Science fiction has a way of letting you talk about where we are in the world and letting you be a bit of a pop philosopher without being didactic.

A lot of what the 'Culture' is about is a reaction to all the science fiction I was reading in my very early teens.

We're uncomfortable about considering history as a science. It's classified as a social science which is considered not quite scientific.

The East Germans first used biomechanics. This meant that rather than guessing about technique and form they could apply changes to athletic performance based on science.

Fashion is more about feel than science.

Except in very narrow cases where there's breakthrough science that needs patent production worrying about competitors is a waste of time. If you can't out iterate someone who is trying to copy you you're toast anyway.

Young people ask me if this country is serious about science. They aren't thinking about the passport that they will hold but the country that they must rely on for support and encouragement.

I think it was this curiosity about the natural world which awoke my early interest in science.

Fantasy is totally wide open all you really have to do is follow the rules you've set. But if you're writing about science you have to first learn what you're writing about.

The thing about science fiction is that it's totally wide open. But it's wide open in a conditional way.