- Hardcover: 288 pages
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC; 1st edition. edition (6 Nov 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0747550875
- ISBN-13: 978-0747550877
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.8 x 3.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 875,941 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
What will the future be like? Throughout history, many have tried to answer this question but few have had much success. Now, with journalistic clarity and wit, Jonathan Margolis in A Brief History of Tomorrow analyses the few successes and numerous failures of past futurologists (so to speak), then explores whether modern-day predictions about the future are any more likely to be correct.
The history of futurology is so littered with amusing misses that Noam Chomsky was led to remark: "Perhaps the most plausible prediction is that any prediction about serious matters is likely to be off the mark except by accident". Nevertheless, as Margolis explains, more than a few bright sparks in today's high tech industries manage to earn a living--and a good one at that--keeping their bosses appraised of the possible courses of world history.
But are these modern-day seers likely to be any better at predicting the future than you, me or Nostradamus? Can trends really be distinguished? In a hundred years' time, will we be laughing at the ridiculous fad that was the Internet as we tuck into our healthy breakfasts of fatty bacon and fried eggs (dietary fibre having been identified in 2020 as the major cause of bowel cancer)? Or will we, at last, be wearing those silver one-piece jump suits so beloved of 20th-century film-makers, making our way to work in flying cars (how long have we been waiting for these?), and cryogenically preserving our heads in the hope that future surgeons will be able to re-attach us to healthy bodies? No one knows, of course, but if you'd like to indulge in a bit of no-holds-barred speculation, A Brief History of Tomorrow is an undemanding and entertaining primer. --Chris Lavers
Product Description
Unless something really remarkable happens like Armageddon or the England Cricket team winning a Test Series as we enter the year 2001, things will stay pretty much as they are: images of Princess Diana will still appear in magazines everywhere, the railways will still use rolling stock built in the sixties, and old men driving cars will still inexplicably wear hats and gloves. But behind the facade of normality the future is taking shape. In this book, Jonathan Margolis inoculates himself against the pitfalls of prophecy with a chastening look at the history of futurology. Then he takes courage in both hands and sets out to describe the world that's yet to come in the fields of medicine, mind, spirit, home, food, work, leisure, politics, war, society, transport, environment and space. The text explores a wide range of topics from quantum computers and nano-robots to body transplants and planet creation in an accessible style.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The subject of futurology is fascinating. Which one of us hasn't wondered what tomorrow will bring and how our lives and those of our children will be different from ours today? I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Mr. Margolis has obviously researched the subject thoroughly. But happily, the result isn't dry and academic. He makes high tech and biotech approachable and fun. I recommend it without reservation!
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I found this book very easy to read and Jonathan's style very friendly. It really makes you think about the future, instead of just thinking of the usual stereotypical visions that are regurgitated in the press.
I now view it in terms that are more practical and open for change rather than previous notions that the future was technologically advanced and not open to my actions.
Read it, you won't regret it.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The book is a very good read up to the fourth chapter -- where it starts to slacken, and to become rather repetitive. And (this is the typically british part) how many times can you mention The All Mighty Algarve!?
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