Dan's Reviews > The Skeptics' Guide to the Future: What Yesterday's Science and Science Fiction Tell Us About the World of Tomorrow

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Grand Central Publishing for an advance copy of this book about trying to guess about the world that is too come, and how wrong people can be.

Science fiction is always trying to look forward, the only problem is that much of the baggage of the present influences thoughts about the future. Rocket cars and hover skateboards are probably the first things that come to mind that people were promised. These of course were planned when gas was a quarter, seatbelts weren't optional, speed limits suggested, and insurance companies didn't have as much say. In The Skeptics' Guide to the Future: What Yesterday's Science and Science Fiction Tell Us About the World of Tomorrow Doctor Steven Novella with Bob and Jay Novella look at what futurists and writers of science fiction thought our futures would hold, what they missed, and the scientific reality we might be moving toward.

The book begins with what could be a scene from the Jetsons. A robot helps a man get dressed, ultraviolet light cleans his teeth, children going to school via pneumatic tubes, followed by a driverless trip in a atomic powered super car. Complete with the supportive wife who serves breakfast in pill form, and seems to have nothing else to do for the rest of the day. And I am sure, though I hate to show my bias, but I am going to guess they are white. That was a the view of the future from the 1950's, something that would be in the background of most stories featured in Analog or other magazines of speculative fiction from the era. The book then goes into what thoughts of the future would be like, and the technology involoved, or in many cases what technology never even occurred to these seers of the future. The book also does a little future forcasting discussing nanotechnology, space elevators, chips cell phones and more.

Some parts of this book are very funny, some are sad, as the future is nothing like many people planned. Dr. Novella's writing style is very informative with an abiilty to discuss various scienes and technology with clear, consice information so that the reader never feels lectured at or confused and bored. He also looks at the future with, as in the title, a sceptic's eye, explaing the human and physical cost of technology, the uses, and resources needed, and finally if it makes sense to even build or try something that might be more detrimental than useful. An interesting way to look at the future, one that is both nostalgic and hopeful.

A book for both science and science fiction fans, and even scholars interested in the genre of speculative fiction. Also for writers who might want to write books about alternative worlds, where science zigged and not zagged. This is the second book that I have read by the author and found it very fun and informative. I look forward to more in the series.