Earth in science fiction

In works set in the far future, Earth can be a center of space-faring human civilization, or just one of many inhabited planets of a galactic empire, and sometimes destroyed by ecological disaster or nuclear war or otherwise forgotten or lost.

[1]: 139 [3] Inhabitants of Earth can be referred to as Earthlings, Earthers, Earthborn, Earthfolk, Earthians, Earthies (this term being often seen as derogatory), Earthmen (and Earthwomen), Earthpersons, Earthsiders, Solarians, Tellurians, Terrestrials, Terrestrians, or Terrans.

[5] The term itself, however, was coined by Jack Williamson in a science-fiction short story ("Collision Orbit") published in 1942 in Astounding Science Fiction,[6][7][4]: 235 [8] although the concept of terraforming in popular culture predates this work; for example, the idea of turning the Moon into a habitable environment with atmosphere was already present in La Journée d'un Parisien au XXIe siècle ("A Day of a Parisian in the 21st Century", 1910) by Octave Béliard [fr].

Some critics of the "outer space adventures" have pointed to the importance of "earthly" concepts and imagery closer to contemporary readers' everyday experience.

Bridging these ideas, and treating Earth as a semi-biological or even sentient entity, are classic works like Arthur Conan Doyle's When the World Screamed (1928) and Jack Williamson's Born of the Sun (1934).

Exceptions to this include Terry Pratchett's satirical Discworld series—which was inspired by Hindu cosmology—and deliberately provocative works like S. Fowler Wright's novel Beyond the Rim from 1932.

[1]: 137–138 [2]: 226  There have also been fictional accounts of a hollow Earth, such as Edgar Allan Poe's 1838 novel The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket inspired by John Cleves Symmes Jr.'s model featuring openings at the north and south poles whereby the interior can be accessed.

Brian Stableford listed among "notable accounts of burrowing expeditions" into such an Earth works such as Harry Harrison's "Rock Diver" (1951).

[l] Some of the works in these genres overlap with the climate change genre, as climate change and resulting ecological disasters are a commonly used plot device for events that trigger the fall of human civilization (other plots involve the destruction of Earth from human warfare, alien invasions,[m] or from various sorts of man-made incidents[n] or accidental disasters).