How The Future Began: Everyday Life [Hardcover]

Clive Gifford (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up | Series: How the Future Began

What will our lives look like in the year 2050? Where will we live? How will we get from place to place? Author Clive Gifford traces the historical development of today's modern conveniences and offers a vivid and fascinating look ahead at some of the exciting developments in store for future generations. Graphic timelines and informative captions offer an at-a-glance guide to the major milestones of human technological progress. Special Features: Illustrated timelines include major technological milestones and anticipated advances. 'Blurred Vision' graphics show how people in the past envisioned the future. 'Crystal Ball' boxes feature predictions and highlight breakthroughs. Comprehensive glossary and index. Related resources and websites.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8-An exciting journey through future possibilities, organized around the topics of cities and homes, transportation, work and play, and health issues. Dramatically graphic, each of the four major sections begins with an introduction and a soaring, abbreviated time line superimposed against an appropriate backdrop. Each two-page spread is devoted to a subtopic (future homes, ferrying people and goods, future learning, genetic engineering, and so forth) in a well-balanced, colorful collage of text, photos, graphics, inserts, and predictions. Although the text overwhelmingly anticipates positive and productive technologies, numerous environmental, health, and equity issues are raised as well. Problems of water and waste, controversial genetic practices, and equitable access to medical and leisure technologies receive particular emphasis. The book concludes with an interesting one-page glossary, as well as lists of recommended Web sites and science centers to visit (including the wonderful Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley, CA, but oddly omitting the magnificent Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago). The lack of a bibliography is troubling. Readers are apt to take at face value the many predictions, most of which are presented as foregone conclusions, but without any supporting references. Nonetheless, students will be most interested in thumbing their way through this visually appealing book and might be spurred on to ask substantive questions.
Mary R. Hofmann, Rivera Middle School, Merced, CA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 4-6. This survey of how science may change our lives in the next half century or so combines montages of photographs and painted, futuristic scenes with bite-size prognostications: "A robot vacuum cleaner will automatically detect and clean up spills." Gifford considers possible developments in transportation, education, recreational activities, and biotechnology. Many of his predictions are safely vague, and he covers his bets, for instance, by claiming on one spread that cities will continue to grow but suggesting on the next that urbanites will flee the "rat race" at an increasing clip. Up the road a few decades this will almost certainly be good for a laugh, but now, paired with other volumes in the How the Future Began series, Gifford's enticing visions will engage the imaginations of young dreamers. Listings of Web sites and science museums are appended. GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 64 pages
• Publisher: Kingfisher (September 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0753452685
• ISBN-13: 978-0753452684
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,869,959 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Clive Gifford is an award-winning author of over 120 books for children and adults. These range from the serious (Refugees, Robots, Planet Under Pressure: Pollution, Spies and Spying) and sporty (with books on the Olympics, football and tennis) to the downright silly (Pants Attack, Kelly's Smelly Wellies, The Huge Rude Duke).

Clive has travelled through 70 countries, run a computer games company and taken part in all manner of sports from parachuting and gliding to Ultimate Frisbee (he was top scorer at the European Indoor Championships in Gothenburg back in the nineties).

His books have been shortlisted for the TES Information Book of the Year and the British Book Awards as well as winning Smithsonian, Children's Choice, NAPPA and PBS awards. Sir Ranulph Fiennes called his latest book on Explorers, "An inspiration to all adventurers." whilst The Guardian declared that his Kingfisher Book Of Football "was worth a season's training" and the Manchester Evening News labelled it "The classiest football book around."

Clive's official website can be found at www.clivegifford.co.uk

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What this book is like., November 17, 2000

A Kid's Review

This review is from: How The Future Began: Everyday Life (Hardcover)

This is a very educational book. It has a lot of information on what the future will be like and what there will be in houses, on roads, and other transportational ways.It shows new advances in cars and communication. It is a color book with good pictures. This is a good book for kids or adults iterested in the future.