The History of Science Fiction Unit Final:

          Science fiction literature did not originate at one specific time. It was brought up alongside literature starting in the times of the Greeks and Romans. These ancient authors were not shy about writing novels that today would fall under the title of fantasy literature. However, stories about gods and heroic adventures are not to be called the first cases of science fiction. 

Lurking among these well known epics at the time were the first real examples of science fiction. Mundane in exploration of ideas and Earth-bound, these stories were hindered by the lack of knowledge at the time of the cosmos. That taken into consideration, voyages to the moon were not uncommon. The moon was seen as in the air or atmosphere where as the stars were thought to belong to the realm of the gods and would be related to religious beliefs. An example of ancient Greek science fiction is Lucian's True History, written in 160 to 180 AD. Lucian has been commonly regarded as the father to science fiction and a classical writer in ancient Greece. He was one of the first to start the life of science fiction. 

Sci-fi literature would not see a rise until after the end of the dark ages when the Renaissance was at its start in society. "Science fiction was reborn in one year, 1600," (Adam Roberts, 36) with the introduction of Giodano Bruno into society. Bruno was a Neapolitan speculative thinker. Inspired by the Copernican model of the universe, he spread his ideas across Europe, and at the same time created the basis of the idea of the infinite universe that is so crucial in science fiction today. Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei also helped to contribute to the ideas of sci-fi with his support of the Copernican model of the cosmos. At the time of the Enlightenment there were many French philosophers who contributed to the ideas that support the science and technology behind science fiction. Two big sci-fi texts of the eighteenth century were Irish poet, Jonathan Swift's, Gulliver's Travels, and French writer, Voltaire's, Micromégas. Starting in the nineteenth century science fiction migrated to the United States, and in the twentieth century, most of the current day well known sci-fi stories were written. Science fiction was still very present in Europe at the time. Arguably, the most well known science fiction authors of  the nineteenth century were French author, Jules Verne, and Englishman, H.G. Wells.  

Science fiction as a literature did not move too much in its early history. This is mainly because science fiction was present where science was present. The philosophers of Athens would be one such example. They held knowledge that led to educated thought about unknown subjects. With their scientific theories, they were able to start the path of sci-fi throughout its spread around Europe and eventually to America. France and England were the main epicenters for authors of the genre. This is because both countries were powerful, and experienced the Enlightenment which sparked new creative thought. This was the midpoint of my book The History of Science Fiction by Adam Roberts.