All the Wonder that Would Be

It has been argued that science fiction (SF) gives a kind of weather forecast - not the telling of a fortune but rather the rough feeling of what the future might be like. The intention in this book is to consider some of these bygone forecasts made by SF and to use this as a prism through which to view current developments in science and technology.

In each of the ten main chapters - dealing in turn with antigravity, space travel, aliens, time travel, the nature of reality, invisibility, robots, means of transportation, augmentation of the human body, and, last but not least, mad scientists - common assumptions once made by the SF community about how the future would turn out are compared with our modern understanding of various scientific phenomena and, in some cases, with the industrial scaling of computational and technological breakthroughs.

A further intention is to explain how the predictions and expectations of SF were rooted in the scientific orthodoxy of their day, and use this to explore how our scientific understanding of various topics has developed over time, as well as to demonstrate how the ideas popularized in SF subsequently influenced working scientists.



Since gaining a BSc in physics from the University of Bristol and a PhD in theoretical physics from the University of Manchester, Stephen Webb has worked in a variety of universities in the UK. He is a regular contributor to the Yearbook of Astronomy series and has published an undergraduate textbook on distance determination in astronomy and cosmology as well as several popular science books.

S-a sustinut ca fictiunea stiintifica (SF) ofera un fel de prognoza meteo - nu spunerea unei averi, ci mai degraba sentimentul dur despre cum ar putea fi viitorul. Intentia din aceasta carte este de a lua in considerare unele dintre aceste prognoze trecute facute de SF si de a le folosi ca o prisma prin care sa vizualizam evolutiile actuale in stiinta si tehnologie. , extraterestrii, calatoriile in timp, natura realitatii, invizibilitatea, robotii, mijloacele de transport, marirea corpului uman si, nu in ultimul rand, oamenii de stiinta nebuni - presupuneri comune facute odata de comunitatea SF despre modul in care s-ar transforma viitorul sunt comparate cu intelegerea noastra moderna a diferitelor fenomene stiintifice si, in unele cazuri, cu scalarea industriala a progreselor tehnologice si de calcul. O intentie suplimentara este de a explica modul in care predictiile si asteptarile SF au fost inradacinate in ortodoxia stiintifica a zilelor lor si folositi acest lucru pentru a explora modul in care intelegerea noastra stiintifica a diverselor subiecte s-a dezvoltat de-a lungul timpului, precum si pentru a demonstra modul in care ideile popularizate in SF au influentat ulterior De cand a obtinut un BSc in fizica de la Universitatea din Bristol si un doctorat in fizica teoretica de la Universitatea din Manchester, Stephen Webb a lucrat intr-o varietate de universitati din Marea Britanie.