Anticipations of the Reaction of Mechanical and Scientific Progress by H. G. Wells
The great author and social critic made an attempt to foresee the future in this book in 1901. It is a fascinating mixture of accurate forecasts, such as the development of cars, buses, and trucks, the use of flying machines in combat, and the decline of permanent marriage, and wild misses, such as the prediction that submarines will suffocate their crews and float to the bottom of the ocean.
Anticipations of the Reaction of Mechanical and Scientific Progress by H. G. Wells
7 used from $10.01
Amazon.com
- Orders are despatched from our UK warehouse next working day.
It can be amusing to watch the author try to foresee the social and technological advancements of the 20th century from the perspective of 1901. For instance, in his chapter on armed warfare, he accurately imagines skilled marksmen using long-range, very precise sniper rifles, but he guesses mistakenly that they will ride bicycles through the battlefield. He also predicts that the first real aeroplane will be demonstrated around 1950, two years before the Wright brothers’ historic flight. His account of a duel between dirigibles in the air and his doubt about the viability of submarines strikes me as archaic.
Wells was a product of the 19th century in England, thus from the viewpoint of the current reader, quaintness can occasionally give way to offensiveness. Wells is now regarded as being sexist and racist. Additionally, he favoured euthanasia and eugenics, two ideologies that have been widely condemned since the atrocities of Nazism.
Wells was a socialist who distrusted both monarchy and democracy. He thought that in the year 2000, the globe should be ruled by a New Republic that was roughly equivalent to a world state with three or four main languages. It would be governed by a technocracy, as we would now refer to it, made up of an elite group of scientists, engineers, and medical professionals.
Despite making many unfounded forecasts, Wells did offer some intriguing perspectives on issues like as urbanization, the spread of labour-saving technology, the shortcomings of the educational system, and the development of journalism. This is a fascinating historical example of social criticism and futurism for those who are familiar with the literary style of the era.
