Science Fiction and Technological Progression in the 20th Century - Part I

Science fiction authors have certainly played their part in sowing the seeds of technological evolution. Concepts previously thought to be impossible often become reality because someone elaborated on and cultivated that particular idea in the non-fictitious realm. Ideas in fields such as biology, space exploration, and electrical engineering that once existed only in novels and on television are now today's reality. Due to the fact that taste in literature is subjective, I will go through a cross section of my personal favorite short stories and novels.

Aldous Huxley – 'Brave New World' (1932)

Predictions: High-Level Genetic Engineering, Anti-depressant Drugs

When the novel opens, the setting is the year 2945. The location is the Central London Hatchery, and it becomes known to the reader that this is a place that mass-produces children in test tubes. Mass-production is stressed as a main theme in this novel in all facets of life. Custom-made children are divided into classes, each class dictating a different level of intelligence, future career, etc. Although things are unlikely to progress to this extreme in real life, this novel is an excellent predictor of future genetic research, modification, and testing.

This novel was published shortly after the famous Frederick Griffith experiment in 1928. In this experiment, the microbiologist effectively showed that something was surviving a heat-killing process and causing viruses to reproduce (that 'something' would be narrowed down to DNA years later). He also showed that bacteria could transmit their own genetic information to other strains of bacteria. While science was certainly on its way to advanced biology, Huxley had to make some extreme leaps to develop the concepts in his novel.

Another running theme in the novel is a mind-altering drug known as 'soma.' This substance causes a feeling of euphoria and carelessness in the mind of the user, and is effectively used in the novel to control an entire population. While 'soma' was used for literary evil, the idea of drugs that affect the mind became effective in helping medical science treat psychiatric patients. Consequently, the first MAOI type anti-depressant did not hit the market until 1957 (Iproniazid) and the first SSRI type (Prozac) did not appear until the year 1987.

Mark Twain – 'From the 'London Times' of 1904' (1904)

Predictions: The Internet

Before computers and long-distance friendly phones became common household items, it would have been farfetched to imagine communication between oneself and another person on the other side of the globe taking place in a short time. The idea of one person having come up with the concept that it just might be easier if everything were connected electronically is not unimaginable. Many works of science fiction have imagined a vague existence of the Internet. However, this short story calls it out explicitly in the following passage:

"The scene now changes to Chicago. Time, the autumn of 1901. As soon as the Paris contract released the telelectroscope, it was delivered to public use, and was soon connected with the telephonic systems of the whole world. The improved 'limitless-distance' telephone was presently introduced, and the daily doings of the globe made visible to everybody, and audibly discussible, too, by witnesses separated by any number of leagues."

Other works of literature credited with the prediction of the Internet in its current state are William Gibson's 'Neuromancer' (1984) and John Brunner's 'The Shockwave Rider' (1975).

Ray Bradbury – 'Fahrenheit 451' (1951)

Predictions: Big Screen TV, Cell Phones, and Internet Addiction

Today, there are many modern devices that resemble those described by Bradbury in this classic Tale. The setting is in a generalized futuristic city located in America. The average person seems to enjoy driving fast cars, watching many hours of television a day, and devouring information fed to them via something called a "Seashell Radio" headset. This headset is worn inside the ear of the individual, and transmits data in real time (extremely similar to a cell phone).

Another device that is implemented into homes in this novel was the Parlor Wall, or TV Parlor. The Parlor Wall is a giant interactive television that takes up an entire wall in the living room of the main character. The Parlor Wall allows the viewer to interact with what they are watching, and physically become part of the show (e.g. 'choose your own adventure' on television). In this novel, we essentially see large sound systems, virtual reality, on-demand television, and three-dimensional color television. Many of these predictions are exaggerated and are not true to today's technology; however, with the introduction of holographic television, we begin to see traces of Bradbury's classic emerge today. Aside from his predictions of devices, Bradbury went a step beyond and predicted the behavior of future generations. He saw people becoming technologically dependent, and saw a multitude of issues that would arise if such a thing occurred.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._G._Wells

http://ezinearticles.com/?Fahrenheit-451-Paper&id=1115548

http://www.technovelgy.com/

http://www.ehow.com/about_5333401_history-antidepressant-drugs.html