When writers extrapolate from existing trends, that leaves out the wild card, which is where the most interesting tech often comes from-Alexander Fleming noticing a contaminant on lab bacteria, Steve Jobs tinkering in his garage.” Yes, Clarke got communication satellites right, Kress says “-but he missed computers in, say, the classic Childhood’s End. That is, they have to extrapolate from “what/where things have been and are” to “what/where might be.” …and even more Predictions From Science Fiction.īut many science fiction stories are set in the future, which means they need to include the future of technology (or present reasons why things haven’t changed). Tele-operated robotic hands, and waterbeds-Robert Heinlein. The telecommunications satellite- the late Arthur C. Automatically controlled sliding doors (and dozens of other things)-Hugo Gernsback. Wells, The First Men In The Moon courtesy of Cavorite, an anti-gravity metal. Getting to the moon courtesy of an anti-gravity metal-H.G. What those people do is try to imagine every important thing that may happen (so as to do in the present things which may encourage the good ones and forestall the bad) and that’s what SF writers do in their daily toil.”Īccurate Predictions Even When They Weren’t Trying Getting to the moon by shooting a manned capsule out of a way big cannon-Jules Verne, From The Earth To The Moon. Kornbluth), MAN PLUS, and most recently The Last Theorem, co-authored with the late Arthur C.

“No sensible science-fiction writer tries to predict anything,” says Frederick Pohl, whose work includes the classic The Space Merchants (written with Cyril M.

Science fiction isn’t (as a rule) about predicting the future, and science fiction writers aren’t trying to predict it.

Nancy kress beggars