There are few TV programs that I watch these days, and even fewer that impress me with the quality of their acting, writing, directing, and scoring. Doctor Whois one of them. The penultimate episode of Series 9, “Heaven Sent”, may well be one of the best episodes of Doctor Who, and one of the best episodes of television ever.…

I have learned a lot about thinking about the future through reading (and to a much lesser degree writing) science fiction. Science fiction, particularly “hard science fiction”, is principally about extrapolating the future from current scientific knowledge. It cultivates in its practitioners an awareness of potential avenues for future development. To write good hard science fiction one must be aware of the state of current science, and the ways in which such science could be expressed in technologies and how such technologies might affect individuals and societies.…