Greek composer Vangelis at his apartment in Paris in 1981. Photo by Rob Verhorst/Redferns. Evángelos Odysséas Papathanassíou, better known as synthesizer pioneer Vangelis, died Tuesday at the age of 79. The electronic composer won an Oscar in 1981 for his soundtrack for the film “Chariots of Fire.” Vangelis’ haunting…

It’s almost 2020. We’re living in an era when many of science fiction’s classics are supposed to take place. As a science fiction writer and a scholar who studies the genre, I’m acutely aware that we are not yet living in the stainless steel techno-utopia we were promised. Where’s…