Visions of the Future

The world has always been captivated on visions of what the future held -- visions of towering cities and bold new inventions that will change one's life in a second. While reading through The Wonderful Future That Never Was by Gregory Benford, I got a taste of what society imagined our world would look like in a short amount of time. One "invention" that particularly caught my attention was the idea of the super-super-super skyscraper. It was imagined that these skyscrapers would love "climates of their own", with its own heating, lighting, and ventilating machinery. Interior wooden finishings and furniture would be unnecessary, and they would tower over 100 stories high, or 1000 feet. While some of these predictions were far off, I was struck by how society envisioned futures that were convenient for everyone -- that is, new technologies were developed in order to make life easy, with relatively no hardship. This showed me that the world was concerned with what made our lives more easy. Often, this is what was seen in the future, rather than some flashy gadget for entertainment.

Towering skyscrapers seemed to be an indication of an advanced, civilized society, and that is the reason they were in most scenarios regarding the future. Though most still had furniture, their far-off imaginings showed how people longed for buildings that would serve an efficient, functional purpose. Not only could skyscrapers show off the grandeur that society had become, but they could also serve our world in a valuable way, but having its own "climate" that could be regulated at the whim of the people. No longer would people fall victim to the travesties of Mother Nature -- just step inside for work and all was well. Presently, we have developed beyond what our past could imagine -- we have buildings taller than a 1000 feet. In fact, the tallest stands in Dubai, at almost a mile and a half long. We have gone beyond what we could have imagined so long ago, and it shows that our imaginations, and our abilities, know no bounds.

The World of Tomorrow

People have always wondered what science can bring us, and a better future seemed to be imminent. Nothing seemed to demonstrate that to me more than my readings over the 1938 New York World Fair While one would expect a carnival filled with fantastic rides and delectable foods, I was surprised to find that one of the biggest attractions was "Futurama".

Contemplations of what the the far future (the 1960s) held were immense! Segregated streets for traffic and pedestrians, a world of free men! It seems that one of the greatest productions that the future held was a society built by and inhabited by free men. I kept on getting that sense from the "Democracity" brochure from the fair. It went into great detail of the cities of "Pleasantville" and "Millville" that held great libraries for scholars and law tax rates. It seems that the "science fiction" attitude almost seemed to lean toward a utopian future where people lived in relative ease. It spoke of a "highway" of sorts, and while we were eventually able to develop one, it did not erase the time issue. Highways gave way to traffic jams that continue to be the bane of society. With every advancement, there comes an accompanying problem that perhaps we did not consider in the first place. The attitude toward the future at that time seemed to be that technology could only advance us without any problems whatsoever. Everything would be made to make use more efficient as a society.... society saw no different!

On the flip side, Orsen Well's 1938 War of the Worlds seemed to illustrate the destructive power that science could wield.

The broadcast went into great detail of the weapons that could be used against us, such as gas that could incapacitate tons of people! While society seemed to think that science could progress us beyond our greatest dreams, it could also be our end. The technology that could have been developed from advances in science could be the same technology that could cause an all out war between worlds, and eventually destroy civilization. Thus, science seemed to be both good and evil -- it's power was broad and immense.

Dino Talk

This week we were asked to consider the rise of the dinosaur, especially in popular imagination. For me, the most apparent image of dinosaurs in this early period is how their design often seemed ridiculous and fanciful. Charles Knight's dinosaurs offered a peek into how earlier audiences must have seen dinosaurs, but they were also regarded as inaccurate. After viewing these images and reading about the Crystal Palace Dinosaur Tribute, I got the feeling that people of this time period were so fascinated with portraying the dinosaur as a most spectacular being. Perhaps their realistic appearance was not a concern -- whatever appearance would garner the most attention seemed to be the philosophy of those times. However, I understood where this sentiment comes from...

The discovery of fossils and the formulation of dinosaurs must have been an earth-shattering notion to the people of those times. People wanted to know what these beings that inhabited our planet long before we did looked like. I believe that this is a sentiment that holds true today. Young children are introduced to dinosaurs early on in school. I remember my own experience -- dinosaurs seemed to be these "playful" creatures. They often seemed like animals that jumped right out of a child's imagination, and I can see the appeal they have on children. As a child we would pick our favorite dinosaur and often tell each other proudly on the playgrounds. As I grew older, my fascination with dinosaurs fell by the wayside. They seemed to be an obsession for kids, but not for the older teen that I was becoming. As I grew older, I began to see dinosaurs in a new light. No longer did I solely concern myself with what my favorite dinosaur did, but I began to learn more about their beginnings and their untimely end. Even as I started to learn about evolution, I saw dinosaurs as just a mark on the timetable of our planet -- they played their necessary role and met their end in the natural rise and fall of species so seen by evolution. I began to study their relation to the grand scheme of things more, although I sometimes wish I could return to those days on the playground where my and my friends argued over the "best" dinosaur.

Portrait of a Genius

If I had the opportunity to pick a portrait to hang in the Fred Jones, Jr. Museum, I would pick the portrait of Edward Bromfield. First and foremost, Edward Bromfield displayed extreme acuity and intelligence with his vast improvements to the microscope - an invaluable tool in the field of science. I believe his portrait is important because it shows him gesturing to a microscope, deeming it important and valuable to society and further scientific developments. Furthermore, his style of clothing has been mentioned to mark him a man of "studious habit" and genius. I think that it is this emulation of genius that makes this portrait interesting to the realm of science. Here is a man who has made valuable contributions to science and has been marked by them. It is these conclusions that I would advise a tour guide to help his audience realize while showing them this portrait in the museum.