From a historian's point of view, which science-fiction franchise best depicts ship design progression across its history?
Short answerStar Trek receives the continuity edge, while Star Wars is complicated by the effect of filming order on how advanced its ships appear.
NotesA comparison of ship development needs a franchise with enough fictional history to show change over time. Star Wars and Star Trek supply that breadth. Ships belonging to an earlier period in Star Wars can appear more advanced than their successors because the films were made out of story order. Star Trek is preferred for maintaining more technological continuity, although Discovery introduces unusual developments for which an explanation is supplied.