Customer Reviews

The Year 2000: A Framework for Speculation on the Next Thirty-Three Years,

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The future has a way of surprising even the most knowledgable of would - be prophets. Today when Science is no longer worshipped as a one way vehicle in the direction of Progress, there is at least on part of some a greater wariness as to Man's capacity to arrange , plan, and create all in accordance with his wishes. Herman Kahn was a person of tremendous intelligence and knowledge, and was not afraid to try and think ahead even if this meant risking being made a fool .The prediction here about fusion reactors solving our energy problems is a good example of the kinds of mistake Kahn sometimes made. On the other hand he and his colleagues did have great foresight in a number of areas.

What is interesting is that a book like this which once ' the latest thing' and ' the best idea we have of what the future will be ' now seems so dated and irrelevant. There is apparently nothing more useless than yesterday's newspaper except perhaps yesterday's predictions about today.

I read many parts of this ridiculous book.I found them available for free reading on an internet site.
This book wasn't writen by a ridiculous pastor or an aiatollah;it was writen by two american "scientists".Writing on late 1960 decade, they went to be prophets.Even being "scientists" they weren't better than an aiatollah could be.
To example, they thought that in 2000 fusion reactors will be the biggest source of energy in the world.Well, we are in 2007, not in 2000, but even so, no fusion reactor ever produced liquid energy even to support a small lamp.
The end of iron curtain and Soviet Union, the growing of islam, the atomic aiatollahs of Iran, internet, personal computers, cell phone; nothing were saw by the authors of this book.
Well, here in Brazil, we have a proverb:"O futuro a Deus pertence".Tranlating to English we have:"The future belongs to God."
The only real use on reading this book is to see, that "science" can be so failured as religion.