What is Science Fiction?

What exactly is science fiction?

According to the Salem Press Encyclopedia of Literature: "Science fiction is a literary genre that is characterized by its inclusion of real or imaginary science and technology and its impact on people and societies. Science fiction usually takes place in a futuristic or alternate world."

The most popular authors of literary science fiction that led to the science fiction that we know of today are: Mary Shelley, Jules Verne, H.G Wells, Isaac Asimov, Ursula K. Le Guin, Ray Bradbury, Frank Herbert, and Arthur C. Clarke.