tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2012179240296572398.post8465502158018000334..comments2024-03-29T01:11:38.037+00:00Comments on Retro-Forteana: From Science Fiction to Science FactAndrew Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17073306343984931484noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2012179240296572398.post-3026682487738624742015-12-14T23:09:45.222+00:002015-12-14T23:09:45.222+00:00Wow, thanks for that link, Andrew - it's fanta...Wow, thanks for that link, Andrew - it's fantastic to see that book again !! Usborne published another book at that time called "Mysteries Of The Unknown" which I got for Christmas in 1978. It was divided into three sections covering monsters, ghosts and UFO's. The three sections were also available separately as softcover books.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2012179240296572398.post-78903720967814845512015-12-14T15:48:43.720+00:002015-12-14T15:48:43.720+00:00Thanks Colin - I think you mentioned this book in ...Thanks Colin - I think you mentioned this book in a previous comment, but I just Googled it and found a scanned copy online - <a href="http://archive.org/stream/Usborne_Book_of_the_Future_1979_pointlessmuseum#page/n3/mode/2up" rel="nofollow">http://archive.org/stream/Usborne_Book_of_the_Future_1979_pointlessmuseum#page/n3/mode/2up</a>. The Internet Archive is a well-established site so I assume this is a legal copy -- I will have a read through and I may even do a blog post on it at some point!Andrew Mayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17073306343984931484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2012179240296572398.post-61248784597606382852015-12-14T14:54:40.073+00:002015-12-14T14:54:40.073+00:00In 1979 (when I was 13) I bought a book called &qu...In 1979 (when I was 13) I bought a book called "The Usborne Book Of The Future" which made a serious attempt to predict future technology over the next 50 years mainly and also a bit further to 200 years. One of the predictions that I remember best was that the Olympic Games of 2020 would be on the moon because by then there'd be a lunar colony. I accepted this without question but if I bought a book now that predicted the 2060 Olympics would be on the moon I'd think it was absurd which shows how much we've downgraded our expectations for space travel. I've read that when the Apollo mission landed on the moon in 1969 it was taken for granted that a man would land on Mars by the mid-'80s at the latest. This seems amazingly naive now when you consider all the difficulties of a Mars mission such as the fact that Mars has no magnetic field or ozone layer to protect its' surface from the sun's radiation, not to mention the cost and the practical difficulties of a person surviving a ten-month voyage to Mars. We seemed to think in those days that technology could overcome any problem - but maybe things haven't changed as I think a lot of people just assume that current problems like climate change, dwindling resources and overpopulation will somehow be solved by technology. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com