Ten Billion Tomorrows
How Science Fiction Technology Became Reality and Shapes the Future
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
An exciting book about real-life technology derived from science fiction and its impact on the world.
Science fiction is a vital part of popular culture, influencing the way we all look at the world. TV shows like Star Trek and movies from Forbidden Planet to Inception have influenced scientists to enter the profession and have shaped our futures. Science fiction doesn't set out to predict what will happen - it's far more about how human beings react to "What if?…" - but it is fascinating to see how science fiction and reality sometimes converge, sometimes take extraordinarily different paths.
Ten Billion Tomorrows brings to life a whole host of science fiction topics, from the virtual environment of The Matrix and the intelligent computer HAL in 2001, to force fields, ray guns and cyborgs. We discover how science fiction has excited us with possibilities, whether it is Star Trek's holodeck inspiring makers of iconic video games Doom and Quake to create the virtual interactive worlds that transformed gaming, or the strange physics that has made real cloaking devices possible.
Mixing remarkable science with the imagination of our greatest science fiction writers, Ten Billion Tomorrows will delight science fiction lovers and popular science devotees alike.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Science writer and novelist Clegg (Final Frontier) assesses how many of science fiction's dreams have been realized, and examines which are likely and unlikely to become reality in the future. He touches on many mainstays of the genre including force fields, ray guns, teleportation, and cloaking devices but the book is not meant to be comprehensive. Rather, Clegg says, it is a celebration of "the wonderful imagination of science fiction writers and the dramatic impact of real-world science and technology in those same areas." The book offers some fascinating insight into contemporary scientific research and technologies that are currently in use and in development, such as electroencephalograph (EEG) caps that enable a crude form of "cyber-telepathy." Clegg does not shy away from explaining some of the science in detail, as when he provides a lengthy explanation of quantum tunneling as a theoretical way to transmit communications faster than light. Still, the book is highly accessible and suitable for any reader interested in science fiction, or anyone excited by the potential of technology.
