Steampunk and Victorian Science Fiction - is there a difference?

[abdul666lw]

Steampunk science and technologies are 'weird', i.e. 'extremely advanced' with regard to the historical Victorian ones. Such difference could not have happened in a few years, at least two generations is more likely. This places the 'time of divergence' from 'our' timeline very early in the 19th C., with Cugnot's fardier, Jouffroy's Pyroscaphe , Bushnell's Turtle, Fulton's Nautilus and the Mongolfiere had evolved to fully functional machines by Napoleonic times, while the works of Leyde, Franklin, Volta... already had practical applications. Then, the progresses of sciences and technologies being auto-catalytic, the rate of divergence from 'The Real World™' increased constantly. As a 'butterfly effect' everyday life was changed, with deep consequences on the society.

On the other hand VSF sciences and technologies are far closer to 'historical' ones, meaning that the divergence from 'our' timeline is far more recent (1850?): such recent and limited differences had not yet impacted on the society.

[tnjrp]

Do you really think Jules Verne, his impressive academic-sounding computations notwithstanding, paid more than lip service to plausibility of the technology/science when he send men to the Moon in a huge howitzer shell? The same for Wells with his Martians emerging from crashed shells

I don't think I mentioned Verne or Wells at all. It's true that neither of those esteemed gentlemen (certainly the former) did their math properly, but AFAIK it wasn't until the early 20th century that firing manned projectiles was shown to be impossible in practice and one would almost like to say in principle.

[FramFramson]

I don't think I mentioned Verne or Wells at all. It's true that neither of those esteemed gentlemen (certainly the former) did their math properly, but AFAIK it wasn't until the early 20th century that firing manned projectiles was shown to be impossible in practice and one would almost like to say in principle.

Well, strictly speaking it's not totally impossible. There is this particularly infamous episode

[tnjrp]

Sorry for being pedant bait

As per the context, I meant "to Earth orbit and beyond".

Germans IIRC were trying to build a type of "slow acceleration cannon" as late as during WWII that theoretically could provide for less g forces but the prototype wasn't succesful.

[abdul666lw]

Germans IIRC were trying to build a type of "slow acceleration cannon" as late as during WWII that theoretically could provide for less g forces but the prototype wasn't successful.

More recently, the Iraqi Project  Babylon to put a satellite in  orbit.

[FramFramson]

Sorry for being pedant bait

As per the context, I meant "to Earth orbit and beyond".

Germans IIRC were trying to build a type of "slow acceleration cannon" as late as during WWII that theoretically could provide for less g forces but the prototype wasn't succesful.

Oh not to worry, I just couldn't pass up an opportunity to link that picture again.

[Black Cavalier]

I've heard that VSF is where the ladies wear dresses with their corsets on the insides.  Steampunk is where the ladies were pants with their corsets on the inside.

I prefer to think of Steampunk as what we think the Victorians would have wanted the future to be.  & VSF is what the Victorians actually wanted the future to be.

[Melnibonean]

This thread has been going for a while now and I've commented previously.

The basic difference is:
VSF is the pursuit of the Victorian vision of where science could lead.
Steampunk is about stitching cogs onto a top hat.

[Malamute]

And now I think its time to close this thread.