Encyclopedia Galactica
Encyclopedia Galactica is the name of a number of fictional or hypothetical encyclopedias containing all the knowledge accumulated by a galaxy-spanning civilization, most notably in Isaac Asimov's Foundation series. The concept of a "future encyclopedia" has become "something iconic among many lovers of the science fiction", and has been reused by numerous other writers.[1]
Asimov's Encyclopedia Galactica
Encyclopedia Galactica first appeared in
Asimov used the Encyclopedia Galactica as a
Theodore Wein considers the Encyclopedia Galactica as possibly inspired by a reference in H. G. Wells's The Shape of Things to Come (1933). The future world envisioned by Wells includes an "Encyclopaedic organization which centres upon Barcelona, with seventeen million active workers" and which is tasked with creating "the Fundamental Knowledge System which accumulates, sorts, keeps in order and renders available everything that is known". As pointed out by Wein, this Wells book was at its best-known and most influential in the late 1930s – coinciding with "the period of incubation" when the young Asimov became interested in science fiction, reading a lot of it and starting to formulate his own ideas.[3][verification needed]
Patricio Manns analyzed the Encyclopedia Galactica as a
Later instances in fiction
Various authors have invoked the Encyclopedia Galactica in both
In the comic science fiction series by Douglas Adams, the Galactica is frequently contrasted with the apparently more popular Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:[1][6]
In many of the more relaxed civilizations on the Outer Eastern Rim of the Galaxy, the Hitchhiker’s Guide has already supplanted the great Encyclopaedia Galactica as the standard repository of all knowledge and wisdom, for though it has many omissions and contains much that is
apocryphal, or at least wildly inaccurate, it scores over the older, more pedestrian work in two important respects. First, it is slightly cheaper; and second, it has the words "DON'T PANIC" inscribed in large friendly letters on its cover.
Robert A. Heinlein mentioned the Encyclopedia in chapter three of To Sail Beyond the Sunset (1987): "... the computer that led the Lunar Revolution on time line three, code 'Neil Armstrong.' Let's skip the details; it's all in Encyclopedia Galacta (sic) and other books."
In Arthur C. Clarke's and Gentry Lee's novel Rama II (1989), Nicole des Jardins says to Richard Wakefield, "Just think, the sum of everything all human beings know or have ever known might be nothing more than an infinitesimal fraction of the Encyclopedia Galactica."[7]
"Encyclopedia Galactica" is mentioned by Charlie Sheen's character in The Arrival (1996),[8] and by Jodie Foster's character in Contact (1997).[9]
The Orion's Arm worldbuilding project uses a fictional database called the Encyclopaedia Galactica as its primary framing device,[10] each page presenting itself as an individual article of the Encyclopaedia and focusing on a specific aspect of the Orion's Arm universe.
Other uses
There was a series of five video documentaries in 1993, collectively called Encyclopædia Galactica, with the episode titles “The Inner Solar System”, “The Outer Solar System”, “Star Trekking”, “Discovery”, and “Astronomy and the Stars”. The videos were produced by
There was an Encyclopedia Galactica: from the Fleet Library aboard the Battlestar Galactica published in 1978. Aimed at a
The term has been used in non-fictional contexts as well. One example is its use by
See also
- False document
- Future history
- Interplanetary Internet
- Library of Trantor
- Recorded history
- Web archiving
References
- ^ ISBN 9783964567215, retrieved 2022-04-05
- ^ Wimmer, Josh; Wilkins, Alasdair (May 9, 2011). "Isaac Asimov's Foundation: The Little Idea That Became Science Fiction's Biggest Series". Gizmodo. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
- ^ Wein, Theodore, "4", HG Wells and the Golden Age of Science Fiction, pp. 25–26
- ^ "HoloNet News: Duros Dispute Encyclopedia" Archived August 28, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "The Secret Origin of the Golden Age Superman". p 2. Roy Thomas, Wayne Boring, and Jerry Ordway.
- ^ Lomberg, Jon (February 8, 2019). "Encyclopedia Galactica: How Carl Sagan helped turn an alien obsession". Astronomy.com. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
- ISBN 9780553057140. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
- ^ "The Arrival movie script". Subslikescript.
- ^ "Contact movie script". Subslikescript.
- ^ "Encyclopedia Galactica". www.orionsarm.com. Retrieved 2018-02-09.
- ^ Encyclopaedia galactica. National Library of Australia.
- ^ Encyclopedia galactica: the inner solar system [England]: York Films of England, 1993 at 21:09
- OCLC 5320694.
- ^ Malone, Adrian; Haines-Stiles, Geoffrey (1980-12-14), Encyclopaedia Galactica, Carl Sagan, Alan Belod, Jean Charney, retrieved 2018-02-09
- ISBN 978-0-345-53943-4.