Science Fiction Throughout History

            Other examples of science fiction and the technology it inspires are more evident throughout history. In the 1950s the predominant image of extraterrestrial life was of men in metallic suits flying smooth, round, metallic ships. Air Force projects at the time also concentrated on the Avrocar, a round metallic ship designed to be crew by two people. (7) Coincidence? Most of the data presented earlier in this essay show that it isn’t. Another interesting piece of information: the most commonly seen UFO from the 1950s until the release of Close Encounters of the Third Kind? You guessed it; smooth metallic saucers crewed by metal covered hominoids. After Close Encounters of the Third Kind, a science fiction movie where extraterrestrials are shown as short grey beings with dark eyes crewing ships with complex light displays? The largest portion of UFO reports was of ships with complex lights, and short beings with large dark eyes were predominantly reported. (8) This data supports both the fact that society has an effect on people and society (the perception of aliens) as well as its involvement in directing the efforts of innovation. Space flight using rockets was also predicted by science fiction writers, most of whom lived in a time when rockets could barely fly alone (let alone carrying something) or when they were regarded as a military weapon (not a vehicle.) (9)  Other commonplace inventions science fiction writers had envisioned decades before such technology existed: laptop computers, the internet, genetic engineering, A.I, and most modern electronics. (10) While some of these inventions may have just been the result of progress in other areas (especially the final one,) some innovations replicate their literary precursors in a way that leaves little doubt as to the source of their ingenuity. For example, the computer watches. First mentioned in the science fiction/action series Dick Tracy, the watch first evolved into the digital watch, then the calculator watch, then the scheduler watch, and finally into the modern calculator watch, complete with altimeter, cell phone, heart rate monitor, contact list, scheduler, and anything else you could possibly need on your wrist. One might look back and ask, “If Dick Tracy had never existed, would we have computer watches?” Without the creative drive from science fiction, why would one even desired anything more than a digital watch? Clearly, science fiction has provided some sort of creative goal for technology to rise for normality to the once-imaginary, giving a very tangible benefit to society.

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