A few days ago, I read a short observation about where the future might lead us or how the world might be a few decades or even a few years from now. Unfortunately, I failed to make note of who had written the observation or even where I had read it. But thinking about the writing as I was lying in bed early this morning I thought about how science-fiction or even science itself has changed the world around us.

One of the first things I remember that could be classified as science-fiction was the mythological tale of Icarus. I tried to find a specific date when this was written but was unsuccessful. It was written by Ovid, along with several others, and focused on an escape attempt by Icarus and his father using wings made from metal, feathers, and beeswax to fly away from imprisonment. If one gives this some thought, this was science-fiction of its time. Flying, by man, was not even a dream. Yet Icarus’ father was able to conceive the construction and use of wings which would allow them to fly. Sadly, according to the myth, Icarus flew to close to the sun, the beeswax melted, and he fell to his death in the oceans below.

A person must wonder, could the people in Ovid’s lifetime conceive, or even dream, of our large airplanes today that can easily fly us around the world? Or could they possibly things like space travel? Yet in some form this myth was recorded and passed to later generations and is even known to some people today. So, while the tale of Icarus has passed through generations it is still a part of our lives today. So, were the writings of this myth only fiction or were they science-fiction, simply not defined as such?

Science-Fiction probably became a more well-defined genre in the latter half of the 1800’s with the writings of Jules Verne. Verne seems to have included technology (a term used loosely), or science, that existed in his day but expanded on how it was used. For example, this work “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea” suggested the use of submersible craft to travel some 40,000 miles or more beneath the ocean. While submersibles existed, they could not travel to that depth, even had such a depth existed. Yet Vernes conceived this as a possibility and while we can search the oceans to great depths today, not anywhere near the depths Verne described. But Verne was able to imagine what might exist there.

Verne also wrote “Around the World in Eighty Days”, a time that, at least in the 1870’s seemed almost unbelievable. One must wonder, what would Verne think of today’s air travel where a trip around the world takes hours rather than many days. Again, the technology that Verne imagined existed. But it has advanced far beyond what he wrote as a novel, not as a prediction of the future. So, how was Verne able to reach out and predict these things that might exist in future times?

While science-fiction, as a genre, continued to grow over the years since Verne, one must also look at the world around us and ask how science has grown. We should mostly ask ourselves are today’s researchers and scientists science-fiction writers or dreamers. Should they have chosen to record their works in novels, would these works have been considered science-fiction? Or were they only science?

An example might be the works of Henry Ford. Ford did not invent the automobile. Instead, he made the automobile affordable. Had Americans who travelled westward on the Santa Fe Trail or the Oregon Trail known of the automobile would they have made those long treks via animal-powered wagons? Would we have the rutted trails that offer historic value today? Or would they have laughed at Ford?

 In other fields one can see both individuals who by imagining possibilities. They looked at problems and tried to find solutions. When they began, there seemed to be no solutions, yet they were willing to stretch the existing limits to create things that were better. People like Pasteur and Salk in the world of medicine who often were chided or punished for their works. People in other fields where advancements were made, or new solutions were found. Many who were successful and many who failed yet challenged others to try.

The differences between these individuals and people like Verne is not in what they imagined or accomplished but in how this was shared with others.

Now, perhaps in a less serious mode, let us move into things into the 1960’s, when I was a child. Many of my generation remember the cartoon series “The Jetsons”. The cartoons were, supposedly, set in the year 2062. This means that we have about thirty-seven more years to see if these cartoons were true or if they were only the imagination of the writers. But we can already see some things become real. For example, the Jetson home was cleaned by Rosie the Robot. While today’s robots take different forms, we can now have our carpets cleaned by robotic devices. Similarly, The Jetsons also had smart watches, video phones, and video chat; all things that are commonplace today. So while Hanna-Barbera were making a cartoon to keep children entertained, were they actually writing science-fiction?

I grew up in the “space age”. We, along with the Soviets, sent man and animal into space. Our exploration allowed us to ultimately development of a craft allowing scientists and others to live for extended time away from earth. They have allowed us to explore other planets and environments. But when we were children each trip to space created tons of junk. Old rockets and other craft that either burned up in the atmosphere, was left in space, or crashed into the oceans. It seems such a waste.

So, what have we done? Today, we have ways to bring much of this junk back to earth, land and capture it safely, and reuse it in the future. Are today’s solutions perfect? Probably not, but they are a step forward and can be improved as we move forward.

When I was in my teens and early twenties I worked on farms, drove tractors and combines, and help farmers tend their crops. When I look at farm equipment of today, I am amazed. Things that we learned to do in the past are now done by automated tools. The farm worker is still there, but for how long?

We have cars and trucks that drive themselves so all we need to do is tell them where to go. Again, something that is yet to be perfected. But something that would have been science-fiction just a few years ago is now emerging reality. Electric vehicles, not the first if one remembers trolleys and electric trains, that also have limitations but may ultimately reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.  All these things started as ideas which could have been discarded as science-fiction but have instead began moving into the world of science.

Who can predict what the future holds? Will it be the scientist, the science-fiction writer, or someone else? And will the future leave us older folks behind or will it be something that makes or lives better? I have no answers, just questions and hope.