Science fiction has always been a genre in which you can stretch the imagination with ideas that are only possible in the mind. But there are cases where real science is needed, and can be used impressively.
Author Brian Clegg uses his new book, "Ten Billion Tomorrows," to show how a host of fictional topics has led to new discoveries in science and technology.
Here Clegg tells us about 10 movies in history that have influenced people to think about science beyond the classrooms and laboratories.
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1. "Woman in the Moon" (1929)
Fritz Lang's classic 1929 film is one of the first to travel to the moon, and what's featured would become staples for space movies to come, from the look of the rocket ships to the countdown to blastoff.
"It was the first time there was a countdown before a rocket launch in a movie," Clegg said. "In fact, NASA got the idea of a shuttle countdown from the film."
2. "Destination Moon" (1950)
"Destination Moon" is one of the first times the US got a dose of what was beyond the sky. Though it might look silly now, for kids in the 1950s it sparked ideas that would change entertainment and technology for decades to come.
"It also has this documentary quality to it, so the fact that human beings were making this was quite inspirational in the 1950s," Clegg said.
3. "Forbidden Planet" (1956)
Six years later, one of the major films in the sci-fi genre was released. Depicting for the first time a story was set beyond our solar system, it has Leslie Nielsen playing the captain of a crew that investigates the fate of an expedition sent decades earlier.
"You can see 'Star Trek' and 'Lost in Space' were hugely inspired by it," Clegg said. "But as previous films only had humans, in this there's a robot, going a step forward in that thinking of technology."
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