Ten Billion Tomorrows

July 6, 2015
Science writer and novelist Clegg (Final Frontier) assesses how many of science fiction’s dreams have been realized, and examines which are likely and unlikely to become reality in the future. He touches on many mainstays of the genre—including force fields, ray guns, teleportation, and cloaking devices—but the book is not meant to be comprehensive. Rather, Clegg says, it is a celebration of “the wonderful imagination of science fiction writers and the dramatic impact of real-world science and technology in those same areas.” The book offers some fascinating insight into contemporary scientific research and technologies that are currently in use and in development, such as electroencephalograph (EEG) caps that enable a crude form of “cyber-telepathy.” Clegg does not shy away from explaining some of the science in detail, as when he provides a lengthy explanation of quantum tunneling as a theoretical way to transmit communications faster than light. Still, the book is highly accessible and suitable for any reader interested in science fiction, or anyone excited by the potential of technology.

November 1, 2015
Space travel. Time travel. Travels in other dimensions. Microwaves. Whatever smacks of the future is the product of science--but imagined by science fiction first. Science journalist Clegg's (Final Frontier: The Pioneering Science and Technology of Exploring the Universe, 2014, etc.) book begins a little inauspiciously, inasmuch as he allows that while everyone else in the world was paying attention to the assassination of John F. Kennedy, he was glued to the TV watching the premiere of Doctor Who. Trained in physics but steeped in sci-fi, the author takes readers on an amiable stroll into worlds that once seemed improbable, reminding them that science fiction, by definition, has to have some grounding in reality and "requires at least a hat tip toward what is physically possible." What is possible shifts and moves in time, of course. Early on, Clegg quotes a complaint lodged by Jules Verne against the young upstart H.G. Wells, grumbling that while his space travelers get to the moon by cannonball, Wells "goes to Mars in an airship, which he constructs of a metal which does not obey the law of gravitation." Clegg sometimes stretches to allow cool stuff into his narrative. One doubts that Roger Bacon really imagined that a wall of talking brass could be constructed around England, but yet we have home burglar alarms; chalk it up to science fiction's "leaps of faith," which permitted such things as time travel well before Einstein had figured out the math. Still, Clegg reminds us, check your watch: "Leave the ship flying for a good length of time," he warns would-be rocketeers, "and a big time differential with the Earth will build up." He adds, elsewhere, that if the details aren't exactly right in the imaginative literature, never fear: "Science fiction may have got the exact means...wrong, but the general concept is all too possible." Satisfying soul food for your inner geek: an enjoyable tour of science fact and fiction by a writer who obviously revels in both.

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November 1, 2015
Science fiction authors are often given credit for the ability to envision the appearance of assorted inventions long before they show up in the real world. Yet according to popular-science writer Clegg (Gravity, 2012) in this fascinating, in-depth rumination on the give-and-take relationship between sf and technology, fictional predictions that actually come true, like H. G. Wells' uncanny prophecy about atomic bombs in 1914, are few and far between. More often than not, the genre inspires researchers to take a different direction, or scientific advances themselves suggest technological possibilities that writers fancifully reshape in futuristic stories and novels. In 18 thought-provoking chapters with titles such as Blue Pill or Red Pill? and Beam Me Up, Clegg sorts through many of the more familiar sf plot devices, such as time travel and teleportation, and with his customary eloquence, dissects their scientific feasibility. Although such advances as cloning dinosaurs or terraforming planets still face major technical hurdles, others, such as cloaking devices and cyborg-style artificial limbs, surprisingly exist already in primitive forms. Must reading for both speculative fiction and science enthusiasts.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)