 |title=Critical terms for science fiction and fantasy: a glossary and guide to scholarship |publisher=Greenwood Press |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-313-22981-7}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction: hard science fiction |url=https://sfdictionary.com/view/1674/hard-science-fiction |access-date=2025-04-03 |website=sfdictionary.com}}</ref><ref name="westfahl1996" /> The term was first used in print in 1957 by [[P. Schuyler Miller]] in a review of [[John W. Campbell]]'s ''[[Islands of Space]]'' in the November issue of ''[[Astounding Science Fiction]]''.<ref name="jesse2005">{{cite web|url=http://www.jessesword.com/sf/view/1674|title=hard science fiction n.|access-date=2007-10-07|date=2005-07-25|work=Science fiction citations|publisher=Jesse's word|quote=Earliest cite: P. Schuyler Miller in Astounding Science Fiction ... he called ''A Fall of Moondust'' "hard" science fiction|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927003457/http://www.jessesword.com/sf/view/1674|archive-date=2007-09-27|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="hartwell2002intro">{{cite book|last1=Hartwell|first1=David G.|author-link1=David G. Hartwell|last2=Cramer|first2=Kathryn|author-link2=Kathryn Cramer|title=The Hard SF Renaissance: An Anthology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q2XHHpukOfYC|year=2003|publisher=Tom Doherty Associates|isbn=978-1-4299-7517-9|chapter=Introduction: New People, New Places, New Politics}}</ref><ref name="westfahl1996">{{cite book |last=Westfahl |first=Gary |author-link=Gary Westfahl |title=Cosmic Engineers: A Study of Hard Science Fiction |url=https://archive.org/details/cosmicengineerss0000west |url-access=registration |year=1996 |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=0-313-29727-4 |page=[https://archive.org/details/cosmicengineerss0000west/page/2 2] |chapter=Introduction |quote=''hard science fiction'' ... the term was first used by P. Schuyler Miller in 1957}}</ref> The complementary term ''[[soft science fiction]]'', formed by analogy to the popular distinction between the "hard" ([[natural science|natural]]) and "soft" ([[social science|social]]) sciences,<ref name="jesse2005b">{{cite web|url=http://www.jessesword.com/sf/view/1843|title=soft science fiction n.|access-date=2007-10-07|date=2005-07-25|work=Science fiction citations|publisher=Jesse's word|quote=''Soft science fiction'', probably a back-formation from Hard Science Fiction}})</ref> first appeared in the late 1970s. Though there are examples generally considered as [[Hard and soft science|"hard" science fiction]] such as [[Isaac Asimov]]'s [[Foundation (book series)|''Foundation'' series]], built on [[mathematical sociology]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Clayton |first1=David |title=Hard Science Fiction |chapter= What Makes Hard Science Fiction "Hard"? |pages=58–69 |year=1986 |editor1-last=Seiters |editor1-first=Dan|publisher=Southern Illinois University Press |isbn=0809312344}}</ref> science fiction critic [[Gary Westfahl]] argues that while neither term is part of a rigorous [[Taxonomy (general)|taxonomy]], they are approximate ways of characterizing stories that reviewers and commentators have found useful.<ref name="westfahl2008">{{Cite book|last=Westfahl|first=Gary|author-link=Gary Westfahl|editor-last=Seed|editor-first=David|chapter=Hard Science Fiction|title=A Companion to Science Fiction|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PiphRocVYRwC&pg=PA187|date=June 9, 2008|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-0-470-79701-3|pages=195–8}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Science fiction plus 195312.jpg|thumb|[[Frank R. Paul]]'s cover for the last issue (December 1953) of ''[[Science-Fiction Plus]]''<ref>Ashley (2005), p. 381.</ref>|left]]

Stories revolving around scientific and technical consistency were written as early as the 1870s with the publication of [[Jules Verne]]'s ''[[Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas]]'' in 1870, among other stories. The attention to detail in Verne's work became an inspiration for many future scientists and explorers, although Verne himself denied writing as a scientist or seriously predicting machines and technology of the future.{{cn|date=April 2024}}

[[Hugo Gernsback]] believed from the beginning of his involvement with science fiction in the 1920s that the stories should be instructive,<ref>Ashley (2000), p. 50.</ref> although it was not long before he found it necessary to print fantastical and unscientific fiction in ''[[Amazing Stories]]'' to attract readers.<ref>Ashley (2000), p. 54.</ref> During Gernsback's long absence from science fiction (SF) publishing, from 1936 to 1953, the field evolved away from his focus on facts and education.<ref>Ashley (2004), p. 252.</ref><ref name=":0" /> The [[Golden Age of Science Fiction]] is generally considered to have started in the late 1930s and lasted until the mid-1940s, bringing with it "a quantum jump in quality, perhaps the greatest in the history of the genre", according to science fiction historians [[Peter Nicholls (writer)|Peter Nicholls]] and Mike Ashley.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/golden_age_of_sf|title=Golden Age of SF|last1=Nicholls|first1=Peter|last2=Ashley|first2=Mike|date=April 9, 2015|website=[[The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction]] |publisher=Gollancz|access-date=June 15, 2016}}</ref>

However, Gernsback's views were unchanged. In his editorial in the first issue of ''[[Science-Fiction Plus]]'', he gave his view of the modern SF story: "the fairy tale brand, the weird or fantastic type of what mistakenly masquerades under the name of Science-Fiction today!" and he stated his preference for "truly scientific, prophetic Science-Fiction with the full accent on SCIENCE".<ref name=":0">Lawler (1985), pp. 541–545.</ref> In the same editorial, Gernsback called for [[United States patent law|patent reform]] to give [[science fiction authors]] the right to create patents for ideas without having [[patent model]]s because many of their ideas predated the technical progress needed to develop [[specifications]] for their ideas. The introduction referenced the numerous [[Precognition|prescient]] technologies described throughout ''[[Ralph 124C 41+]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/Science_Fiction_Plus_v01n01_1953-03_Gorgon776|title=Science Fiction Plus v01n01|date=March 1953 }}</ref>

==Definition==
The heart of the "hard science fiction" designation is the relationship of the science content and attitude to the rest of the narrative, and (for some readers, at least) the "hardness" or rigor of the science itself.<ref name="samuelson1993">{{cite journal |last=Samuelson |first=David N. |date=July 1993 | title=Modes of Extrapolation: The Formulas of Hard Science Fiction | journal=Science Fiction Studies | volume=part 2 | issue=60 |series=20 | url=http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/abstracts/a60.htm | access-date=2007-10-07 }}</ref> One requirement for hard SF is procedural or intentional: a story should try to be accurate, logical, credible and rigorous in its use of current scientific and technical knowledge about which technology, phenomena, scenarios and situations that are practically or theoretically possible. For example, the development of concrete proposals for spaceships, space stations, space missions, and a [[Space Shuttle program|US space program]] in the 1950s and 1960s influenced a widespread proliferation of "hard" space stories.<ref name="westfahl993">{{cite journal |last=Westfahl |first=Gary |date=July 1993 |title= The Closely Reasoned Technological Story: The Critical History of Hard Science Fiction |journal=Science Fiction Studies |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=141–142}}</ref> Later discoveries do not necessarily invalidate the label of hard SF, as evidenced by [[P. Schuyler Miller]], who called [[Arthur C. Clarke]]'s 1961 novel ''[[A Fall of Moondust]]'' hard SF,<ref name="jesse2005" /> and the designation remains valid even though a crucial plot element, the existence of deep pockets of "moondust" in lunar craters, is now known to be incorrect.

There is a degree of flexibility in how far from "real science" a story can stray before it becomes less of a hard SF.<ref name="Westfahl1993CloselyReasoned">{{cite journal |last=Westfahl |first=G. |date=July 1993 |title='The Closely Reasoned Technological Story': The Critical History of Hard Science Fiction |journal=Science Fiction Studies |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=157–175 |jstor=4240246 |publisher=SF-TH Inc}}</ref> Hard science fiction authors only include more controversial devices when the ideas draw from well-known scientific and mathematical principles. In contrast, authors writing [[Soft science fiction|softer SF]] use such devices without a scientific basis (sometimes referred to as "enabling devices", since they allow the story to take place).<ref>{{cite web |last=Chiang |first=Ted |title=MIND MELD: The Tricky Trope of Time Travel |date=April 15, 2009 |url=http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2009/04/mind-meld-time-travel/ |access-date=2009-04-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090422143721/http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2009/04/mind-meld-time-travel/ |archive-date=April 22, 2009 |work=SF Signal}}</ref>

Readers of "hard SF" often try to find inaccuracies in stories. For example, a group at [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]] concluded that the planet [[Mesklin]] in [[Hal Clement]]'s 1953 novel ''[[Mission of Gravity]]'' would have had a sharp edge at the equator, and a Florida high school class calculated that in [[Larry Niven]]'s 1970 novel ''[[Ringworld]]'' the topsoil would have slid into the seas in a few thousand years.<ref name="westfahl2008"/> Niven fixed these errors in his sequel ''[[The Ringworld Engineers]]'', and noted them in the [[foreword]].

==Representative works==
[[File:Larry Niven - Utopiales 2010.jpg|thumb|alt=Photograph of a man sitting in a chair.|[[Larry Niven]], author of ''[[Ringworld]]'', "[[Inconstant Moon]]", "[[The Hole Man]]" and others]]
Arranged chronologically by publication year.

===Anthologies===
* [[David G. Hartwell]] and [[Kathryn Cramer]] (eds.), ''[[The Ascent of Wonder: The Evolution of Hard SF]]'' (1994)<ref name="hartwell1997">{{cite book |url=http://ebbs.english.vt.edu/exper/kcramer/anth/Part1.html |title=The Ascent of Wonder: The Evolution of Hard SF |publisher=Published by Tom Doherty Associates, Inc. |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-312-85509-3 |editor1-last=Hartwell |editor1-first=David G. |location=New York |editor2-last=Cramer |editor2-first=Kathryn |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509182634/http://ebbs.english.vt.edu/exper/kcramer/anth/Part1.html |archive-date=2008-05-09 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
* David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer (eds.), ''The Hard SF Renaissance: An Anthology'' (2002)<ref name="hartwell2002" />
* [[Ben Bova]] and Eric Choi (eds.), ''Carbide-Tipped Pens: Seventeen Tales of Hard Science Fiction'' (2014)<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/ben-bova/carbide-tipped-pens/|title=Review, Carbide-Tipped Pens|publisher = Kirkus Reviews|language=en|date=October 15, 2014|access-date=June 5, 2020}}</ref>
* Wade Roush (ed.) ''[https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/twelve-tomorrows Twelve Tomorrows]'' (MIT Press 2018)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sevencircumstances.com/2019/02/02/science-fiction-versus-hard-science-fiction-the-real-science-behind-the-twelve-tomorrows-anthology/ |title=Science Fiction versus HARD Science Fiction – The real science behind the Twelve Tomorrows Anthology |first=M. |last=Bijman |date=February 2, 2019}}</ref>

===Short stories===
<!--If you delete something from this list, please provide a (short!) rationale here...
 Alastair Reynolds, Revelation Space (2000): No major writer
The "I, Robot stories", by Isaac Asimov, is not representative, a single story or "hard" science fiction
...in order to prevent history from repeating. -->
* [[Robert Heinlein]], ''[[The Past Through Tomorrow]]'' collection of stories (1939–1962)<ref name=Clayton>{{cite book |last1=Clayton |first1=David |title=Hard Science Fiction |chapter=What Makes Hard Science Fiction "Hard"? |pages=[https://archive.org/details/hardscienceficti00slus/page/58 58–69] |year=1986 |editor1-last=Seiters |editor1-first=Dan |publisher=Southern Illinois University Press |isbn=0809312344 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/hardscienceficti00slus/page/58 }}</ref>
* [[Tom Godwin]], "[[The Cold Equations]]" (1954)<ref name="hartwell1997" /><ref name="Huntington">{{cite book |last1=Huntington |first1=John |title=Hard Science Fiction |chapter=Hard-Core Science Fiction and the Illusion of Science |pages=[https://archive.org/details/hardscienceficti00slus/page/45 45–57] |year=1986 |editor1-last=Seiters |editor1-first=Dan |publisher=Southern Illinois University Press |isbn=0809312344 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/hardscienceficti00slus/page/45 }}</ref><ref name="Benford">{{cite book |last1=Benford |first1=Gregory |author-link1=Gregory Benford |title=Hard Science Fiction |chapter=Is There a Technological Fix for the Human Condition? |pages=[https://archive.org/details/hardscienceficti00slus/page/70 70–81] |year=1986 |editor1-last=Seiters |editor1-first=Dan |publisher=Southern Illinois University Press |isbn=0809312344 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/hardscienceficti00slus/page/70 }}</ref><ref name="Gunn">{{cite book |last1=Gunn |first1=James |author-link1=James E. Gunn (writer) |title=Hard Science Fiction |chapter=The Readers of Hard Science Fiction |pages=[https://archive.org/details/hardscienceficti00slus/page/82 82–98] |year=1986 |editor1-last=Seiters |editor1-first=Dan |publisher=Southern Illinois University Press |isbn=0809312344 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/hardscienceficti00slus/page/82 }}</ref>
* [[Poul Anderson]], "Kyrie" (1968)<ref name="hartwell1997"/>
* [[Frederik Pohl]], "[[Day Million]]" (1971)<ref name="hartwell1997"/>
* [[Larry Niven]], "[[Inconstant Moon]]" (1971) and "[[The Hole Man]]" (1974)<ref name="hartwell1997"/>
* [[Greg Bear]], "Tangents" (1986)<ref name="hartwell1997"/>
* [[Geoffrey A. Landis]], "[[A Walk in the Sun (story)|A Walk in the Sun]]" (1991)<ref name="hartwell2002">{{cite book |last1=Hartwell |first1=David G. |author-link1=David G. Hartwell |last2=Cramer |first2=Kathryn |author-link2=Kathryn Cramer |title=The Hard SF Renaissance |year=2002 |isbn=0-312-87635-1 |publisher=Tor |location=New York |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/hardsfrenaissanc0000unse }}</ref>
* [[Vernor Vinge]], "[[Fast Times at Fairmont High]]" (2001)<ref name="hartwell2002"/>

===Novels===
<!--If you delete something from this list, please provide a (short!) rationale here...
 Arthur C. Clarke, 2001: Ends in LSD trip, by consensus (talk page) not hard sf, Fall of Moondust is better ACC hard sf example
 The Expanse, as the stories violate the hell out of physics – should never have been added in the first place; see talk page, but essentially even author says it's not hard SF.
Replacing The Rolling Stones for Heinlein's Moon is a Harsh Mistress. Better example of in-depth hard SF and also a mid-'60s example.
...in order to prevent history from repeating. -->
* [[Aldous Huxley]], ''[[Brave New World]]'' (1932)<ref name=Brin>{{cite book |last1=Brin |first1=David |author-link1=David Brin |title=Hard Science Fiction |chapter=Running Out of Speculative Niches: A Crisis for Hard SF? |pages=[https://archive.org/details/hardscienceficti00slus/page/8 8–13] |year=1986 |editor1-last=Seiters |editor1-first=Dan |publisher=Southern Illinois University Press |isbn=0809312344 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/hardscienceficti00slus/page/8 }}</ref>
* [[Hal Clement]], ''[[Mission of Gravity]]'' (1953)<ref name="hartwell1997"/>
* [[Fred Hoyle]], ''[[The Black Cloud]]'' (1957)<ref name=Benford/>
* [[James Blish]], ''[[A Case of Conscience]]'' (1958)<ref name=Gunn/>
* [[Jack Vance]], ''[[The Languages of Pao]]'' (1958)<ref name=Gunn/>
* [[Arthur C. Clarke]], ''[[A Fall of Moondust]]'' (1961)<ref name="westfahl1996" />
* [[Stanisław Lem]], ''[[The Invincible]]'' (1963)<ref name="niezwy">{{cite web|url=https://instytutksiazki.pl/en/news,2,the-book-institute-has-supported-the-portuguese-translation-of-stanislaw-lems-novel-%E2%80%9Cniezwyciezony%E2%80%9D,10287.html|title=The Book Institute has supported the Portuguese translation of Stanislaw Lem's novel "Niezwyciężony"|date=2024-01-05|website=instytutksiazki.pl|publisher=Instytut Książki|access-date=2024-08-05|quote=The novel 'The Invincible' can certainly be classed as one of Stanislaw Lem's most important works. It is also a rather special novel in his oeuvre - falling into the hard science fiction genre, where there is a strong emphasis on science and technology issues.}}</ref>
* [[John Brunner (novelist)|John Brunner]], ''[[Stand on Zanzibar]]'' (1968), ''[[The Jagged Orbit]]'' (1969), ''[[The Sheep Look Up]]'' (1972), ''[[The Shockwave Rider]]'' (1975)<ref name=Gunn/>
* [[Philip K. Dick]], ''[[Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?]]'' (1968)
* [[Michael Crichton]], ''[[The Andromeda Strain]]'' (1969),<ref name=Brin/> ''[[Jurassic Park (novel)|Jurassic Park]]'' (1990)
* [[Larry Niven]], ''[[Ringworld]]'' (1970)<ref>{{cite web| url = http://bestsciencefictionbooks.com/best-hard-science-fiction-books.php| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131122052958/http://bestsciencefictionbooks.com/best-hard-science-fiction-books.php| archive-date = 2013-11-22| title = Top 25 Best Hard Science Fiction Books {{!}} Best Science Fiction Books}}</ref>
* [[Poul Anderson]], ''[[Tau Zero]]'' (1970)<ref name=Benford/>
* [[James E. Gunn (writer)|James Gunn]], ''[[The Listeners (novel)|The Listeners]]'' (1972)<ref name=Benford/>
* [[Larry Niven]] and [[Jerry Pournelle]], ''[[The Mote in God's Eye]]'' (1974)
* [[Bob Shaw]], ''[[Orbitsville]]'' (1975)<ref name=Gunn/>
* [[James P. Hogan (writer)|James P. Hogan]], ''The Two Faces of Tomorrow'' (1979)<ref name="westfahl1996" />
* [[Robert L. Forward]], ''[[Dragon's Egg]]'' (1980)<ref>{{cite web |last=Aylott |first=Chris |title=The Humans Were Flat but the Cheela Were Charming in 'Dragon's Egg' |website=[[Space.com]] |url=http://www.space.com/sciencefiction/books/dragons_egg_000330.html |access-date=2009-01-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080611100632/http://www.space.com/sciencefiction/books/dragons_egg_000330.html |archive-date=2008-06-11 }} Some editions also include a preface by [[Larry Niven]], admitting that "I couldn't have written it; it required too much real physics"</ref> and its sequel ''[[Starquake (novel)|Starquake]]'' (1985)
* [[Steven Barnes]] and Larry Niven, ''The Descent of Anansi'' (1982)<ref name=Brin/>
* [[Carl Sagan]], ''[[Contact (novel)|Contact ]]''
* [[Kim Stanley Robinson]], The ''[[Mars trilogy]]'' (''Red Mars'' (1992), ''Green Mars'' (1993), ''Blue Mars'' (1996))<ref>{{cite web |last=Alyott |first=Chris |title=The Vanishing Martian |date=2000-06-20 |url=http://www.space.com/sciencefiction/mars_three_visions_991130.html |access-date=2008-07-20 |publisher=SPACE.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000818141216/http://www.space.com/sciencefiction/mars_three_visions_991130.html |archive-date=2000-08-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Horton |first=Richard R. |title=Blue Mars review |date=1997-02-21 |url=http://www.sff.net/people/richard.horton/bluemars.htm |access-date=2008-07-20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511164344/http://www.sff.net/people/richard.horton/bluemars.htm |archive-date=2008-05-11 }}</ref>
* [[Nancy Kress]], ''[[Beggars in Spain]]'' (1993)<ref name="hartwell2002"/>
* [[Charles R. Pellegrino]] & [[George Zebrowski]], ''[[The Killing Star]] (''1995)
* [[Allen Steele]], ''[[The Tranquillity Alternative]]'' (1996)
* [[Greg Egan]], ''[[Schild's Ladder]]'' (2002)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gregegan.net/SCHILD/SCHILD.html|title=Schild's Ladder}}</ref>
* [[Alastair Reynolds]], ''[[Pushing Ice]]'' (2005)<ref>{{cite news |author=Jon Courtenay Grimwood |title=Cold comforts |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/nov/05/featuresreviews.guardianreview15 |work=The Guardian |date=2005-11-05}}</ref>
* [[Liu Cixin|Cixin Liu]], ''[[Remembrance of Earth's Past]]'' (trilogy, 2006–2016)<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Steiner |first=Philip |date=2022-10-31 |title=Modern Hard SF: Simulating Physics in Virtual Reality in Cixin Liu's "The Three-Body Problem" |url=https://journals.umcs.pl/lsmll/article/view/13674 |journal=Lublin Studies in Modern Languages and Literature |language=en |volume=46 |issue=3 |pages=57–66 |doi=10.17951/lsmll.2022.46.3.57-66 |issn=2450-4580}}</ref>
* [[Andy Weir]], ''[[The Martian (Weir novel)|The Martian]]'' (2011),<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Martian by Andy Weir: Superb Hard Science Fiction Storytelling|url=http://sequart.org/magazine/49779/the-martian-by-andy-weir-superb-hard-science-fiction-storytelling/|access-date=2022-12-29|website=Sequart Organization|language=en-US}}</ref> ''[[Project Hail Mary]]'' (2021)<ref>{{Cite news |date=2021-05-05 |title=Alone on a Spaceship, Trying to Save the World - The New York Times |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/04/books/review/andy-weir-project-hail-mary.html |access-date=2024-03-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505011441/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/04/books/review/andy-weir-project-hail-mary.html |archive-date=2021-05-05 |last1=Nevala-Lee |first1=Alec }}</ref>

=== Films and TV shows ===
* ''[[Destination Moon (film)|Destination Moon]]'' (1950)
* ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey (film)|2001: A Space Odyssey]]'' (1968)<ref name="tor.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.tor.com/2014/11/17/hard-science-fiction-films/|title=Contemplate Your Place in the Universe with Hard Sci-Fi Film Classics!|date=17 November 2014}}</ref>
* ''[[Colossus: The Forbin Project]]'' (1970)<ref>{{cite web |title=Colossus, the Forbin Project |url=http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/colossus_the_forbin_project |website=[[The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction]] |publisher=Gollancz; SFE Ltd. |access-date=February 6, 2019}}</ref>
* ''[[The Andromeda Strain (film)|The Andromeda Strain]]'' (1971)
* ''[[Silent Running]]'' (1972)<ref name="tor.com"/>
* ''[[Blade Runner]]'' (1982)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://best-sci-fi-books.com/23-best-hard-science-fiction-books/|title=23 Best Hard Science Fiction Books – The Best Science Fiction Books|date=28 February 2015}}</ref>
* ''[[The Abyss]]'' (1989)
* ''[[Contact (1997 American film)|Contact]]'' (1997)<ref name="tor.com"/>
* ''[[Gattaca]]'' (1997)<ref name="tor.com"/>
* ''[[Primer (film)|Primer]]'' (2004)<ref name="economictimes">{{Cite news|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/us/unveiling-the-top-10-hard-sci-fi-movies-from-2001-a-space-odyssey-to-sunshine/articleshow/105538298.cms|title =  Unveiling the top 10 hard Sci-Fi movies: From '2001: A Space Odyssey' to Sunshine |newspaper = The Economic Times |date = 26 November 2023}}</ref>
* ''[[Moon (2009 film)|Moon]]'' (2009)<ref name="tor.com"/>
* ''[[Europa Report]]'' (2013)<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://gizmodo.com/how-real-scientists-shaped-the-story-of-europa-report-610390132 |title=How Real Scientists Shaped the Story of Europa Report |first=Meredith |last=Woerner |date=June 28, 2013 |website=[[Gizmodo]]}}</ref>
* ''[[Her (2013 film)|Her]]'' (2013)<ref name="theportalist">{{Cite web|url=https://theportalist.com/hard-sci-fi-movies|title = 9 Surprisingly Accurate Hard Sci-Fi Movies That You Can Stream Tonight|date = 2 October 2020}}</ref>
* [[Gravity (2013 film)|''Gravity'']] (2013)
* ''[[Ex Machina (film)|Ex Machina]]'' (2014)<ref name="whatculture">{{Cite web|url=http://whatculture.com/film/15-greatest-hard-science-fiction-movies-of-all-time|title=15 Greatest Hard Science Fiction Movies Of All Time|last=Dilks|first=Andrew|date=2018-11-16|website=WhatCulture.com|language=en|access-date=2019-06-21}}</ref>
* ''[[The Martian (film)|The Martian]]'' (2015)<ref name="theportalist" />
* ''[[Arrival (film)|Arrival]]'' (2016)
* ''[[Ad Astra (film)|Ad Astra]]'' (2019)
* [[For All Mankind (TV series)|''For All Mankind'']] (2019–present)
* [[Away (TV series)|''Away'']] (2020)
* ''[[Pantheon (TV series)|Pantheon]]'' (2022–2023)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Comments |first=Adi Tantimedh {{!}} |date=2025-03-10 |title=Pantheon: Don't Miss Out on This "Big Ideas" Sci-Fi Animated Series |url=https://bleedingcool.com/tv/pantheon-dont-miss-out-on-this-big-ideas-sci-fi-animated-series/ |access-date=2025-04-10 |website=bleedingcool.com |language=en}}</ref>
* [[3 Body Problem (TV series)|''3 Body Problem'']] (2024–present)

===Anime / manga===
* ''[[Patlabor]]'' (1988–present)<ref name="Ruh">{{cite book |last1=Ruh |first1=B. |title=Stray Dog of Anime: The Films of Mamoru Oshii |date=2004 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-4039-8279-7 |page=77 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AzDuCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA77}}</ref>
* ''[[Ghost in the Shell]]'' (1989–present)<ref name="Ruh"/>
* ''[[Planetes]]'' (1999, 2004)<ref name=":1">{{cite web |url=https://www.cbr.com/science-fiction-anime-best-ever/ |title=10 Best Sci-Fi Anime Of All Time
|first=Sage |last=Ashford |date=November 25, 2019 |website=[[CBR.com]]}}</ref>
* [[Rocket Girls (novel series)|''Rocket Girls'']] (2007){{Citation needed|date=March 2023}}
* ''[[Revisions (TV series)|Revisions]]'' (2018–2019)
* ''[[Space Brothers (manga)|Space Brothers/Uchuu Kyoudai]]'' (2007–present, 2012–2014){{Citation needed|date=March 2023}}

===Video games===
* [[Marathon (video game)|''Marathon'']] (1994)
* ''[[Policenauts]]'' (1994)<ref>{{Cite web |last=McFerran |first=Damien |date=2023-01-13 |title=Hideo Kojima Reflects On The Policenauts Sequel That Never Happened |url=https://www.timeextension.com/news/2023/01/hideo-kojima-reflects-on-the-policenauts-sequel-that-never-happened |access-date=2024-08-08 |website=Time Extension |language=en-GB}}</ref>
* ''[[Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri]]'' (1999)<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Carter |first1=Tim |title=Review - Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri |magazine=[[Computer Gaming World]] |date=April 1999 |issue=177 |page=208 |url=https://archive.org/details/Computer_Gaming_World_Issue_177/page/n211/mode/2up |publisher=[[Ziff Davis]] |quote=PROS: Wonderful "hard" sci-fi setting}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Cachinero-Gorman |first1=Alex |title=Alpha Centauri |url=http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/sid-meiers-alpha-centauri/ |website=[[Hardcore Gaming 101]] |access-date=11 November 2023 |date=4 May 2017 |quote=[...] Reynolds and his team worked tirelessly to imbue every inch of their game with the cool, atmospheric melancholy so dear to hard sci-fi.}}</ref>
* ''[[Kerbal Space Program]]'' (2015)
* ''[[Terra Invicta]]'' (2022)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bolding |first=Jon |date=2022-09-26 |title=Terra Invicta Early Access Review |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/terra-invicta-review |access-date=2022-11-14 |website=IGN |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Hypothetical technology]]
* [[Mundane science fiction]]
* [[Techno-thriller]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* [http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/abstracts/a60.htm On Hard Science Fiction: A Bibliography], originally published in ''Science Fiction Studies'' #60 (July 1993).
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080509054556/http://ebbs.english.vt.edu/exper/kcramer/anth/Hartwell.html David G. Hartwell, "Hard Science Fiction"], Introduction to ''The Ascent of Wonder: The Evolution of Hard Science Fiction'', 1994, {{ISBN|0-312-85509-5}}
* [http://cco.cambridge.org/extract?id=ccol0521816262_CCOL0521816262A018 Kathryn Cramer's chapter on hard science fiction in ''The Cambridge Companion to SF''], ed. [[Farah Mendlesohn]] & Edward James.
* {{cite book |last=Westfahl |first=Gary |title=Cosmic Engineers: A Study of Hard Science Fiction (Contributions to the Study of Science Fiction and Fantasy) |publisher=Greenwood Press |date=1996-02-28 |isbn=0-313-29727-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/cosmicengineerss0000west }}
* [http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/sf-history.html A Political History of SF] by [[Eric S. Raymond|Eric Raymond]]
* ''[[The Science in Science Fiction]]'' by [[Brian Stableford]], [[David Langford]], & [[Peter Nicholls (writer)|Peter Nicholls]] (1982)
* David N. Samuelson, "Hard SF", pp.&nbsp;194–200, ''The Routledge Companion to Science Fiction'', 2009.

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090207221618/http://hardsciencefiction.rogerdeforest.com/ Hard Science Fiction Exclusive Interviews]
* [http://www.fraknoi.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Science-Fiction-with-Good-Astronomy-PDF.pdf Science Fiction Stories with Good Astronomy & Physics: A Topical Index] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225145130/http://www.fraknoi.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Science-Fiction-with-Good-Astronomy-PDF.pdf |date=2021-02-25 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060828072213/http://ebbs.english.vt.edu/exper/kcramer/aow.html The Ascent of Wonder] by David G. Hartwell & Kathryn Cramer. Story notes and introductions.
* [http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/editors/26836/ The Ten Best Hard Science Fiction Books of all Time] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120412101141/http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/editors/26836/ |date=2012-04-12 }}, selected by the editors of MIT's ''[[Technology Review]]'', 2011
* [http://dirrogate.com/low-level-science-fiction-sci-fi-with-hard-science-and-a-literary-slant/ "Low-Level Science fiction: Sci-fi with hard science and a literary slant"]
* [https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/hard_sf Hard SF] at ''[[The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction]]''

{{science fiction}}

[[Category:Hard science fiction| ]]
[[Category:1950s neologisms]]
[[Category:History of science fiction]]
[[Category:Science fiction genres]]
[[Category:Setting]]

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