A History of the Future

Peter J. Bowler is Emeritus Professor of the History of Science at Queen's University Belfast. He is a Fellow of the British Academy, a Member of the Royal Irish Academy, and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has published a number of books on the history of biology and several general surveys.

• 1. Introduction: progress or threat?; 2. The prophets: their backgrounds and ambitions; 3. How we'll live; 4. Where we'll live; 5. Communicating and computing; 6. Getting around; 7. Taking to the air; 8. Journey into space; 9. War; 10. Energy and environment; 11. Human nature; 12. Epilogue: Plus ça change?

'This is fascinating, wide-ranging and important work, an ambitious attempt to do something it's amazing to think nobody has tried before: to map all the varieties of 'the future' that writers and thinkers have extrapolated over the last dozen decades or so. Professor Bowler expertly sets the terms of the discussion about what the future used to be, and what it might be again.' Adam Roberts, Royal Holloway, University of London