When the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki a new age of science fiction dawned. The world knew, for the first time, of a technology that could truly destroy the world. Japan, reeling from the devastation of the two nuclear bombings, gave the world its most apt sci-fi metaphor for the mayhem and destruction of the bombings: Godzilla. A new Atomic Era subgenre of giant mutant creature attacks was born. Primarily told on film, these stories helped navigate the anxiety that at any moment some unstoppable force could end the world. This trope can still be seen today in the Cloverfield series and modern remakes of Godzilla. It can also be found in the enduringly popular movies in which superheroes do battle with a threatening outside force in possession of a new, devastating technology or a large, unstoppable monster.
As the Space Race heated up, humanity looked towards the stars with a mix of hope and fear. We dreamed of a better future with Star Trek, which brought attention to issues of racial disparities happening on our own planet during the Civil Rights Era and the duties a just society has to all its citizens.

License information: CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
MPAA: PG-13
Go to source: https://www.commonlit.org/texts/a-sense-of-wonder-an-introduction-to-science-fiction