By James L Hill (aka J. L. Hill)
When I was a kid my dad took us fishing. I would try to cast my line as far from the shore as I could. I put as much weight as the line could bear, take a running start, and cast my line for the middle of the lake. I believed the deeper the water the bigger the fish. After an eternity of inactivity, I slowly reeled the line in. When it got within a couple of feet of the shore the fish would start biting, small fish and big ones. I learned the big fish come to shore to eat the little ones, most of the action happened close to shore.
A lot of sci-fi writers cast their story lines deep into the future. They think the big story is hundreds of years away. They feel any major development takes hundred of years to come to pass. But like the big fish feeding on the little fish, major developments in science comes from minor discoveries, and take less time than you might imagine.
People have dreamed of flying for millennia. Probably since watching how quickly birds got from one place to another. Leonardo da Vinci designed flying machines in the latter half of the 15th century. Four hundred years later the Wright brothers built a flying machine and flew 120 feet lasting 12 seconds. Less than seventy years later, man flew to the moon and back. Now some will say that man flew to the moon using a rocket which was invented in the 13th century (which is also disputed). But rocket power was never use for anything other than a weapon until manned flight became a reality. So this is a big event that was built from many smaller inventions, the last leap coming closely behind that first manned flight.
Consider this, Marie Curie discovered radioactivity, a term she coined in 1898 that revolutionized the way the atom was viewed. During World War I she developed portable X-ray machines for doctors on the front lines. Before the middle of the same century this power ended the Empire of Japan ushering in a new age, the Atomic Age.
In science fiction it is safer to cast our stories far off in the future; we can create any invention or event without having to support how they came to pass. People will assume the small steps were taken long ago and not want to be bogged down with the details. I sometimes like to cast my line closer to the here and now. I like to take a look at those little inventions and discoveries to see what will become of them tomorrow, or next year, or in a decade. Could you imagine what the reaction would have been if the Wright brothers announced after 12 seconds in the air we should shoot for the moon?
Engineers and scientists are working on a true automobile, one that can drive itself. They are testing the technology today. I envision a whole new system of public transportation. A future where people will not own cars, there will be no need for buses or trains, people will walk out their doors flag down a passing automobile and tell it where they want to go. And the car will take us there at 80, 90, 100 miles per hour without a single accident on the way. Think for a minute, the car you own spends most of its time parked somewhere, in your garage, outside your job, in a mall parking lot while you shop, dine, or see a movie. We can reduce the number of cars on the road (good for the environment), save a fortune (in insurance alone), and save lives (by removing the most dangerous part from the vehicle – the driver).
This change will come soon, as soon as automobiles can be programmed to act in unisons with each other and with pedestrians. As for pedestrians I suggest elevated crosswalks. The electric racetracks we played with as kids will become the layout for the cities of the future. That future may be close, as close as tomorrow.
When I was a kid my dad took us fishing. I would try to cast my line as far from the shore as I could. I put as much weight as the line could bear, take a running start, and cast my line for the middle of the lake. I believed the deeper the water the bigger the fish. After an eternity of inactivity, I slowly reeled the line in. When it got within a couple of feet of the shore the fish would start biting, small fish and big ones. I learned the big fish come to shore to eat the little ones, most of the action happened close to shore.
A lot of sci-fi writers cast their story lines deep into the future. They think the big story is hundreds of years away. They feel any major development takes hundred of years to come to pass. But like the big fish feeding on the little fish, major developments in science comes from minor discoveries, and take less time than you might imagine.
People have dreamed of flying for millennia. Probably since watching how quickly birds got from one place to another. Leonardo da Vinci designed flying machines in the latter half of the 15th century. Four hundred years later the Wright brothers built a flying machine and flew 120 feet lasting 12 seconds. Less than seventy years later, man flew to the moon and back. Now some will say that man flew to the moon using a rocket which was invented in the 13th century (which is also disputed). But rocket power was never use for anything other than a weapon until manned flight became a reality. So this is a big event that was built from many smaller inventions, the last leap coming closely behind that first manned flight.
Consider this, Marie Curie discovered radioactivity, a term she coined in 1898 that revolutionized the way the atom was viewed. During World War I she developed portable X-ray machines for doctors on the front lines. Before the middle of the same century this power ended the Empire of Japan ushering in a new age, the Atomic Age.
In science fiction it is safer to cast our stories far off in the future; we can create any invention or event without having to support how they came to pass. People will assume the small steps were taken long ago and not want to be bogged down with the details. I sometimes like to cast my line closer to the here and now. I like to take a look at those little inventions and discoveries to see what will become of them tomorrow, or next year, or in a decade. Could you imagine what the reaction would have been if the Wright brothers announced after 12 seconds in the air we should shoot for the moon?
Engineers and scientists are working on a true automobile, one that can drive itself. They are testing the technology today. I envision a whole new system of public transportation. A future where people will not own cars, there will be no need for buses or trains, people will walk out their doors flag down a passing automobile and tell it where they want to go. And the car will take us there at 80, 90, 100 miles per hour without a single accident on the way. Think for a minute, the car you own spends most of its time parked somewhere, in your garage, outside your job, in a mall parking lot while you shop, dine, or see a movie. We can reduce the number of cars on the road (good for the environment), save a fortune (in insurance alone), and save lives (by removing the most dangerous part from the vehicle – the driver).
This change will come soon, as soon as automobiles can be programmed to act in unisons with each other and with pedestrians. As for pedestrians I suggest elevated crosswalks. The electric racetracks we played with as kids will become the layout for the cities of the future. That future may be close, as close as tomorrow.
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