Tuesday, April 30, 2013

30 April 2013


Birthdays
Dianna Agron b. 1986
Kirsten Dunst b. 1982
Kunal Nayyar b. 1981
Johnny Galecki b. 1975
Larry Niven b. 1938 (winner of 1971 Hugo and Nebula for Ringworld)

Breaking the Pretty Girl = Picture Slot rule today because I think the general public associates the stars of The Big Bang Theory with the genre more than they do Ms. Agron (Glee) or Ms. Dunst, as lovely as they are.

Many happy returns to all concerned.

 

Prediction: In April 1943, Dr. Estelle Karst perfects a method for producing artificial radioactives, giving the United States a decisive weaponry advantage the helps the Allies win World War II.

Predictor: Robert A. Heinlein in Solution Unsatisfactory, published 1941

Reality:  Pretty darn close. The military uses of nuclear power had not yet been developed but the theories had been bandied about some. For this part of the prediction, I've trotted out the Sensible Bob photo for the first time this month.

But then...


Prediction: On February 17, 1951, after the death of the President of the United States, Clyde Manning stages a coup d'etat and becomes the military dictator of the planet. 

Predictor: Robert A. Heinlein in Solution Unsatisfactory, published 1941

Reality: He just needed a bang-up ending to this story and Grumpy Old Bob couldn't leave well enough alone. He envisions a Pax Americana period after World War II and a short struggle with the Eurasian Union under Soviet domination, with America's nuclear monopoly being the decisive advantage in both conflicts.

Of course, science fiction should be seen more as warning than actual prediction in many cases and Heinlein is on record in a prediction that the United States would never fight a war of aggression, yet another example of Ridiculous Bob.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

John Elfreth Watkins discusses the future of the telephone.

 
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

1 comment:

  1. I Am Number Four is a lot better than it had to be. (Just working the ref for next year...)

    ReplyDelete

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