Tom Shippey’s scientific contributions

There are many definitions of science fiction, but one thing nearly all of them agree on is this: science fiction contains, must contain, some element known not to be true to the-world-as-it-is (see the start of item 1, above). But there is no rule that says you have to tell the reader which element that is. Consider, for instance, the first four statements from ‘Solution Unsatisfactory’, a story by ‘Anson MacDonald’ (really Robert A. Heinlein) published in ...