Clarke's Three Laws
Everyone knows of the fact that Science built up laws, like Newton's Three Laws, which are found in Physics. But, what about Science Fiction? Does Science Fiction has any Laws in writing it?
Sci-fi is all about imaginations and reality, and thus, it has been a concern for most sci-fi authors, esp. the beginners, in creating the plot of their sci-fi stories due to the restriction of scientific theories. Although science fiction authors are just writers creating some imaginary scientific ideas using the presence scientific theories, however, science fiction writer could be classified as "creative scientists" as well.
Using the current science theories, sci-fi writers' job is to make plots of stories that uses both imagination and science set in the future. As a result, they are the one who as well helps professional scientists invent new, creative images of science that might be used to invent some thing useful in the future. Sticking away from the realistic world, sci-fi writers tend to reach the impossible whenever they write. They often go beyond the border of realism in order to find out something beyond the idea of possible science theory. As a result, most science fiction writers are actually scientists in their own world. The difference between them and real scientists is that they believe the impossible can be achieve and that there's nothing that limit them from it. Their belief also lies to the fact that without reaching the impossible, people wouldn't know whether an idea will work or not. Therefore, this is a point where some well-known sci-fi authors introduced their own law.
Science Fiction is similar with Science, both has their own laws in order for things to work. Science fiction Laws are predictions produced by some sci-fi authors which fulfill and support the ideas created in science fiction writing. One of the most popular Sci-fi Laws is Clarke Three Laws.
Arthur C. Clarke was British science fiction novelist, futurist and explorers. "A Space Odyssey" is one of his most notable work, which is later made into a movie series in the year 1968. All Clarke's Three Laws were introduced in his essay called "Hazards of Prophecy: The Failure of Imagination" - a part from his book titled "Profiles of The Future" (Published in 1962).
Written as follows are Clarke's Three Laws:
Clarke's Three Laws suggest the view point of Sci-fi writers in writing Science Fictions and generating Sci-fi ideas. It is after Clarke's own unique thoughts toward fictional science. Implying from his laws, Clarke believe that the "impossible" will never be discovered when someone just stick to the possible. His thought of science fiction suggests that Sci-fi is the way of creating and exploring the impossible before real scientists do. As for his first law, he contradicted the what real scientists said about the impossible, which he think could be achieve through some imagination and the most important Science Fiction. He is as well implying that when writing science fiction story, there's no need for the authors to be restricted by the theories scientists made because in creating a sci-fi story, the author is the scientist in this case. So, as a scientist, he/she has the ability to build his/her own theories (under the circumstance that the theories has to be logical, reasonable and imaginable).
"Clarke's Three Laws" is one the most popular laws of Science Fiction. But, he wasn't the only one who produce some sci-fi laws. There are as well other sci-fi writers who created some well known sci-fi laws, including Niven's Law and Gibson's Law - two laws that built a connection with Clarke's third and fourth law.
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