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Top 10 Extraordinary Books That Predicted The Future
Science fiction and fantasy books are often just the authors’ predictions about what they think the world will be like in 10, 20, or hundreds of years. We did a round-up of 10 extraordinary booksthat correctly predicted the future.
10. “An Express of the Future” by Michel Verne (1888)
What it predicted: The Hyperloop
Michel, Jules Verne’s son, wrote “An Express of the Future” at the turn of the 20th century, 25 years after “Paris.” The short story describes a theoretical transatlantic tunnel in which trains are propelled through pneumatic tubes by pressurized air:
“Coming at once to the question of working, he filled the tubes—transformed into a sort of pea-shooter of interminable length—with a series of carriages, to be carried with their travellers by powerful currents of air.”
Sound familiar? You may be thinking of Elon Musk’s recently proposed Hyperloop, his idea of a way to get from one part of California to another very quickly.
9. “Paris in the Twentieth Century” by Jules Verne (1863)
What it predicted: The submarine and lunar landing
Many critics agree that Verne’s dystopian “Paris in the Twentieth Century” wasn’t his greatest work, but what makes it most interesting are the inventions he predicted almost 100 years before they were actually made. They include the submarine and the technology needed to land on the moon.
These inventions were seen in some of Verne’s other books, but “Paris” was written even before these; it just wasn’t published — or even heard of — until Verne’s great-grandson discovered the manuscript in 1989 in a supposedly empty safe.
8. “The World Set Free” by H.G. Wells (1914)
What it predicted: Atomic bombs
Wells was not just the first person to write about the phrase “atomic bomb”, he even inspired Leo Szilard, the first person to think about the idea of a sustained nuclear chain reaction resulting in an atomic bomb. Wells clearly spelled out the idea of a sustained atomic reaction in his book “The World Set Free”. He also eerily predicted the moral and ethical horror that people felt upon the usage of the bombs. Unfortunately, he too predicted the radioactive ruin that lasted long after an atomic bomb was used.
7. “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley (1932)
What it predicted: Mood-enhancing drugs
In his book Brave New World, Huxley paints a picture of a colourful, superficially pleasant world. Personal freedom of all kinds is encouraged, even to the point of being a cultural phenomenon. Inthe book a young boy is referred to a therapist, because he doesn’t want to play sex games with a girl in his class. An adult character is considered aberrant, because he is drawn toward a monogamous relationship. Drugs and distractions are readily available for mood enhancement; something that was not existent in the 1930s but is readily available in the 21st century.
6. “Solution Unsatisfactory” by Robert Heinlein (1940)
What it predicted: Nuclear Bombs
Robert A. Heinlein’s work of fiction made predictions on the effects of technology, how particular tools would change society and the lives of people who used them daily. His short story “Solution Unsatisfactory”, published in 1940, eerily predicted that a drug-addled singer named Ozzy Osbourne would write a song called “Thank God For the Bomb”, thereby cementing humanity’s descent into the hottest place on earth – Hell. Okay, so Heilein didn’t predict Osbourne’s insanity, but he did write about the development of a nuclear weapon that would cause other countries to scramble in order to build their own- a perfect prediction of the Cold War arms race between 1945-1989.
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A book that predicts our current world far closer than either 1984 or Brave New World is “This Perfect Day” by Ira Levin. It is also my favorite book.
It is rivitting and very well written, unlike modern writers who seem to be trying to show off their education more than they are trying to convey thoughts, Ira Levin paints wonderful pictures without being unnecessarily wordy.
I can’t understand why this book is not far more well known than 1984.