Captives in Space (original) (raw)

Another point that crops up in the book -- which ties in closely with what I just said -- really reflects the totally unpredictability of science. In the book, the little green men were needed to put machines -- most notably computers -- together. It seems that, in 2100, computers, control panels and the like were made of huge tangles of wires and connectors. Connecting those wires by hand was very difficult. The little green men, however, could do it relatively easily, quickly, and accurately, which spelled increased profits to the computer makers.

This prompts a question. Why were the computers of 2100 still using large copper wires? Where was the author's vision, or insight? Couldn't the author of the book see that, in just 10 short years, the microchip would be invented that would enable entire computers to shrink to the size of a postage stamp, or a deck of cards? Of course not. Microelectronics was not even conceivable before it came about. No one could foresee huge, monstrous computers that took up entire rooms shrinking enormously while becoming thousands of times faster. It just wasn't conceivable. It was a physical impossibility -- until it happened.

So many old science fiction books I have read have had this same flaw. Spaceships to Venus sent messages by rolls of tape -- not electronics. Radios and computers still worked on vacuum tubes. It just goes to show, really, that we cannot predict the future of physical science with any kind of accuracy. Just because it is impossible today does not necessarily entail that it will remain impossible. Science fiction books have been, and will continue to be, inaccurate. But, hey, if they weren't, wouldn't it be a dull world?