January 22, 2011 / Leslie

Review: The Wonderful Future That Never Was

The Wonderful Future That Never Was
by Gregory Benford
and The Editors of Popular Mechanics

Genre: Science
Publisher: Hearst
Publish Date: October 5, 2010
Format: Hardcover | 208 pages
Rating: 4 of 5

Between 1903 and 1969, scientists and other experts made hundreds of predictions in Popular Mechanics magazine about what the future would hold. Their forecasts ranged from ruefully funny to eerily prescient and optimistically utopian. Here are the very best of them, culled from hundreds of articles, complete with the original, visually stunning retro art.

This is a fun, entertaining book with lots of artwork on glossy pages put together in a coffee table book format. It’s divided into six sections by topic rather than presenting the articles in chronological order. I would have preferred that it didn’t jump back and forth between the years, but it didn’t take away from my overall enjoyment of the book. I’ve always had an interest in science and inventions so this book was a real treat for me.

Some of these predictions were so outlandish I had to laugh as I was reading them, some may yet occur and others were remarkably prescient. In 1925 scientists predicted that a cure would be discovered for the common cold and cancer within the next 25 years; we’re still waiting but cures are probably coming in the not too distant future. Predictions of things that seem commonplace today such as 100 story skyscrapers, ultrasound machines, videophones, GPS systems and frozen food dinners were only wistful thinking at one time. Some of the funniest predictions were about ‘the home of tomorrow’; how it would be built and how we would live. One of the more outlandish ones was that a rooftop lake would become a method of air-conditioning for the home.

Back in 1968 I remember watching 2001: A Space Odyssey and believing we would have space stations and rocket ships and all kinds of marvelous inventions by the year 2000. While a lot of predictions did come true, I’m still waiting for my flying car.

Fascinating, entertaining and a good conversation starter, I recommend this book to anyone who’s curious about science, technology and inventions or is curious about the future we thought we’d be living in today.

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