Scientist & science fiction stories

Why is a science section (Guardian Unlimited, August 31 2004) devoting a whole edition to science fiction? Alok Jha and Adam Rutherford examine a genre that asks what it means to be human: > Fantastic answers to universal questions. > Expert panel votes for the top 10 sci-fi films. (Scientists interviewed for their views on science fiction films and book). > Dangerous minds, lethal machines (Why I chose 2001, by Steven Pinker). > Top scientists nominate their favourite authors. Henry Jenkins (MIT) comment on this includes a list of films and writers: Among the science fiction films, Bladerunner was the top pick, followed by 2001:A Space Odyssey, Star Wars, Alien, Solaris, Terminator, The Day the Earth Stood Still, War of the Worlds, The Matrix, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Among science fiction writers, not unexpectedly, Isaac Asimov rules, followed by John Wyndham, Fred Hoyle, Philip K. Dick, H.G. Wells, Ursula K. Le Guin, Arthur C. Clarke, Ray Bradbury, Frank Herbert, and Stanislav Lem.