Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #832757 in Books
• Published on: 2001-08-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
What will the future be like? Throughout history, many have tried to answer this question but few have had much success. Now, with journalistic clarity and wit, Jonathan Margolis in A Brief History of Tomorrow analyses the few successes and numerous failures of past futurologists (so to speak), then explores whether modern-day predictions about the future are any more likely to be correct.

The history of futurology is so littered with amusing misses that Noam Chomsky was led to remark: "Perhaps the most plausible prediction is that any prediction about serious matters is likely to be off the mark except by accident". Nevertheless, as Margolis explains, more than a few bright sparks in today's high tech industries manage to earn a living--and a good one at that--keeping their bosses appraised of the possible courses of world history.

But are these modern-day seers likely to be any better at predicting the future than you, me or Nostradamus? Can trends really be distinguished? In a hundred years' time, will we be laughing at the ridiculous fad that was the Internet as we tuck into our healthy breakfasts of fatty bacon and fried eggs (dietary fibre having been identified in 2020 as the major cause of bowel cancer)? Or will we, at last, be wearing those silver one-piece jump suits so beloved of 20th-century film-makers, making our way to work in flying cars (how long have we been waiting for these?), and cryogenically preserving our heads in the hope that future surgeons will be able to re-attach us to healthy bodies? No one knows, of course, but if you'd like to indulge in a bit of no-holds-barred speculation, A Brief History of Tomorrow is an undemanding and entertaining primer. --Chris Lavers

Synopsis
Unless something really remarkable happens like Armageddon or a dot.com company declaring profits as we enter the year 2001, things will stay pretty much as they are: images of Princess Diana will still appear in magazines everywhere, the railways will still use rolling stock built in the sixties, and old men driving cars will still inexplicably wear hats and gloves. But behind the facade of normality the future is taking shape. With Sam Goldwyn's famous saying 'Never predict anything - especially the future' firmly in mind, Jonathan Margolis inoculates himself against the pitfalls of prophecy with a chastening look at the history of futurology. Then he takes courage in both hands and sets out to describe the world that's yet to come in the fields of medicine, mind, spirit, home, food, work, leisure, politics, war, society, transport, environment and space.

From the Publisher
' Rich and well-rounded' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY
' Rich and well-rounded' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY
Unless something really remarkable happens like Armageddon or a dot.com company declaring profits as we enter the year 2001, things will stay pretty much as they are: images of Princess Diana will still appear in magazines everywhere, the railways will still use rolling stock built in the sixties, and old men driving cars will still inexplicably wear hats and gloves. But behind the façade of normality the future is taking shape.

With Sam Goldwyn’s famous saying ‘Never predict anything - especially the future’ firmly in mind, Jonathan Margolis inoculates himself against the pitfalls of prophecy with a chastening look at the history of futurology. Then he takes courage in both hands and sets out to describe the world that’s yet to come in the fields of medicine, mind, spirit, home, food, work, leisure, politics, war, society, transport, environment and space.

'A BRIEF HISTORY OF TOMORROW is a classic instance of book-length journalism: well-researched, occasionally thoughtful and incessantly entertaining' SPECTATOR

Customer Reviews

A gem!
The subject of futurology is fascinating. Which one of us hasn't wondered what tomorrow will bring and how our lives and those of our children will be different from ours today? I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Mr. Margolis has obviously researched the subject thoroughly. But happily, the result isn't dry and academic. He makes high tech and biotech approachable and fun. I recommend it without reservation!

Excellent! Thought provoking, humurous and easy to read
I found this book very easy to read and Jonathan's style very friendly. It really makes you think about the future, instead of just thinking of the usual stereotypical visions that are regurgitated in the press.

I now view it in terms that are more practical and open for change rather than previous notions that the future was technologically advanced and not open to my actions.

Read it, you won't regret it.

Nice, although very British...
The book is a very good read up to the fourth chapter -- where it starts to slacken, and to become rather repetitive. And (this is the typically british part) how many times can you mention The All Mighty Algarve!?