Entertainment
Outer space is big business for the entertainment world. The earliest record of a work of science fiction, written to fuel the imagination and entertain the public, was the Greek satirist Lucian's Vera historia (True history), penned around C.E. 170. In Lucian's tale, a sailing vessel is caught up by a whirlwind and after a journey of eight days arrives at the Moon. Lucian's description of this imaginary lunar voyage set the scene for many stories, films, and even computer games that have followed.
Science fiction novels sell in phenomenal numbers, appealing to the reader's wish to escape the everyday and stimulating the imagination with the possibilities of tomorrow. Many novelists such as Ben Bova and Neil Ruzic have made careers in science fiction writing. Others, such as James Michener (author of Space), Isaac Asimov, and Arthur C. Clarke have been lured by the theme of space, as one compass of a much broader writing career. Science fiction conventions celebrate this genre and allow fans an opportunityto meet with famous authors, hear how they develop their themes related to the future of space exploration, and dissect the plots. These conventions are also major business enterprises.
In modern times the most notable entertainment of the first half of the twentieth century was Orson Welles's broadcast of The War of the Worlds.
