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Mohs Scale of Science Fiction Hardness: Difference between revisions
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# '''[[Mohs Scale of Science Fiction Hardness/Science in Genre Only|Science in Genre Only]]:''' The work is unambiguously set in the ''literary genre'' of [[Science Fiction]], but ''scientific'' it is not. [[Applied Phlebotinum]] is the rule of the day, often of the [[It Runs on Nonsensoleum|Nonsensoleum]] kind, [[Green Rocks]] gain [[New Powers as the Plot Demands]], and both [[Bellisario's Maxim]] and the [[MST3K Mantra]] apply. Works like ''[[Futurama]]'', ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'', The [[DC Comics]] and [[Marvel]] universes, and ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'' fall in this class.
# '''[[Mohs Scale of Science Fiction Hardness/World of Phlebotinum|World of Phlebotinum]]:''' The universe is full of [[Applied Phlebotinum]] with more to be found behind every star, but the Phlebotinum is dealt with in a [[Magic A Is Magic A|fairly consistent fashion despite its lack of correspondence with reality]] and, in-world, is considered to lie within the realm of scientific inquiry. Works like E. E. "Doc" Smith's ''[[Skylark Series|Skylark of Space]]'' and ''[[Lensman]]'' series, ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'', and ''[[StarCraft]]'' fall in this category.
# '''[[Mohs Scale of Science Fiction Hardness/Physics Plus|Physics Plus]]:''' Stories in this class once again have multiple forms of [[Applied Phlebotinum]], but in contrast to the prior class, the author aims to justify these creations with [[Shown Their Work|real]] and [[Minovsky Particle|invented]] natural laws—and these creations and others from the same laws will [[Chekhov's Boomerang|turn up again and again in new contexts]]. Works like ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'', David Brin's ''[[Uplift]]'' series, and [[Battlestar Galactica
# '''[[Mohs Scale of Science Fiction Hardness/One Big Lie|One Big Lie]]:''' Authors of works in this class invent [[The "Unicorn In The Garden" Rule|one (or, at most, a very few)]] counterfactual physical laws and writes a story that explores the implications of these principles. [[David Weber]]'s ''[[Honor Harrington]]'' series, most works in [[Alan Dean Foster]]'s ''[[Humanx Commonwealth]]'' series, and [[Robert A. Heinlein]]'s ''[[Farnham's Freehold]]'' fall in this category. This class also includes a subclass (4.5 on the scale) we call ''One Small Fib'', containing stories that include only a single counterfactual device (often [[FTL Travel]]), but for which the device is not a major element of the plot. Many Hal Clement novels (e.g. ''[[Mission Of Gravity]]'', ''Close to Critical''), ''[[Freefall]]'', and the ''[[Alien (franchise)|Alien]]'' series fall within the subclass.
# '''[[Mohs Scale of Science Fiction Hardness/Speculative Science|Speculative Science]]:''' Stories in which there is no "big lie"—the science of the tale is (or [[Science Marches On|was]]) genuine speculative science or engineering, and the goal of the author to make as few errors with respect to known fact as possible. Early works in [[Larry Niven]]'s ''[[Known Space]]'' series, the first two books in Robert L. Forward's ''Rocheworld'' series, ''[[Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind]]'', and [[Robert A. Heinlein]]'s ''[[The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress]]'' fall in this class. A subclass of this (5.5 on the scale) is ''Futurology:'' stories which function almost like a prediction of the future, extrapolating from current technology rather than inventing major new technologies or discoveries. (Naturally, [[Zeerust]] is common in older entries.) ''[[Gattaca]]'', ''[[wikipedia:The Machine Stops|The Machine Stops]]'' by E. M. Forster, and the more [[Speculative Fiction]] works of [[Jules Verne]] fall in this subclass.
# '''[[Real Life]]''': A [[Shared Universe]] which spawned its own genre, known as "[[Nonfiction]]". Despite the various problems noted at [[Reality Is Unrealistic]], it is almost universally agreed that there is no other universe known so thoroughly worked out from established scientific principles. [[NASA|The Apollo Program]], [[World War II]], and [[Woodstock]] fall in this class.
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