DATES (1951-2600)
STORIES
CHARACTERS
TECHNICAL DATA
SOCIOLOGICAL
REMARKS
Poul Anderson's Psychotechnic History Chart (not called that yet) has five headings:
Date (1950-2190, but stories not listed here go to 3175)
Story
Events
Technology
Sociology
Technical/Technological Similarities
Heinlein: sun-power screens; psychosomatics; synthetic foods; weather control; the "Barrier."
Anderson: sun-power; psychometrics and psychodynamics; food synthesis; air transformation; molar potential barrier.
New weapons in both.
New Means of Travel
Heinlein: mechanized roads. Anderson: flying homes.
Sociological
In both, "religious fanaticism." In Heinlein, this becomes "New Crusade" and "religious dictatorship" whereas Anderson later has a pancosmic religion.
2 comments:
it's a bad idea to start a future history (in detail) in the immediate future. Which is why when I set SF in the immediate future, I always use an -alternate- history.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I do see your point, but that would not have bothered me. Any story you hypothetically set in our actual history would, I agree, inevitably diverge from real history. But that would simply make your SF story an alternate history anyway.
Ad astra! Sean
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