SF and the 20th Century, Part 1: Favorite Stories

has had such impact on our way of thinking. Written when the space program was in high gear—during the Cold War's race for space and the Apollo moon landings—2001 paints a picture of a late-20th-century world whose future is uncertain and where petty differences still divide us. But the startling discovery that an alien artifact was buried on the moon 3 million years earlier—when humans were yet to be and only man-apes roamed the changing landscape of Africa—and that it has a counterpart on the Saturnian moon Japetus changed forever the way we think about ourselves. The idea that we are not alone, that we are but a tiny part of a much larger whole, makes the rifts between us seem small and our differences trifling.

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Contact (Novel; 1985; Carl Sagan)

The late Carl Sagan was an incredible communicator. Though best known for his books that popularized science—Cosmos being the most famous—he also penned an incredible tale of fiction about mankind's first contact with extraterrestrial intelligence. Smartly written, as always, Contact builds on science fact and theory as well as Sagan's own beliefs to predict how the people of Earth might react to the most significant even in history: the receipt of a message from outer space. If you only know the 1997 film version, do yourself a favor and read the original novel. While the movie was outstanding, it glossed over much of the science and failed to capture the book's sense of international cooperation that is central to Sagan's vision. Both scientifically and spiritually inquisitive, Contact touches at the heart of who we are as a people and as individuals. This is real science fiction.

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The Last Question (Short Story; 1956; Isaac Asimov)

Of all the SF stories ever written, "The Last Question" has got to be the one with the most jarring ending. It just blind-sides you—you never see it coming. And that's what makes the story so great. First published in Science Fiction Quarterly in 1956, the story features the Multivac computer that frequently appears in Asimov's work. The men who maintain Multivac decide one night in 2061

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