A sample chapter from my book, The Fortean Influence on Science Fiction, covering the life and work of anomalist Charles Hoy Fort and the literature that spun off his writings
An excellent analysis. The interaction between Fort and the Forteans and science fiction writers is a rich field worth pursuing. I'm not surprised that Wells disliked Fort. There were several things that make it easy to believe. He was a member of the elites, and therefore part of a heavily entrenched system which was starting to use science fiction as a vehicle for social conditioning. The Huxley family were notoriously anti-humanity (see Julian Huxley's work including his fiction story, "The Tissue-Culture King" also Aldous Huxley's rather casually expressed opinions in his first novel, "Chrome Yellow.") Wells was also a well-known socialist, adding to his desire for social conditioning. Your comment about science fiction writers wanting to get away from Einsteinian physics is telling. As we today are realizing, Einstein was not the best role model for the ideal physics model of the universe. More than that, though, science fiction "hacks" from the pulp era couldn't make Einstein's theories work in their stories, not because they were dumb, but because the theories wouldn't logically connect for them. Some writers, like Murray Leinster, embraced Tesla tech and did much better. And those references in stories like the Med Service series hold up today. Again, great job. Loved reading the analysis. :)
An excellent analysis. The interaction between Fort and the Forteans and science fiction writers is a rich field worth pursuing. I'm not surprised that Wells disliked Fort. There were several things that make it easy to believe. He was a member of the elites, and therefore part of a heavily entrenched system which was starting to use science fiction as a vehicle for social conditioning. The Huxley family were notoriously anti-humanity (see Julian Huxley's work including his fiction story, "The Tissue-Culture King" also Aldous Huxley's rather casually expressed opinions in his first novel, "Chrome Yellow.") Wells was also a well-known socialist, adding to his desire for social conditioning. Your comment about science fiction writers wanting to get away from Einsteinian physics is telling. As we today are realizing, Einstein was not the best role model for the ideal physics model of the universe. More than that, though, science fiction "hacks" from the pulp era couldn't make Einstein's theories work in their stories, not because they were dumb, but because the theories wouldn't logically connect for them. Some writers, like Murray Leinster, embraced Tesla tech and did much better. And those references in stories like the Med Service series hold up today. Again, great job. Loved reading the analysis. :)
We need to cop this book!
Just got a copy! Can't wait to receive it.