Proposal:
The last 50 years have brought forth some of the greatest advancements in human history and this begs the question if the works of science fiction have influenced these great advancements. For example, Star Trek is a science-fiction franchise that began in the 1960s and is still growing today. Over the course of the franchise, many scientific advancements have been released based on concepts created in this fictional world. Worldbuilding is a heavy subject in science-fiction and with Star Trek being so vast and covering so much time, it has many connections to many events and advancements in society.
In Star Trek, the story based on Gene Roddenberry envisions a future where humans can travel through space and are in a united coalition with alien planets. Through this world, the producers were able to create what they envisioned existing in the future. This like many other works of science fiction have influenced many scientists to push the bounds of science and technology. The 1960s was the beginning of the age of the computer and with tv production gaining attraction, it was a perfect time to release a show that takes place in the future, and just as the world is about to make so many scientific breakthroughs.
Sources:
Books, Photograph courtesy National Geographic, and Photograph courtesy CBS/National Geographic Books. ‘Star Trek’ Is Right About Almost Everything. 16 June 2016, www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2016/06/star-trek-science-space-astronomy-technology-fazekas/.
Dunbar, Brian. “The Science of Star Trek.” NASA, NASA, 18 July 2016, www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/features/star_trek.htm
Halter, Casey. “8 Ways Star Trek Helped Change Science and the Future as We Know It.” SYFY WIRE, SYFY WIRE, 2 Jan. 2019, www.syfy.com/syfywire/8-ways-star-trek-helped-change-science-and-the-future-as-we-know-it.
One of the reasons people love space travel is because of the unknown element. While society is still even today at the beginning of space travel, there are still logistics to figure out and in this article, a discussion of the logistics of space travel is heavily talked about. This is important to the research paper because it further discusses how world-building in Star Trek has helped scientists even today create a plan for what to do if Humans were able to travel across the stars.
Howell, Elizabeth. “Star Trek: History & Effect on Space Technology.” Space.com, Space, 12 July 2018, www.space.com/31802-star-trek-space-tech.html.
This article focuses mainly on the first Star Trek series released in 1966, which is focused on space exploration and exploring new worlds. It discusses how much of the original show was also created as allegories to discuss the major issues in the 1960s. This is important to the paper because it goes into the social and cultural effects that this franchise has had on society as well as the need to explore space.
Kassé, Sam. “Worldbuilding in a Novel: 120+ World Building Questions to Get It Right.” Self Publishing School, 12 Nov. 2020, self-publishingschool.com/worldbuilding/.
This article dives into the techniques for world-building and how creating a fictional world is not a simple feat and requires excessive planning, but the harder issue is to expand a created world without creating plot holes or losing the theme of the fictional world. This article is helpful to this topic because it addresses the struggles in world-building and helps show how the Star Trek franchise has expanded successfully and maintained its theme of space exploration and united peace.
The proposal is clear about what it is presenting, about how Star Trek (it’s world-building) and science-fiction work hand-in-hand with real-life science and cultural development to inspire each other, which directly relates to science-fiction.
The proposal implies the importance of the topic by how fiction affects the real world such as how Star Trek inspires innovators.
The proposal could benefit from a brief explanation of the methods and how the research findings may be used to further explain or relate to the topic.