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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/43485
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

There are a few points to balance with an issue like this.

What is the tone and style of the work? Does the use of footnotes aid in reinforcing the tone and style. [If the main character is technical, and the whole piece has a fairly technical tone and air to it, then the use of footnotes might actually serve as a means of reinforcing that technical feel.]

What knowledge of the technology, and its history, actually matter to the reader?

Who _are_ your readers, and what kind of mindset are you expecting? [Are you targeting an audience who is happy to know it is a 'ray gun', or do you expect them to _want_ to know that not only was this ray gun based on an earlier design by famed scientist Von Whathisface, but this specific model was custom made for the whosamacallem division on the... Well, we can acknowledge that some geeks get weirdly into excessively weird details. And we should also keep in mind that if you go into too much detail, then you stray into the realm where you'll be 'wrong', and lose 'geek points' as a writer.]

Footnotes were used to good effect in parts of the Discworld series, and a few other novels that I'm drawing a blank on currently, so we do have examples that they _can_ be used to reasonably good effect at times, however I would stand strongly behind the idea that they should probably be avoided unless you have settled on an exceptionally good reason to use them. (In Discworld's case, that reason was mostly comedic.)

Rather than thinking about how you can tell details about a technology, consider focusing on showing off the details. However, this is ideally done in a casual way. "These new shuttles are so much faster and _safer_ than old style jets. It is crazy how people put up with those deathtraps for so long..." is kind of clunky and insulting. "I'm grabbing the next shuttle from New York to LA, and should be there in about forty five minutes..." tells the reader a lot about the technology without having to actually describe the technology.

Instead, focus on how the characters _uses_ the technology, how it _impacts_ them, and how it ultimately affects society as a whole. [I personally standby the argument that good sci-fi is about how technology impacts people, not about the technology itself.]

Two pages of technical specifications on an amazing flying car might not really tell you nearly as much as you think it does compared to a paragraph like "He slid the door back to squeeze into shuttle pod's cramped front seat, before easing it out of the small docking space to glide off into the night. He frowned at the nearly bare front console, regretting the upgrade last year from the previous model with its cup holder... The thrill of the extra speed had faded after less than a week."

Less is often more - Think long and hard about whether or not a reader actually _Needs_ any given info about something in a science fiction setting before you try to offer it on a plate or shove it down their throats.

Assume your readers are smart and intelligent, at least until they prove otherwise. - Then you can revisit your viewpoints on them.

Original score: 5