Science fiction (sf) is an old genre focused on the new. It is often called the literature of change, change for the better or for the worse. Primarily in sf the cause of change is an advance in technology or a scientific discovery. Thus the genre is nearly as old as the discipline of science itself.
There is no standard sf canon. There are a few sf works which most interested readers gravitate towards. So this list is merely a guide, not a canon. I do not necessarily support any of the ideas or worldviews in any of these texts.
Essentials
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
Robert Louis Stevenson, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
H.G. Wells' novels, including The Time Machine and War of the Worlds
Yevgeny Zamatyin, We
H.P. Lovecraft's stories
C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy
Aldous Huxley, A Brave New World
George Orwell, Animal Farm; 1984
Isaac Asimov, Foundation Trilogy; I, Robot
Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers; Stranger in a Strange Land; The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Arthur C. Clarke, Childhood's End, Rendezvous with Rama
Walter Miller, A Canticle for Leibowitz
Stanislaw Lem, Solaris; The Cyberiad; His Master's Voice; Fiasco
Philip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?; The Man in the High Castle; Ubik; s
Ursula Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness; The Dispossessed
Joe Haldeman, The Forever War
Strugatsky Brothers, Roadside Picnic
Margaret Atwood, A Handmaid's Tale
William Gibson, Neuromancer
Terry Pratchett, Discworld novels
Gene Wolfe - Book of the New Sun
Dan Simmons - Hyperion
Essential SF TV
Star Trek
The Twilight Zone
The Prisoner
The X-Files
Lost
Battlestar Galactica (2000s)
Movies
Metropolis (1927)
Frankenstein (1931)
King Kong (1933)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
Forbidden Planet (1956)
La Jetee (1962)
Dr. Strangelove (1963)
Alphaville (1965)
Planet of the Apes (1968)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1969)
Solaris (1972)
Star Wars (1977)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
Stalker (1979)
Alien (1979)
The Road Warrior (1981)
Blade Runner (1982)
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)
Dark City (1998)
Galaxy Quest (1999)
The Matrix (1999)
Solaris (2002)
WALL-E (2008)
Interesting
The Man in the White Suit (1951)
Alfred Bester, The Stars My Destination
Philip K. Dick's novels
Connie Willis' time travel novels (The Doomsday Book, etc.)
Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Russell Hoban, Riddley Walker
Orson Scott Card, Ender's Game
Neal Stephenson's novels (proceed with caution)
Karen Joy Fowler, Sarah CanaryDan Simmons, Hyperion
Primer (2004)
Cormac McCarthy, The Road
