List of existing technologies predicted in science fiction
This list of existing technologies predicted in science fiction includes every medium, mainly literature and film. In 1964 Soviet engineer and writer Genrikh Altshuller made the first attempt to catalogue science fiction technologies of the time.
Alongside first prediction of a particular technology, the list may include all subsequent works mentioning it until its invention. The list includes technologies that were first posited in non-fiction works before their appearance in science fiction and subsequent invention, such as ion thruster. To avoid repetitions, the list excludes film adaptations of prior literature containing the same predictions, such as "The Minority Report". The list also excludes emerging technologies that are not widely available. The names of some modern inventions (atomic bomb, robot, space station, oral contraceptive and borazon) exactly match their fictional predecessors. A few works correctly predicted the years when some technologies would emerge, such as the first sustained heavier-than-air aircraft flight in 1903 and the first atomic bomb explosion in 1945.
Literature
Films and TV series
Notes
References
Sources
- Bleiler, E. F.; Bleiler, Richard (1990). Science-Fiction: The Early Years. Kent State University Press. ISBN 0-87338-416-4.
- Gerrold, David (2006). "Predictions". PCMag. Vol. 25, no. 13. ISSN 0888-8507.
- Pilkington, Ace G. (2017). Science Fiction and Futurism: Their Terms and Ideas. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-9856-7.