The Wonderful Future that Never was
Between 1903 and 1969, scientists and other experts made hundreds of predictions in "Popular Mechanics" magazine about what the future would hold. Their forecasts ranged from ruefully funny to eerily prescient and optimistically utopian. Here are the very best of them, culled from hundreds of articles, complete with the original, visually stunning retro art. They will capture the imagination of futurists in the same way Jules Verne's writing did a century earlier. Every chapter features an introduction by astrophysics professor, science-fiction author, and former NASA advisor Gregory Benford.
PAST PREDICTIONS OF OUR FUTURE INCLUDE:
Skyscrapers so tall they'll have their own climate o Underground pneumatic tubes to replace garbage trucks o Rooftop lakes that serve as air conditioning systems o Clothes made from asbestos and aluminum o Mail sorted by robots and delivered by parachutes
PAST PREDICTIONS OF OUR FUTURE INCLUDE:
Skyscrapers so tall they'll have their own climate o Underground pneumatic tubes to replace garbage trucks o Rooftop lakes that serve as air conditioning systems o Clothes made from asbestos and aluminum o Mail sorted by robots and delivered by parachutes
HistoryModern20th CenturyScienceSocial ScienceFuture Studies
RELEASED2010
PUBLISHERHearst Books
LENGTH207
LANGUAGEEN
Gregory Benford (Gregory Albert Benford) is an astrophysicist and science fiction author who is on the faculty of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Irvine. He is also a contributing editor of Reason magazine. Benford is best known for the Galactic Center Saga novels, a series that postulates a galaxy in which sentient organic life is in constant warfare with sentient electromechanical life. Greg was born in Mobile, Alabama. He received his Bachelor of Science in Physics from the University of Oklahoma, followed by his Masters and then his Doctorate from the University of California, San Diego. Having published more than 200 scientific papers, his research encompasses both theory and experiments in the fields of astrophysics and plasma physics. Greg is a two-time winner of the Nebula Award and has also won the John W. Campbell Award, the Australian Ditmar Award, the Lord Foundation Prize, and the 1990 United Nations Medal in Literature. Source: Secular Policy Institute
The Wonderful Future that Never was
Between 1903 and 1969, scientists and other experts made hundreds of predictions in "Popular Mechanics" magazine about what the future would hold. Their forecasts ranged from ruefully funny to eerily prescient and optimistically utopian. Here are the very best of them, culled from hundreds of articles, complete with the original, visually stunning retro art. They will capture the imagination of futurists in the same way Jules Verne's writing did a century earlier. Every chapter features an introduction by astrophysics professor, science-fiction author, and former NASA advisor Gregory Benford.
PAST PREDICTIONS OF OUR FUTURE INCLUDE:
Skyscrapers so tall they'll have their own climate o Underground pneumatic tubes to replace garbage trucks o Rooftop lakes that serve as air conditioning systems o Clothes made from asbestos and aluminum o Mail sorted by robots and delivered by parachutes
PAST PREDICTIONS OF OUR FUTURE INCLUDE:
Skyscrapers so tall they'll have their own climate o Underground pneumatic tubes to replace garbage trucks o Rooftop lakes that serve as air conditioning systems o Clothes made from asbestos and aluminum o Mail sorted by robots and delivered by parachutes
HistoryModern20th CenturyScienceSocial ScienceFuture StudiesTechnology & EngineeringSocial Aspects
RELEASED2010
PUBLISHERHearst Books
LENGTH207
LANGUAGEEN
Gregory Benford (Gregory Albert Benford) is an astrophysicist and science fiction author who is on the faculty of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Irvine. He is also a contributing editor of Reason magazine. Benford is best known for the Galactic Center Saga novels, a series that postulates a galaxy in which sentient organic life is in constant warfare with sentient electromechanical life. Greg was born in Mobile, Alabama. He received his Bachelor of Science in Physics from the University of Oklahoma, followed by his Masters and then his Doctorate from the University of California, San Diego. Having published more than 200 scientific papers, his research encompasses both theory and experiments in the fields of astrophysics and plasma physics. Greg is a two-time winner of the Nebula Award and has also won the John W. Campbell Award, the Australian Ditmar Award, the Lord Foundation Prize, and the 1990 United Nations Medal in Literature. Source: Secular Policy Institute
