Technically speaking (the BEST type) the term Science-Fiction (or 'scientifiction' as termed initially) was created by Hugo Gernsback in 1926. BUT (and an important BUT) the *genre* itself is generally credited to have originated with the publication of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, written in 1818.
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The problem with it is that it's such a mixed beast -- as genre-creators tend to be. To her, she was writing a Gothic novel; later, we called parts of it SF and parts of it horror, and I don't know that most people would even recognize the term Gothic novel outside English lit majors and people who know exactly what Austen was mocking with Northanger Abby.
True. She probably didn't *know* she was writing a proto Sci-Fi novel! But Frankenstein meets a lot of the criteria for SF. It had horror elements but was, at its heart, based on the scientific re-animation of the dead. The actual horror factor grew out of that fact and the way Victor treated 'the monster'.
Typical, just typical.
'They' (whoever they are) do seem to want to erase women from just about any historical record. I find that quite bizarre....
'They' don't realize that we wouldn't be anywhere without women. Well, we wouldn't be here at all.
As it should be. Mary Shelley wrote the first science fiction novel, end of story. It doesn't matter if the term or genre didn't exist at the time, this is the first novel of its kind.
Definitely the one you really can't argue with - naming convention or not!
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