Good science fiction writers invent the world of the future, and brilliant ones predict it. Readers escape from everyday routine and discover the full variety of science fiction on the Zlibrary online library website. Thanks to their ability to predict the development of technology, science fiction authors predicted the emergence of the Internet, the atomic bomb, bionic limbs, and other inventions used by modern man dozens and even hundreds of years ago.
Headphones. Ray Bradbury. Fahrenheit 451 (1953)
In his dystopia “Fahrenheit 451”, Ray Bradbury described the world of the future, and one of his inventions was miniature “turtles” (the main character’s wife did not part with them), which can be considered a prototype of earphones. Actual headphones appeared only 26 years after the publication of the novel.
In the same novel, Bradbury describes huge flat-screen TVs that have replaced walls and devices that resemble ATMs.
Video call. Hugo Gernsback. Ralph 124s 41+ (1911)
The cover of the novel “Ralph 124s 41+” shows one of the technologies the author envisioned – a video call session. The novel is set in the year 2660. The heroine uses a portable device called a telephot. Of course, this seemed like pure fantasy at the time of publication, but today, video communication has become as commonplace as a toaster.
Atomic bomb. H.G. Wells. The World Set Free (1914)
H.G. Wells can safely be considered the record holder for the number of predicted inventions and phenomena: laser beam, dishwasher, slow cooker, video recorder, toll highways, food delivery, working from home, and landing a man on the moon. But his most terrible prediction was the appearance of the atomic bomb in the novel The World Set Free. Even the term “atomic bomb” itself belongs to Wells.
The writer was so carried away by thoughts about where technological progress could lead humanity that in 1901 he published the book “Anticipations,” which, to the surprise of publishers, sold even more copies than his works of fiction.
Credit cards. Edward Bellamy. Looking Backward (1888)
The first credit cards appeared in 1962, and Edward Bellamy predicted their appearance in the novel “Looking Backward,” written in 1888. The action of the socialist utopia takes place in 2000, so the author also guessed at the era of the spread of cards.
Looking Backward describes supermarkets for the first time, which can be considered another fulfilled prophecy of Bellamy.
E-book. Douglas Adams. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (1979)
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is a classic e-book that was described by Douglas Adams in 1979. Interestingly, when Adams discussed the idea of the guide with his colleague and friend Neil Gaiman, he confidently stated that if e-books ever appeared, they would be the doom of paper books. Douglas Adams argued that paper books are like sharks that existed before dinosaurs and continue to live because there is nothing better than being a shark.
In the series “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” there is an image of instant translation technology, albeit in the form of an alien fish.
Bionic limbs. Martin Caidin. Cyborg (1972)
“Cyborg” by Martin Caidin is a story about a man whose organs are replaced with mechanical devices after damage. The main character is transplanted with several legs and arms and even has a mechanical eye inserted. This is the first complete description of bionic limbs, which are actively used in medicine today. From the time the novel was written, it was still 41 years before the first successful transplant of a bionic arm.
The imaginative worlds crafted by science fiction writers, accessible through platforms like Z-library, have repeatedly foreshadowed groundbreaking technologies, proving that the line between fiction and reality is often thinner than it seems. Their visionary ideas continue to inspire and shape the future, reminding us that today’s science fiction may well be tomorrow’s science fact.
