publication_date infinity and the mind
Flurb was an American science fiction webzine , edited by author Rudy Rucker and launched in August ___MASK33___ . In addition to short stories , " Flurb " featured paintings and photography by Rucker . It was released biannually . The author of an accepted story retained full copyright , including the right to have the story published elsewhere , and to request that it be taken down at any time . Hard science fiction is a category of science fiction characterized by an emphasis on scientific accuracy . The term was first used in print in ___MASK37___ by P . Schuyler Miller in a review of John W . Campbell , Jr .' s " Islands of Space " in " Astounding Science Fiction ". The complementary term soft science fiction , formed by analogy to hard science fiction , first appeared in the late 1970s . The term is formed by analogy to the popular distinction between the " hard " ( natural ) and " soft " ( social ) sciences . Science fiction critic Gary Westfahl argues that neither term is part of a rigorous taxonomy ; instead they are approximate ways of characterizing stories that reviewers and commentators have found useful . The supernatural ( Medieval Latin : " superntrlis ": " supra " " above " + " naturalis " " natural ", first used : ___MASK77___  ___MASK24___ AD ) includes all that cannot be explained by science or the laws of nature , including things characteristic of or relating to ghosts , gods , or other supernatural beings , or to things beyond nature . Speculative fiction is a broad umbrella genre denoting any narrative fiction with supernatural or futuristic elements ; this encompasses the genres of science fiction , fantasy , horror , alternative history , magic realism , and superhero fiction , as well as combinations of the previous genres . It typically strays strongly from reality and so may feature fictional types of beings like mythical creatures and supernatural entities , technologies that do not exist in real life like time machines and interstellar spaceships , or magical or otherwise scientifically inexplicable elements . The term ' s popularity is sometimes attributed to Robert Heinlein , who referenced it in ___MASK61___ in an editorial essay , although there are prior mentions of speculative fiction , or its variant " speculative literature ". Rudolf von Bitter Rucker ( born March ___MASK78___ , 1946 ) is an American mathematician , computer scientist , science fiction author , and one of the founders of the cyberpunk literary movement . The author of both fiction and non - fiction , he is best known for the novels in the Ware Tetralogy , the first two of which (" Software " and " Wetware ") both won Philip K . Dick Awards . Until its closure in 2014 he edited the science fiction webzine " Flurb ". The Philip K . Dick Award is a science fiction award given annually at Norwescon sponsored by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society and ( since ___MASK81___ ) supported by the Philip K . Dick Trust , and named after science fiction and fantasy writer Philip K . Dick . It has been awarded since ___MASK82___ , the year after Dick ' s death . Works that have received the award are identified on their covers as " Best Original SF Paperback ". They are awarded to the best original paperback published each year in the US . The Ware Tetralogy is a series of four science fiction novels by author Rudy Rucker : " Software " ( ___MASK100___ ), " Wetware " ( 1988 ), " Freeware " ( 1997 ) and " Realware " ( 2000 ). Infinity and the Mind : The Science and Philosophy of the Infinite is a theoretical mathematics book by American mathematician , computer scientist , and science fiction writer Rudy Rucker . Time travel is the concept of movement ( such as by a human ) between certain points in time , analogous to movement between different points in space , typically using a hypothetical device known as a time machine , in the form of a vehicle or of a portal connecting distant points in time . Time travel is a recognized concept in philosophy and fiction , but traveling to an arbitrary point in time has a very limited support in theoretical physics , and usually only in conjunction with quantum mechanics or wormholes , also known as Einstein - Rosen bridges . In a more narrow sense , one - way time travel into the future via time dilation is a well - understood phenomenon within the frameworks of special relativity and general relativity , but advancing a large amount of time is not feasible with current technology . The concept was touched upon in various earlier works of fiction , but was popularized by H . G . Wells ' ___MASK93___ novel " The Time Machine ", which moved the concept of time travel into the public imagination , and it remains a popular subject in science fiction . Science fiction ( often shortened to SF , sci - fi or scifi ) is a genre of speculative fiction , typically dealing with imaginative concepts such as futuristic science and technology , space travel , time travel , faster than light travel , parallel universes , and extraterrestrial life . Science fiction often explores the potential consequences of scientific and other innovations , and has been called a " literature of ideas ." It usually avoids the supernatural , and unlike the related genre of fantasy , historically science fiction stories were intended to have a grounding in science - based fact or theory at the time the story was created , but this connection is now limited to hard science fiction .