Dodds 1 Hannah C. Dodds Mr.

Jason Ellis Essay 4 5/8/09 Is Science Fiction a Reflection of History When comparing history to a science fiction work such as 2001 A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke, there are very few ways to go about it. One of these is to compare and contrast social problems along with human desires that lead to major events in history. I will discus what actions and human desires lead to such events as the development of democracy, the renaissance, age of exploration, the enlightenment, and the space race. Then finally discuses how the science fiction of today reflects the human desire for understanding of the universe, and what I believe will come of these desires. Democracy developed in Athens around 508BC. It developed in two stages over a period of about a hundred years. The first stage of reform was due to a mass problem of debt slavery in Athens. Debt slavery is when a small farmer doesnt have the funds to buy what he needs so then must borrow from the wealthy who lends the money with an exorbitant interest rate. Eventually the small farmer is forced to cell their farm, there services, then finally them selves along with their family. To fix this problem Athens hired Solon, a patrician statesman, in 594BC. To fix the problem Solon came up with a three-step program. One, debt slavery was now outlawed. Two, if you were currently a debt slave you were now free and were given a few acres to restart the farm. Three, all your outstanding debts were now canceled. Due

Dodds 2 to these reforms Athens was the first to have a middle class. This reform allowed people to stop worrying about there survival and begin to desire a true say in there governing. At the time Athens had an assembly to which all men belonged a problem arose because at the time Athens was split into 5 districts of which the five wealthiest and most influential families presided over. Therefore no one would vote against there presiding family unless they wished to disappear, and the families always knew if one of there own voted against there wishes, because voting was public at the time. So yet again Athens hires someone to fix the problem, that person was Cleisthenes around the year 508BC. His reforms remodeled the Athenian government into a true democracy. Voting was made private, the city was divided into ten parts instead of five, the assembly of which every citizen was a part of made all the decisions, ten archons represented the districts and also served as generals during times of war, and finally every man was a member of the army. The ides of the renaissance began around 1300AD in Florence, Italy. There was an emphasis on ancient Grecian and Roman values such as beauty, architecture, writing, and philosophy. Before the renaissance at the time of the Middle Ages peoples lives were completely centered on getting to heaven. The church ruled almost every aspect of peoples lives telling them what to think and believe. The renaissance was a reaction to this idea that the church reigned supreme and that the thoughts of men didnt matter. In Florence a new philosophy emerged known as humanism, which put an emphasis on the here and now and the importance of the individual. It encouraged thought and expression through art and literature. Which

Dodds 3 Is a complete turn around when compared to the Middle Ages. This idea quickly spread through out the Italian peninsula. From this time period we get many of our greatest works of art and literature. The age of exploration began around 1450AD during the high renaissance. This sprung from the desire to explore, further trade, and the hope that they would find untold riches. So the race was on, the first to start exploring were the portages, who were amazing sailor thanks to the navigation school founded by Prince Henry. In the beginning it was all about the riches of India and then soon branched out from there. Everyone was soon grabbing up land wherever they could find it in an attempt to expand their empires and coffers. The enlightenment and the age of reason spanned between 1628-1789 and took place mostly in France and Britain. This time period came out of the human desire for answers to many of lifes questions, to know why things are the way they are. Scientific knowledge expanded in leaps and bounds during this time, along with music, mathematics, medicine, and philosophy. Many influential people came out of this period such as Sir Francis Bacon, Galileo, Benjamin Franklin, John Locke, Voltaire, Adam Smith, Mozart, Beethoven, and many others that still influence us today. The space race began in 1957 with the launching of the first artificial satellite sputnik by the Soviet Union. What sparked this race for space was basically the desire of to world powers to come out on top. Control of the high ground always gives one an advantage over the enemy and space is the highest ground there is. The

Dodds 4 U.S. viewed sputnik as a huge threat to there dominance on the world scale. The race ended with the United States coming out on top in 1969 when U.S. astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin Buzz Aldrin, and Michel Colins made history as being the first men to set foot on the moon. The science fiction books of today, such as 2001 A Space Odyssey are a direct reflection of present day desires for understanding and to make what was thought to be the impossible possible. Man has already made it to the moon and we have seen up close images of the surface of mars, so were do we go from here. Perhaps a self-sustaining colony on the moon or an advanced space station with artificial gravity and all the comforts of living on earth. These were both portrayed in 2001 A Space Odyssey. Perhaps even a computer with artificial intelligence or discovering that were not alone, that there is other life forms somewhere in the universe. Perhaps the answers to these questions and desires will be discovered in the next space race sometime in the near or distant future. All of these events are connected in the sense of cause and effect throughout history. Human desire for understanding, a better way of life, and the will to imagine the impossible is the drive behind human events throughout time. Will man ever live in space or discover life on other planets? There is no answer to that now, but as long as people dream and continue to crave answers to the unknown the possibilities are infinite.

Dodds 5 Works Cited Arbor, Ann. Eastern Central & Eastern Europe in the Early Middle Ages. University of Michigan, 2005. Love, Ronald S. The Enlightenment. Westport, Conn. Greenwood Press, 2008. Hale, J.R. Age of Exploration. New York. Time, 1966. Clarke, Arthur C. 2001 A Space Odyssey. New York, New York. New American Library, 1968. Mckay, John. Et. Al. A History of World Societies. 8th ed. Boston and New York: Bedford St. Martins, 2009.