Reality Ahead of Schedule: How Science Fiction Inspires Science Fact

Levy (A Curious History of Mathematics), a science journalist, colorfully explores the fictional origins of great technological advancements. Levy delves deep into the genre, drawing connections between acclaimed writers and the as-yet unknown or nascent inventions they anticipated. The authors he couples with inventions include both well-known figures, such as Isaac Asimov (driverless cars), Jules Verne (submarines), and H.G. Wells (the atomic bomb), and the more obscure likes of Edward Bellamy (credit cards), Hugo Gernsback (television), and Murray Leinster (the internet). Particular emphasis is placed on the prescient worlds created by George Orwell and Aldous Huxley, who, respectively, predicted the proliferation of widespread government surveillance in 1984 and antidepressant use in Brave New World. Levy also explores how fiction and fact have informed each other, noting that it was Wilhelm Röntgen’s discovery of the X-ray that made “ray guns” a genre staple, and that Elon Musk’s proposals for Mars exploration echoes those in a novel by rocket scientist Wernher von Braun. These historical insights are interspersed with flashy images of pulp magazine covers, movie and TV show stills, and, most intriguingly, vintage 19th-century drawings and patents. Eye-catching as well as informative, Levy’s popular history ably and enjoyably succeeds in showing how science fiction has impacted the real world. (Oct.)