Emily Chan
In 1965, Frank Herbert’s novel Dune was published. It is regarded as a science fiction classic, and it is one of the first books ever written to address environmental concerns seriously.
Most recently, the novel has inspired two movies. The first came out in 2021. On March 1, 2024, Dune: Part Two was released in theaters, reigniting an important conversation about the state of the environment. A third film is set to arrive sometime in the future.
The book follows the story of Paul Atreides, a teenage nobleman who is forced to leave his home planet for a desert planet called Arrakis, also known as Dune.
There, they must wear “stillsuits” to recycle body moisture since the climate is so dry. Arrakis also contains “melange,” a valuable spice that their society can’t function without. When Paul and his family are betrayed, he runs off into the desert to plot his revenge.
In his novel, Herbert basically predicted the future of the rise of artificial intelligence as well as power struggles over oil in the Middle East and the types of warfare that would occur in the region.
He wrote that humans revolted thousands of years before Paul Atreides was born to purge computers and thinking machines from their world.
Dune was rejected by publishers a total of 23 times before the Chilton Book Company finally accepted it. The book gained popularity and won two esteemed prizes in science fiction.
Eventually, it was adapted into a film in 1984, a 2000 television miniseries, and a two-part film series within the past decade. It also made a big impact on the environmental movement of the 1970s.
Herbert taught at the University of Washington and helped organize environmental groups there. He also spoke up in support of renewable energy, installing his own solar collector and windmill.
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