Often absorbing, occasionally opinonated, always insightful, and informative, this introductory guide to science fiction as a subject truly worthy of serious study meets the surprising need for such a "survey" of the truly vast, ill-defined and thoroughly unruly offshoot of speculative literature that has come to be known as "science fiction." A Brief Guide considers both the literary form of science fiction and the popular media adventures that are also called "science fiction," examines the quite significant differences between the two, and explores what we may learn from each era's view of "the future." Looking back on the 20th Century, which basically encompassed almost the entire development of "sci-fi," it's easy to see how it could will come to be known as the "Science Fiction Century." From horse cavalry to smart bombs, from Marconi to the Internet, from bifocals to laser surgery, from slide rulers to laptop computers---what a long strange trip it's been!