I used to have long conversations about the lack of science in most sci-fi with a work colleague on the subway ride home from the library reference publishing company in which we were working at the time. She had a lot of "scientist" friends and loved the "science " in sci-fi. We'd debate the loss of the science in the books that we were able to uncover. There are a few that still have aspects of it - Dan Simmions isn't bad, nor for that matter was Crichton - when he wrote about medicine, his Andromeda Strain has a bibliography. There was one guy who wrote a real-life account of the Andromeda Strain - which I can't remember the name of and may or may not be in a box beneath my bed at the moment - the book not the guy (*g*).

I'd loaned Maria Doria Russell's science fiction novel The Sparrow to my friend and I remember how she had a love/hate relationship with the book. Russell has a background in biological anthropology. So the portion of her book that deals with that topic is spot on, as far as I can tell, the portion that is completely off is well, the bits about space travel.
Over the years we've recommended stuff to each other - I recommended one bizarre novel which is actually more of a fantasy than a science fiction novel entitled "Only Begotten Daughter" by Joseph Morrow. While she rec'd an Asimov novel about a world that had to deal with complete blackness and never seen it before. Also the latest William Gibson, and a Dan Simmons. Neither one of us located many female sci-fi writers - the problem with the women, which is also true in the mystery genre - is they tend to get talked into doing sci-romance novels by their publishers.
We have to have the cheesy romance. And granted sometimes it works. Sometimes it feels as if you are reading a romance novel that just happens to take place in the fantasy or sci-fi genre.

People excuse it - by stating "well it's popular" or this is what people want. Truth is? I don't think they really know what people want. I've worked in the publishing industry and have had friends who were editorial assistants, literary agent assistants, and or acquistions editors themselves and most of them? Don't read. They scan. One of my friends worked in the sci-fi division of Simon and Schuster for a while, one of Schuster's imprints, she used to give me all their new sci-fantasy releases, but she had no clue whether they were any good or for that matter if I'd like them - because she didn't read sci-fantasy. Didn't like it. I remember how much it used to annoy me. Yet at the same time, thought, well that explains a lot.

In college whenever I met a fellow fan of the genre, they'd invite me to play Dungeons and Dragons (ugh.) or scroll off from memory every single episode of Star Trek and why the science in Trek made sense. I'm not a scientist and even I knew that the science in Trek was a bunch of hooey. It got to the point that I just did not tell people. The people who loved it, frankly, scared me or just turned me off.

One of the reasons I stayed online was to be able to get the suggestions. And I've got a little list of purchases I want to make from Amazon - when I get employed again and can afford another book shelf.

One's a sci-fi called Blindsight by Peter Watts that Elizabeth Bear rec'd on her lj.

http://www.amazon.com/Blindsight-Peter-Watts/dp/0765312182/sr=1-1/qid=1159799311/ref=sr_1_1/002-8509175-2421658?ie=UTF8&s=books

Another is a fantasy novel that has come back into print called "The Iron Dragon's Daughter".

I've read so much crap. Finding the good stuff takes work. And time.