One final word about getting the science into science fiction - exposition.

"Show, don't tell." are words of wisdom from every writing teacher.  Lecturing to the reader, either directly by the author or indirectly by one character going on and on to another, is not a good story-telling technique. For instance, which of the following make for a better story?

     "As you know, Juliet, one consequence of our new music machine is that it creates about fifteen minutes of random noise for every minute of symphony," said the conductor, Mr. Messier.

     vs.

     Each time she endured the fifteen minute cacophony, Juliet was rewarded with 60 seconds of the most beautiful music she had ever heard.

Except, perhaps, in some hard science fiction stories, the science should be unobtrusive to the reader.  It sets the scene, arouses interest, and makes the reader want to read more (What is a "seed village," anyway?).

We need clear, consistent, believable "science."   We don't need it rammed down our throat.  We want it explained, but we don't want to sit through a lecture.