Clockwork Futures: The Science of Steampunk and the Reinvention of the Modern World

Steampunk, a subgenre of sf, merges past and present and encompasses themes of discovery, individualism, and craftsmanship. Here, Schillace (Death's Summer Coat) examines how developing technologies in the Victorian era are reflected in steampunk books, graphic novels, films, and TV shows. Her wide-ranging narrative connects the inventions of Galileo, Isaac Newton, Nikola Tesla, and Charles Babbage to the writing of William Gibson (The Difference Engine), Alan Moore (League of Extraordinary Gentlemen), and Scott Westerfeld (Leviathan). Victorian writers such as Jules Verne, Mary Shelley, and Arthur Conan Doyle influenced other authors as well as scientists of the day who were investigating energy, medicine, artificial intelligence, and computing. Those not yet immersed in the steampunk ethos will get a sweeping introduction to the heroes, outlaws, and automatons populating the subgenre and their real-life progenitors.