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TomSwiftandHis^Electric^Rifledetailsaboyinventorwhoseblasterstuns^ targetswith“apowerful^ currentof^storedelectricity.”^Thatideasoundedneat^ to^NASAengineer^ Jack^Cover,^whoseTASERisanacro^ nymicreference^tothat1911novel.^ T
heweapon^hepatented^in1974conductsajolt^ofjuicefromabattery,^ throughapair^ of^leads,^intothe^target’s^nervous^system.P
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utonetiny^ pieceof^ tech^in1953’s^Fahrenheit^451wasabouttohit^a^non-fiction^tippingpoint:^“thimble^ radios,”whichprovided“an^electronic^ocean^ofsound,of^ mu-sicandtalk.”^ Thenext^year,^ TexasInstrumentsdebuted^the^firstmass-market^ portable^radio,complete^withasingle,weeearphone.D
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Inspired^bygalvanism(manipulating^muscles^withelectricalcur-rent),^Mary^ Shelley’sDr.^VictorFrankenstein^famouslyreanimatesdeadflesh.In1947,^ theless- g
houlish^Dr.^ClaudeBecksavedateenage^patientwitha60Hzjolt^tothe^heart^ fromhis^homemade^defibrillator:^two^silver^ paddleswired^toan^outlet.^Bythe^’^50 s,^ themachines^were^reviving^patients^inhospitalsworldwide.S
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InEdward^Everett^ Hale’s1869novella,TheBrick^Moon,fouroldcollegebrosuseariver-^ poweredflywheel^tosling^a^skyscraper-^ s
izebrick^spherestuffed^withpeople^intoorbit.The^Soviet^Union’sSalyut^ programlauncheda65 -footcylinder—the^semi-nal^ spacestation—in1971.^ T
hecrewsnapped^photosof^ Earthandexperimented^withgamma^raysandasecretmilitary^ radiometer.M
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CharactersinSamuel^Butler’s1872novel^Ere-whon^realizecomputers“were^ultimately^ destinedtosupplantthe^raceof^ man,”^sotheyban^smart^ gizmos.^ R
eal^robotshave^beenlearn-ing^tooutdous^ sincethe^‘^50 s,^ when^AIresearchers^ held^a^workshop^atDartmouth;^ IBM’s^ArthurSamuel^ codedacheckersplayer^ that^ re-finedits^ approach^untilit^could^beathim.4
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Inher1880short^ story“Mizora,”Mary^ BradleyLanedescribesAma-zonians^ whotransformbeef’s^chemical^ elementsintosyntheticburgers,^“amore^ economical^ wayofobtainingmeat^ than^byfattening^animals.”She^wasn’t^ faroff:^ Dutchscientist^ Mark^ Post’spetri-^ born^patty^startsas^bovine^ stemcells.^ I
n^2013,^the^firstonecostmore^than$280 ,000togrow,^but^ he’ssince^trimmedthattoaround^$^12.L
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After^ decadesof^ small-scale^projectsinNordic^nations,^ Rokeya^Sakha-watHossain’s^dreamof^savingsummersun^towarmatown^through^winter^ (fromher1905story^ “Sultana’s^Dream”)gotrealin2007.^ In
Alberta,^ Canada,high^midyeartempstransfertoantifreezeinunderground^pipes.^The^warmedground^radiatesheatinto52homesfor^the^ wholecoldseason.^
THE^FUTUREMIGHTALREADYBEWRITTEN.^ C
heer,^ shudder,^ or^eye-roll^indisgust,^ buthistoryshows^ that^ what^ awaitsus^ is^ often^spelled^out^ in^the^ pagesof^ sciencefiction.Thegenre’s^ predictive^ trackrecordstretches^ mil-lennia:^ Authorsmusedabout^ thelunar^ landingasfar^ back^as175 A.D.,^when^Syriansatirist^ Lucian^ofSamosata^imaginedflyingships^ to^the^moon,atalethattappedthe^ seafaring^ culture’s^desire^ to^ ascend^ to^ theheavens.Fiction^isn’t^always^ pure^ fantasy.^ “
Some^ofourgreatest^ authorsarenotmaking^upstuff^wholecloth,butsampling^fromthe^zeitgeist—scientific^orotherwise,”^saysDanRockmore,directorof^ DartmouthCollege’s^NeukomInstitutefor^ Computational^ Science,^ whichhandsoutannual^ prizesfor^ visionaryspeculative^writing.Of^ course,scribesdo^haveblind^spots.They^ neverquitenailed^the^smartphone(easy,Trekkies—those^communicators^ aremore^like^fancy^pagers).^Here’s^ aglimpse^ofwhat^ sci- f
i^ writersof^ yore^got^ right.^
BYMATTHONGOLTZ- H
ELTINGILLUSTRATIONBYSARADECKPOPSCI.COM•FALL 2019 83