--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: [Science fiction is] a specialized type…" description: "\"[Science fiction is] a specialized type of fantasy, in which the prime assumption usually is a new scientific discovery or invention.\" — Jack Williamson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d99/jack-williamson-33114_assumption_science-fiction-is-a-specialized-type-of_1143418.png" --- # \[Science fiction is\] a specialized type of fantasy, in… ![“[Science fiction is] a specialized type of fantasy, in which the prime assumption usually is a new scientific discovery or invention.” quote by Jack Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d99/jack-williamson-33114_assumption_science-fiction-is-a-specialized-type-of_1143418.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d99/jack-williamson-33114_assumption_science-fiction-is-a-specialized-type-of_1143418.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d99/jack-williamson-33114_assumption_science-fiction-is-a-specialized-type-of_1143418.png) > “\[Science fiction is\] a specialized type of fantasy, in which the prime assumption usually is a new scientific discovery or invention.” [Jack Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-williamson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Science fiction is a fantasy subgenre that assumes a new scientific breakthrough as its premise. **In simple terms:** Sci‑fi uses science as a basis. Key Takeaway Explore speculative tech. Themes genre imagination science Mood thoughtful analytical Type explanatory philosophical When to use this quote - writing - film - gaming - education Key Concepts speculative fiction world‑building Questions to Reflect On - What scientific advances could define future stories? - How does this definition shape expectations? A Different Perspective May blur line between fact and fantasy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Assumption](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assumption/) [Discovery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discovery/) [Fantasy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fantasy/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Invention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/invention/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Science fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science-fiction/) [Scientific discovery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scientific-discovery/) ## Related quotes > [The European talks of progress because by the aid of a few scientific discoveries he has established a society which has mistaken comfort for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/the-european-talks-of-progress-because-by-the-aid-of-a-few-scientific/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [Chance... in the accommodation peculiar to sensorimotor intelligence, plays the same role as in scientific discovery. It is only useful to the genius and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-piaget/chance-in-the-accommodation-peculiar-to-sensorimotor-intelligence/) [Jean Piaget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-piaget/) > [As Eastern thought has begun to interest a significant number of people, and meditation is no longer viewed with ridicule or suspicion, mysticism is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritjof-capra/as-eastern-thought-has-begun-to-interest-a-significant-number-of/) [Fritjof Capra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritjof-capra/) > [We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/we-owe-a-lot-to-the-indians-who-taught-us-how-to-count-without-which/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Advances are Made by Answering Questions. 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And it's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/as-religion-is-now-practiced-and-science-is-now-practiced-there-is-no/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [“Science is neither boastful nor bashful, Science stands dutybound, forever mindful.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/science-is-neither-boastful-nor-bashful-science-stands-dutybound/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [“There are three stages of scientific discovery: first people deny it is true; then they deny it is important; finally they credit the wrong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-von-humboldt/there-are-three-stages-of-scientific-discovery-first-people-deny-it/) [Alexander Von Humboldt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-von-humboldt/) > [Scientific discovery is not valuable unless it has commercial value.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-a-mcdougall/scientific-discovery-is-not-valuable-unless-it-has-commercial-value/) [John A. McDougall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-a-mcdougall/) > [The genuinely significant creation, whether an idea, or a work of art, or a scientific discovery, is most likely to be seen at first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-rogers/the-genuinely-significant-creation-whether-an-idea-or-a-work-of-art/) [Carl Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-rogers/) > [We must not forget that when radium was discovered no one knew that it would prove useful in hospitals. 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He knew that he himself possessed what he called the "nose for news" - an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-williamson/perhaps-that-was-just-a-hunch-barbee-shivered-again-he-knew-that-he/) [Jack Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-williamson/) > [“I wonder-?" whispered April Bell, her long eyes narrowed and dark. "I wonder what they really found?" "Whatever it is," breathed Barbee, "the find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-williamson/i-wonder-whispered-april-bell-her-long-eyes-narrowed-and-dark-i/) [Jack Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-williamson/) > [That was quite an adventure, stopping at a different house each night, seeing new country,.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-williamson/that-was-quite-an-adventure-stopping-at-a-different-house-each-night/) [Jack Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-williamson/) > [“Hurrying on, Barbee nodded to the workman as casually as he could. His skin felt goose-pimpled under the thin red robe, and he couldn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-williamson/hurrying-on-barbee-nodded-to-the-workman-as-casually-as-he-could-his/) [Jack Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-williamson/) > [We lived on isolated farms and ranches, far from anybody, and when I was young I knew very few other kids, so I lived…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-williamson/we-lived-on-isolated-farms-and-ranches-far-from-anybody-and-when-i/) [Jack Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-williamson/) > ["Hard" science fiction probes alternative possible futures by means of reasoned extrapolations in much the same way that good historical fiction reconstructs the probable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-williamson/hard-science-fiction-probes-alternative-possible-futures-by-means-of/) [Jack Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-williamson/) > [I have a vast curiosity about our universe, our origins, and its probable future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-williamson/i-have-a-vast-curiosity-about-our-universe-our-origins-and-its/) [Jack Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-williamson/) > [I'm afraid Dr. Mondrick chose an unfortunate publicity device. After all, the theory of human evolution is no longer front page news. Every known…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-williamson/i-m-afraid-dr-mondrick-chose-an-unfortunate-publicity-device-after/) [Jack Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-williamson/) > [“Her long body stiffened against him. Her cool fingers tightened in his shaggy fur, and her bare, clinging heels dug deep into his heaving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-williamson/her-long-body-stiffened-against-him-her-cool-fingers-tightened-in-his/) [Jack Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-williamson/) > [I'm a strict materialist - but the police are brutal materialists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-williamson/i-m-a-strict-materialist-but-the-police-are-brutal-materialists/) [Jack Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-williamson/) > [Life would have been absolutely empty without imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-williamson/life-would-have-been-absolutely-empty-without-imagination/) [Jack Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-williamson/) > [“Barbee had always wondered about mental institutions. He thought of taking notes for a feature story on this adventure at Glennhaven, as the evening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-williamson/barbee-had-always-wondered-about-mental-institutions-he-thought-of/) [Jack Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-williamson/) [Explore all 14 Jack Williamson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-williamson/) ## More Assumption quotes > [Next to the assumption of power was the responsibility of relinquishing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/next-to-the-assumption-of-power-was-the-responsibility-of/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [It's difficult for people to come to the understanding that only a small minority of the people ever really get the word about life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/it-s-difficult-for-people-to-come-to-the-understanding-that-only-a/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [Much like teaching art to young art students age 10 to 15 or so on, you have to break it down into bite-sized pieces,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/much-like-teaching-art-to-young-art-students-age-10-to-15-or-so-on/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [Neither novels or their readers benefit from any attempts to divine whether any facts hide inside a story. Such efforts attack the very idea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/neither-novels-or-their-readers-benefit-from-any-attempts-to-divine/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [The risk of developing carcinoma of the lung increases steadily as the amount smoked increases. If the risk among non-smokers is taken as unity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-doll/the-risk-of-developing-carcinoma-of-the-lung-increases-steadily-as/) Richard Doll > [Fortunately, the mind is restless; when it uncovers a layer of its own deception, gives up an illusion, exposes a lie, it does not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-chernin/fortunately-the-mind-is-restless-when-it-uncovers-a-layer-of-its-own/) [Kim Chernin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-chernin/) > [The possibility of saying anything about a thing rests on the assumption that it preserves its identity, or continues to be the same thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-knight/the-possibility-of-saying-anything-about-a-thing-rests-on-the/) [Frank Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-knight/) > [She spent hours drawing on her own, trying to perfect her craft. And when she got into music, she had that same diligence in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-joplin/she-spent-hours-drawing-on-her-own-trying-to-perfect-her-craft-and/) [Laura Joplin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-joplin/) > [If they are, then the only ultimate truths are the particulars of concrete experience, and no postulate or general assumption is inherent in science…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chauncey-wright/if-they-are-then-the-only-ultimate-truths-are-the-particulars-of/) [Chauncey Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chauncey-wright/) > [If he's - the inference is that somehow he thinks slavery is a - is a noble institution I would - I would strongly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/if-he-s-the-inference-is-that-somehow-he-thinks-slavery-is-a-is-a/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [Leadership, pure and simple, is the assumption of responsibility for the pursuit of excellence in group life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-selznick/leadership-pure-and-simple-is-the-assumption-of-responsibility-for/) Philip Selznick > [Humans suffer from self-centred notions as to the nature of life. Humans assume that alien life forms should conform to standards that match our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-perry/humans-suffer-from-self-centred-notions-as-to-the-nature-of-life/) [Steve Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-perry/) > [When I see a fan coming over, I can't help but make an assumption about what they want to talk about. A middle-aged American…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-dormer/when-i-see-a-fan-coming-over-i-can-t-help-but-make-an-assumption/) [Natalie Dormer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-dormer/) > [The Bell curve is a fact of life. The blacks on average score 85 per cent on IQ and it is accurate, nothing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-kuan-yew/the-bell-curve-is-a-fact-of-life-the-blacks-on-average-score-85-per/) [Lee Kuan Yew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-kuan-yew/) > [Pussy Riot have certainly changed some people's assumptions about the role of political art and the relationship between the intelligentsia and the church. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/pussy-riot-have-certainly-changed-some-people-s-assumptions-about-the/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) [Browse all 1,277 Assumption quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assumption/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "[Science fiction is] a specialized type of fantasy, in which the prime assumption usually is a new scientific discovery or invention.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jack Williamson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-williamson/science-fiction-is-a-specialized-type-of-fantasy-in-which-the-prime/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Assumption" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-williamson/science-fiction-is-a-specialized-type-of-fantasy-in-which-the-prime/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d99/jack-williamson-33114_assumption_science-fiction-is-a-specialized-type-of_1143418.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d99/jack-williamson-33114_assumption_science-fiction-is-a-specialized-type-of_1143418.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d99/jack-williamson-33114_assumption_science-fiction-is-a-specialized-type-of_1143418.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“[Science fiction is] a specialized type of fantasy, in which the prime assumption usually is a new…” — Jack Williamson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Jack Williamson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-williamson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "[Science fiction is] a specialized type...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-williamson/science-fiction-is-a-specialized-type-of-fantasy-in-which-the-prime/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-williamson/science-fiction-is-a-specialized-type-of-fantasy-in-which-the-prime/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```