First contact (science fiction)

First contact is a common science fiction theme about the first meeting between humans and extraterrestrial life, or of any sentient race's first encounter with another one.

The theme allows authors to explore such topics such as xenophobia, transcendentalism, and basic linguistics by adapting the anthropological topic of first contact to extraterrestrial cultures.

Murray Leinster's 1945 novelette "First Contact" established the term "first contact" in science fiction, although the theme had previously appeared in e.g. H. G. Wells' The Time Machine (1895), The War of the Worlds (1898) and The First Men in the Moon (1901).

Of many variations of the trope, one may recognize the subclasses of the actual interstellar meeting of two civilizations and the "message from space" one.

There have been entire series devoted to this theme. One classic series is the "interstellar trader" series by Andre Norton. More modern treatments, using radio rather than spaceships, include The Hercules Text by Jack McDevitt, A for Andromeda by Fred Hoyle, Life on Another Planet by Will Eisner, and Contact by Carl Sagan.

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