Screening Science removes the science fiction genre from considerations
of monsters and aliens, to an examination of humans and their
relationship with science, technology and change. The book is structured
in two parts. The first examines the genre of science fiction, the
contextual elements of history and culture, and the film industry. The
second analyses the nature of science and its representation in western
culture, narrowing to an attempt to detail the cultural representation
of science in science fiction films, especially in the fifties when the
film medium assumes significance for the genre. Vieth examines the
growth in the influence and power of the scientific paradigm in the
fifties through an examination of film in which such science was
discussed, distorted, debated, denigrated, demonized and deified. This
exploration reveals a great deal about the concerns of the time, as well
as the science that figures so powerfully in the web of culture of the
fifties.