Prophets of Science Fiction - Season 1

Mary Shelley set out to make a fictitious monster, and along the way she created a masterpiece. She stitches together a patchwork of legend, technology and personal tragedy giving life to her novel Frankenstein.

Philip K. Dick lived a life of ever-shifting realities straight from the pages of his science fiction stories. His ideas have influenced the development of real-life breakthroughs in everything from robotics to law enforcement.

H.G. Wells established himself as a science fiction writer of almost clairvoyant talent and his tales of high-tech adventure hold an ominous warning of the dark side of progress.

Some science fiction writers are content to predict, but Arthur C. Clarke creates. His collaboration with Stanley Kubrick pioneered videophones, tablet computers and commercial spaceflight, and his legacy continues to inspire.

Isaac Asimov dreamed of a future where robots perform the dirty work of mankind. His stories led to the creation of real-life industrial robots and inspired generations to embrace the technology of a robot friendly world.

Jules Verne is the ultimate futurist with a legacy of sci-fi stories predicting everything from fuel cell technology to viral advertising. His extraordinary voyages span from the center of the Earth to the surface of the moon.

Author Robert Heinlein predicted the science of the future, digging deeper into the impact of technology on individual lives. A seeming contradiction, his stories address themes of both patriotism and man's inability to cooperate.

Star Wars is one of the defining science fiction works of the later 20th century, and the imagination of George Lucas has inspired generations of scientists and engineers to push the envelope of technology.