In
The Shape Of Things To Come and similar works, HG Wells imagines history as culminating in what he regards as a desirable outcome although he also envisages some urban dystopias, e.g., in
The Sleeper Wakes. In
The Time Machine, a pastoral utopia degenerates into a horrific dystopia. In the Technic History, Poul Anderson projects historical cycles of rising and falling civilizations into future history.
In
J.D. Bernal's section on
"The World," we find:
technological and social perfectibility on Earth;
wireless transmission of solar energy;
light sail ships;
spherical space habitats with free fall interiors;
generation ships;
galactic and cosmic exploration;
prolongation of the life of universe by control of stellar energy.
Readers of Poul Anderson's works will recognize much in Bernal's predictions.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I do recognize much in the list you made as touching on ideas and themes used by Poul Anderson. But I would object to the idea of humans living permanently, it seems, in free fall. We need SOME gravity for good health and for women to be able to give birth to children.
And I thought Anderson's THE NIGHT FACE better than Wells' THE TIME MACHINE at showing us something apparently idyllic, and then revealing a truly horrific ACTUALITY.
Ad astra! Sean
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