"Dard Kelm demonstrated the gadgets in a typical room [at the Time Patrol Academy in the Oligocene Epoch]. They were the sort you would have expected by, say, A.D. 2000: unobtrusive furniture readily adjusted to a perfect fit, refresher cabinets, screens which could draw on a huge library of recorded sight and sound for entertainment. Nothing too advanced, as yet." (p. 8)
Thus confidently did Poul Anderson write about 2000 in 1955. In Robert Heinlein's Future History, written then or earlier, a character's phone rang (or buzzed) so she took it from her handbag to answer it.
Kelm's screens contrast beautifully with the Oligocene landscape (see image) and river valley outside the Academy. To guard history, the Patrol prepares in prehistory, carefully demolishing the Academy after half a million years of use. Thus, their Academy no longer exists but they can still revisit it.
This weekend might be a desert for posting. All kinds of other things to do. But, before long, a summary of the careers and activities of some Patrol Specialists will be a good idea.
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