Science Fiction: A Very Short Introduction

Science Fiction: A Very Short Introduction
Author: David Seed
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 161
Release: 2011-06-23
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0199557454

David Seed examines how science fiction has emerged as a popular genre of literature in the 20th century, and discusses it in relation to themes such as science and technology, space, aliens, utopias, and gender. Looking at some of the most influential writers of the genre he also considers the wider social and political issues it raises.

Contemporary Fiction: A Very Short Introduction

Contemporary Fiction: A Very Short Introduction
Author: Robert Eaglestone
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Total Pages: 144
Release: 2013-07-25
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 0191665150

Contemporary fiction is a wide and diverse field, now global in dimension, with an enormous range of novels and writers that continues to grow at a fantastic speed. In this Very Short Introduction, Robert Eaglestone provides a clear and engaging exploration of the major themes, patterns, and debates of contemporary fiction. From genre, form, and experimentalism to the legacies of modernism and postmodernism, the relationship between globalization and terrorism, and the impact of technology, Eaglestone examines how works both reflect the world in which we live and the artistic concerns of writers and readers alike. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Computer Science

Computer Science
Author: Subrata Dasgupta
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 169
Release: 2016
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 0198733461

While the development of Information Technology has been obvious to all, the underpinning computer science has been less apparent. Subrata Dasgupta provides a thought-provoking introduction to the field and its core principles, considering computer science as a science of symbol processing.

Free Will: A Very Short Introduction

Free Will: A Very Short Introduction
Author: Thomas Pink
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 145
Release: 2004-06-24
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0192853589

Every day we seem to make and act upon all kinds of free choices - but are these choices really free? Or are we compelled to act the way we do by factors beyond our control? This book looks at free will.

Symmetry: A Very Short Introduction

Symmetry: A Very Short Introduction
Author: Ian Stewart
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Total Pages: 161
Release: 2013-05-30
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 0191652741

In the 1800s mathematicians introduced a formal theory of symmetry: group theory. Now a branch of abstract algebra, this subject first arose in the theory of equations. Symmetry is an immensely important concept in mathematics and throughout the sciences, and its applications range across the entire subject. Symmetry governs the structure of crystals, innumerable types of pattern formation, how systems change their state as parameters vary; and fundamental physics is governed by symmetries in the laws of nature. It is highly visual, with applications that include animal markings, locomotion, evolutionary biology, elastic buckling, waves, the shape of the Earth, and the form of galaxies. In this Very Short Introduction, Ian Stewart demonstrates its deep implications, and shows how it plays a major role in the current search to unify relativity and quantum theory. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

The Future: A Very Short Introduction

The Future: A Very Short Introduction
Author: Jennifer M. Gidley
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 185
Release: 2017-03-16
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0191054240

From the beginning of time, humans have been driven by both a fear of the unknown and a curiosity to know. We have always yearned to know what lies ahead, whether threat or safety, scarcity or abundance. Throughout human history, our forebears tried to create certainty in the unknown, by seeking to influence outcomes with sacrifices to gods, preparing for the unexpected with advice from oracles, and by reading the stars through astrology. As scientific methods improve and computer technology develops we become ever more confident of our capacity to predict and quantify the future by accumulating and interpreting patterns form the past, yet the truth is there is still no certainty to be had. In this Very Short Introduction Jennifer Gidley considers some of our most burning questions: What is "the future "?; Is the future a time yet to come?; Or is it a utopian place?; Does the future have a history?; Is there only one future or are there many possible futures? She asks if the future can ever be truly predicted or if we create our own futures - both hoped for and feared - by our thoughts, feelings, and actions, and concludes by analysing how we can learn to study the future. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

The Oxford Book of Science Fiction Stories

The Oxford Book of Science Fiction Stories
Author: Tom Shippey
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 587
Release: 2003-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9780192803818

A collection of classic science fiction short stories features tales by H. G. Wells, Arthur C. Clark, Frederik Pohl, Clifford Simak, Brian Aldiss, Ursala K. LeGuin, and many others. Edited by the author of The Road to Middle-Earth. 20,000 first printing.

Contemporary Fiction: A Very Short Introduction

Contemporary Fiction: A Very Short Introduction
Author: Robert Eaglestone
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 137
Release: 2013-07-25
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0199609268

In this Very Short Introduction, Robert Eaglestone provides a clear and engaging exploration of the major themes, patterns, and debates of contemporary fiction.

Crime Fiction: A Very Short Introduction

Crime Fiction: A Very Short Introduction
Author: Richard Bradford
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Total Pages: 153
Release: 2015-05-28
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 0191642703

Crime fiction has been one of the most popular genres since the 19th century, but has roots in works as varied as Sophocles, Herodotus, and Shakespeare. In this Very Short Introduction Richard Bradford explores the history of the genre, by considering the various definitions of 'crime fiction' and looking at how it has developed over time. Discussing the popularity of crime fiction worldwide and its various styles; the role that gender plays within the genre; spy fiction, and legal dramas and thrillers; he explores how the crime novel was shaped by the work of British and American authors in the 18th and 19th centuries. Highlighting the works of notorious authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, and Raymond Chandler — to name but a few — he considers the role of the crime novel in modern popular culture and asks whether we can, and whether we should, consider crime fiction serious 'literature'. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Fairy Tale: A Very Short Introduction

Fairy Tale: A Very Short Introduction
Author: Marina Warner
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 193
Release: 2018-01-25
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 0191060186

From wicked queens, beautiful princesses, elves, monsters, and goblins, to giants, glass slippers, poisoned apples, magic keys, and mirrors, the characters and images of fairy tales have cast a spell over readers and audiences, both adults and children, for centuries. These fantastic stories have travelled across cultural borders, and been passed on from generation to generation, ever-changing, renewed with each re-telling. Few forms of literature have greater power to enchant us and rekindle our imagination than a fairy tale. But what is a fairy tale? Where do they come from and what do they mean? What do they try and communicate to us about morality, sexuality, and society? The range of fairy tales stretches across great distances and time; their history is entangled with folklore and myth, and their inspiration draws on ideas about nature and the supernatural, imagination and fantasy, psychoanalysis, and feminism. In this Very Short Introduction, Marina Warner digs into a rich hoard of fairy tales in all their brilliant and fantastical variations, in order to define a genre and evaluate a literary form that keeps shifting through time and history. Drawing on a glittering array of examples, from classics such as Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, and The Sleeping Beauty, the Grimm Brothers' Hansel and Gretel, and Hans Andersen's The Little Mermaid, to modern-day realizations including Walt Disney's Snow White, Warner forms a persuasive case for fairy tale as a crucial repository of human understanding and culture. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.