Up and coming Sci-fi author, Pier Cefalo’s debut novel, City of Vain Dreamers, the first novel of the series, follows three teenagers on their adventures to different dimensions. Set in the future, the novel tackles the common idea of narcissism in our society. Cefalo draws inspiration from many real-life experiences and situations for his novel. His writing is raw, vivid, and thought-provoking. It is a must-read for science fiction lovers.
The science fiction genre has laid a great foundation for modern-day technology. It is shocking to learn how these sci-fi writers were so ahead of their time and were able to write of such technology in their novels. People usually think of aliens and spaceships when they think about science fiction. But in reality, science fiction has contributed to many inventions. Compiled by Charlotte Ahlin at Bustle, here is a list of the real-life invention that was inspired by science fiction novels:
· 'Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea' by Jules Verne
Let's get this out of the way first: they traveled twenty thousand leagues while under the sea. They didn't go twenty thousand leagues deep into the sea. But regardless of which direction the Nautilus sailed, it sparked readers' imaginations. One of these readers was American inventor Simon Lake, who became enamored by the idea of undersea travel after reading about Captain Nemo's adventures. In 1898, he finally completed the Argonaut, the world's first successful open-water submarine. Verne even wrote him a congratulatory note.
· 'Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle' by Victor Appleton
Tom Swift was a YA series from the early 1900s, about a teen genius and his various adventures. The series contained over 100 novels in total, but the most memorable is probably Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle, in which Tom (you guessed it) invents an electric rifle. It shoots electricity instead of bullets. That's all well and good, but the plot of the novel has... not aged well, to say the least. Tom travels to the "darkest Africa" for an extremely racist safari adventure of hunting elephants and fighting "savages." But, for better or worse, this book did inspire NASA researcher Jack Cover to invent "Tom A. Swift's Electric Rifle" in real life, called a "TASER" for short.
· 'Rossum's Universal Robots' by KarelČapek
Robots might not be the most household invention these days, but there's no question that artificial intelligence and industrial automation are a huge part of our modern world. And we owe the very word "robot" to the Czech writer KarelČapek and his play R.U.R., or Rossum's Universal Robots. The play tells the story of an android factory and follows these human-like robots as they go from happy, mindless workers to sympathetic rebels who overthrow the human race. Let's... hope that last part stays science fiction.
· 'The World Set Free' by H.G. Wells
In more upsetting sci-fi predictions, H.G. Wells wrote The World Set Free about the potential benefits and dangers of harnessing atomic power. Wells thought this power would either utterly destroy society or force mankind to put aside violence and focus on hugs and making art. His 1914 book apparently inspired the scientist Leo Szilard to go ahead and figure out atomic energy in real life, leading to the invention of the atom bomb. So... hopefully, Wells wasonly kind of right about weapons of mass destruction destroying life as we know it?
Kommentare