The first "real" SF-novel is by many considered to be Mary Wollstonecraft's "Frankenstein" (1818). The story is built on the science of that age, and many events is given explanations in a scientific way.
  The authors that started SF in the way we know it today was Jules Verne, among his most famous books are "From the Earth to the Moon" (De La Terre a la Lune, 1873) and "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" (Le Voyage au centre de la Terre, 1864), and H.G. Wells, "The War of the Worlds", 1898 and "The Time Machine: an invention", 1895.

  Other authors that are seen as pioneers are Robert Louis Stevenson "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", 1886 and Edgar Allan Poe.
Edgar Allan Poe is mostly famous for his many tales or horror, but many of his stories are very close to SF.

- SF as a genre

Books at Amazon.co.uk (Europe):
Critical Terms for SF and Fantasy (1986)
Frankenstein
Journey to the Centre of the Earth Jules Verne
From the Earth to the Moon Jules Verne
The Time Machine H.G. Wells
The War of the Worlds H.G. Wells
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Books at Amazon.com (USA):
Frankenstein
Journey to the Centre of the Earth Jules Verne
From the Earth to the Moon Jules Verne
The Time Machine H.G. Wells
The War of the Worlds H.G. Wells
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

http://hem.passagen.se/gumby/
Calle Åsman [emsworth [at] gmx [dot] net]