How did Frank Herbert use his research into social sciences such as history, psychology, and linguistics to develop the world of Dune? Although Dune has been heralded as a world-building masterpiece, there has been little exploration of how he crafted the novel in a way that downplays technology and emphasizes the human mind and body. What follows is a summary of the key points in my recently published academic article on this topic. It discusses how the Spacing Guild, Mentats, and Bene Gesserit are shown as groups that seem necessary in the wake of the Butlerian Jihad and banning of
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