The First Six Stories In Each Series
Heinlein's Future History
(i) A machine to predict dates of death (see here).
(ii) Solar energy.
(iii) Moving roads.
(iv) Nuclear power.
(v) The first Moon landing.
(vi) The first space station.
Anderson's Psychotechnic History
(i) Post-World War III reconstruction.
(ii) UN secret agents.
(iii) Enhanced human abilities.
(iv) Venus colonization.
(v) Technological unemployment.
(vi) Asteroid colonization and political opposition (see here).
The Last Story In Each Series
Heinlein: people from a generation ship finally land on an extrasolar planet.
Anderson: the Terrestrial population is relocated to the Galactic Centre.
Origins
Campbell published Heinlein's Time Chart (and see here).
Anderson imitated the Time Chart. See here.
10 comments:
There's a song by Tom Leher titled "Werhner von Braun" that goes:
Gather 'round while I sing you of Wernher von Braun
A man whose allegiance
Is ruled by expedience
Call him a Nazi, he won't even frown
"Nazi, Schmazi!" says Wernher von Braun
Don't say that he's hypocritical
Say rather that he's apolitical
"Once the rockets are up, who cares where they come down?
That's not my department!" says Wernher von Braun
Some have harsh words for this man of renown
But some think our attitude
Should be one of gratitude
Like the widows and cripples in old London town
Who owe their large pensions to Wernher von Braun
You too may be a big hero
Once you've learned to count backwards to zero
"In German, oder Englisch, I know how to count down
Und I'm learning Chinese now!" says Wernher von Braun!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEJ9HrZq7Ro
Mr Stirling,
Thank you. James and Judy Blish introduced me to Leher's "Vatican Rag."
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I remember Heinlein's story about a device able to EXACTLY predict the date of one's death. And I'm extremely skeptical such a device, if it doesn't use fantastic or supernatural means, is even possible.
Sean
I strongly suspect that no amount of knowledge or computing capacity could predict the future in detail; that it's not only impossible now, but inherently so.
The device in "Life-Line" sends an impulse along a person's world line to detect the end of that world line.
Dear Mr. Stirling and Paul,
Mr. Stirling: Exactly! God alone can have such knowledge. And never mind impossibilities like Asimovian "psychohistorians."
Paul, And I just don't buy that! How can anything measure how long a person's "world line" will be?
Sean
Sean,
Something bounces off the end of the world line and returns to the present, like radar.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Yes, but how can any DEVICE do that without violating physics or any others of the known laws of nature? How could it be scientifically demonstrated in repeatable experiments?
Sean
Sean,
Well, that is what happens in the story. It is an sf premise.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Yes, but the premise used by Heinlein in "Life Line" required too difficult a struggle "suspending my disbelief" to accept. I have to call this one of RAH's less successful stories.
Sean
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