Comments on: 10 Things Science Fiction Got Right

By: eded

eded — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 04:03:29 +0000

Every one of these entries is wrong, in some degree. Verne was not the first writer to imagine a voyage to another world by some mechanical means, Asimov was not the first to write about mechanical humanoid robots, Huxley was not the first person to think of duplicating people, the internet was written about long before brunner and gibson, Brin was generations late in predicting hyperlinks and WWW, the entry on webcams is nonsense because it contains no specific information, Heinlein did not invent the waterbed, nor is the reference cited by him even his earliest, Clarke was not the first to think of comm satellites (although he did think of the idea of geostationary satellite networks), clarke was not the first to describe space tourists, and microsurgical instruments were correctly described by another sf writer long before fantastic voyage. I like your blog, but don't waste everyone's time printing this poorly researched crap.

By: Adelle

Adelle — Wed, 27 May 2009 13:26:26 +0000

let's not forget in 2001, A Space Odessy, that magical oven the ship had on it, where you could cook your food and reach in without oven mitts and gingerly take out a hot meal.

and of course, Robert A Heinlein had a secretary in a short story whose phone rang, and she reached in her pocket and took it out...

we are IN the future!

By: Guido Thys

Guido Thys — Wed, 20 May 2009 12:22:55 +0000

In Mons, Belgium, one can visit the Mundaneum (http://www.mundaneum.be/) a museum dedicated to a.o. Paul Otlet (1868-1944) who set up an encyclopedia of the universe on millions of index cards. He predicted that one day people would not read books anymore, but have some sort of screen on their desk to which they could have the appropriate index card transported by an ingenius mechanical system.
Moreover, all screens would be connected by a system of telescopes with which one would be able to browse through someone else's card system.
How's that for a precursor of the WWW?

By: Raymond Ross

Raymond Ross — Wed, 13 May 2009 17:16:57 +0000

Asimov did not write Fantastic Voyage: it was an adaptation from the movie of the same title; he did, however, write Fantastic Voyage II, which was much better and more science-fictionally accurate.

By: Abirami Sivaramakrishnan

Abirami Sivaramakrishnan — Wed, 13 May 2009 14:10:39 +0000

Indian stories also have some science fiction in them. In the epic "Ramayan", the antagonist Ravan is portrayed to have 10 heads. There is one instance in "Mahabharat" where a body torn apart sticks together again !!! May be somone has the Indian author's list like this !!!

By: Marty

Marty — Sat, 09 May 2009 14:16:49 +0000

More Star Trek fiction come true; those colored, square, "floppy disks", and, McCoys' hypo that gave shots through clothing.

By: joeomar

joeomar — Sat, 09 May 2009 14:04:30 +0000

It's a little inaccurate to say Arthur C Clarke "predicted" communication satellites. The concept of geostationary satellites existed prior to Clarke. However, Clarke wrote a scientific paper (NOT a science fiction story) describing the use of satellites for communications. The impact of his work on the actual development of communications satellites is a little fuzzy, but he is often credited with INVENTING them, which is certainly different from PREDICTING them.

By: James Schend

James Schend — Wed, 06 May 2009 01:27:14 +0000

Rob F: that's true, but those aren't science fiction stories, those are actual computer science talks. You could also cite Apple's Hypercard, as an example. That said, I find the case for the web pretty week... 1989 is seriously the best that's available? There *has* to be a mention of hypertext in sci-fi before then. (The movie Starship Troopers has one, but I'm guessing that wasn't part of the source book?)

By: dan.rosol

dan.rosol — Wed, 06 May 2009 00:31:58 +0000

do androids dream of electric sheep is a masterpiece in my mind, ive read it at least 10 times, amazing book

By: Thomas

Thomas — Tue, 05 May 2009 23:17:17 +0000

Isaac Asimov's sideburns have made me happy since I was a child.

By: seefish3

seefish3 — Tue, 05 May 2009 23:03:28 +0000

Wow!

And I was so sure I wasn't dyslexic...

By: Ron F

Ron F — Tue, 05 May 2009 21:00:55 +0000

WWW / hypertext has many precursors including Ted Nelson (Computer Lib / Dream Machines, 1974), and further back with Doug Englebart (60s), and Vannevar Bush's 1945 Atlantic Monthly article "The Way We May Think" about the Memex machine.

By: ted

ted — Tue, 05 May 2009 18:56:28 +0000

L Ron Hubbard boasted that he could invent his own religion and he did.

By: Church

Church — Tue, 05 May 2009 17:12:28 +0000

Verne isn't credited with the concept of the submarine, he's credited with the concept of the *nuclear* submarine.

Indeed, his fictional vessel was named after an early submarine (by Robert Fulton) called "Nautilus." In return, the first nuclear submarine was named "Nautilus" after his fictional one.

See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty_Thousand_Leagues_Under_the_Sea#All usions.2Freferences_to_actual_history.2C_geography.2C_and_current_scie nce

By: FortyTwo

FortyTwo — Tue, 05 May 2009 14:43:42 +0000

Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four is eerily reminiscent of the British CCTV culture of today.

By: Craig

Craig — Tue, 05 May 2009 14:27:59 +0000

Guybrush, I had the same thought when I saw that picture of Heinlein. I wonder if it's more than just coincidence.

By: Rho

Rho — Tue, 05 May 2009 14:06:37 +0000

Murray Leinster predicted the internet far before, in his story "A Logic Named Joe" published in 1945. A very funny science fiction tale by the way.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Logic_Named_Joe

By: monkerz

monkerz — Tue, 05 May 2009 14:06:03 +0000

#4 The Internet states- "most famously, computer viruses and worms - the terminology for these, in fact, comes from Brunner's book." Brunner's book came out in 1975. In the 1973 film "West World" author Michael Critchton clearly mentions a virus like problem affecting the computer systems. So sorry, Brunner did not coin the term.

By: Art Waite

Art Waite — Tue, 05 May 2009 13:44:40 +0000

In Between Planets, in 1951, Heinlein had his characters using personal cell-like telephones in a casual, everyday fashion, throughout the book. Just another feature of the near future, the kind of thing he did so well.

By: Sharon E. Dreyer

Sharon E. Dreyer — Tue, 05 May 2009 13:14:07 +0000

Hadn't heard of Uncle John's Bathroom Reader plunges into the Universe until now. I'll have to get a copy for my bathroom. Thanks!

By: ADM

ADM — Tue, 05 May 2009 12:59:12 +0000

Douglas Adams could get credit for predicting portable devices that connect to a ubiquitous wireless information network.

And Ford Prefect is a hacker, though Adams never specifically called him that.

By: angstrom

angstrom — Tue, 05 May 2009 12:20:20 +0000

In "Do Androids dream of electric sheep?"
Deckard is not saving up for an electric sheep, in fact he already has one that he is pretending is a real sheep. In that novel all real animals have high status value due to being very nearly wiped out.
Deckard's fake sheep is a source of great shame to him.

Deckard dreams of having a real sheep, hence the title of the book. You see?

By: Tony LaRocca

Tony LaRocca — Tue, 05 May 2009 12:06:37 +0000

How about cell phones, remeniscent of Star Trek communicators? Or hand-held internet devices (that can connect to google and wikipedia amongst other things) that remind me of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy?

By: Larfin Jackarse

Larfin Jackarse — Tue, 05 May 2009 12:01:54 +0000

I thought HG Wells had the Internet with the 'world wide brain'.

I know he predicted the time machine of which, sadly, I am not allowed to detail in this time era.

By: Guybrush Threepwood

Guybrush Threepwood — Tue, 05 May 2009 11:24:15 +0000

Robert Heinlein looks like Lost's John Locke.

By: Evilbeagle

Evilbeagle — Tue, 05 May 2009 10:49:41 +0000

Fascinating post. I love these.

By: Miranda Vink

Miranda Vink — Tue, 05 May 2009 10:14:12 +0000

seefish3, the book is indeed called 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep'. The book takes place in a world where most animals have become extinct which is why electric recreations of animals (like sheep) have become popular. This is one of the things that set humans apart from androids. Humans feel empathy for animals, androids don't.

By: John A

John A — Tue, 05 May 2009 09:48:29 +0000

Robert Heinlein may have written about waterbeds circa 1961, but he is supposed to have come up with the idea about 1939 during a long period in hospital.

By: seefish3

seefish3 — Tue, 05 May 2009 08:55:52 +0000

Oh, for Christ's sake !

It's "Do Androids Dream of Electric SLEEP" and it had nothing to do with sheep.

Are you high or sumthin'?

By: Charlie Foster

Charlie Foster — Tue, 05 May 2009 08:30:33 +0000

Cool, I liked the robot article. Great insight to the future of robots