Inventions Inspired By Science Fiction Novels

Science fiction is a genre that expands scientific discoveries and theories in a way that is considered unreal or, by some, not possible with our current level of technology. Often the fantastic things written about by dreamers have ignited the inspiration in inventors and thus found their way from fiction to daily life. By doing so, authors helped shape the world we live in today, for better or for worse. Here are some devices that were predicted or inspired by science fiction novels.

Anyone who has read 'Frankenstein' probably thinks of the monster’s electric birth when they see a defibrillator at work. Science barely existed at the time when the novel was written and yet Mary Shelley's imagination gave birth to an electric resurrection, which is now done daily in hospitals worldwide.

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Leo Szilard read 'The World Set Free' by H.G. Wells which had bombs dropped from planes that kept exploding. Inspired by that, Szilard conceived the nuclear chain reaction which powers the devastation behind an atom bomb.

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It's hard to pick just one thing that George Orwell predicted so well in his novel ‘1984’. For instance, the invasive way in which companies and governments have access to people’s personal data these days and how they choose to use it was something predicted in theory in his book before such technology was available.
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Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky is the reason we have helicopters and fixed-wing aircrafts today. He was inspired by 'Clipper of the Clouds,' by Jules Verne (sometimes called 'Robur the Conqueror') which had a vehicle like a helicopter. His son told The New York Times that Igor would often say, "Anything that one man can imagine, another man can make real."

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'Looking Backward' by Edward Bellamy was written in the 1800's but it perfectly predicted credit cards which are used today. They were even called credit cards in his books and the transaction included a receipt for both the merchant and the customer, just like how they work today!

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Hugo Gernsback was one of the best known science fiction writers and the famous Hugo Awards are named after him. In his book 'Ralph 124C 41+' solar energy was being harnessed to power the then 'futuristic'world. The book predicted many inventions we all use today, like the television, synthetic cloth and space flight. The code in the title is clever wordplay, which if read aloud says "One to foresee for one another"

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This shocking weapon was inspired by 'Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle' by Victor Appleton. In fact TASER even stands for "Tom A. Swift's Electric Rifle". Written in 1911, the book is rather racist; it involves Tom travelling to Africa where he hunts elephants and fights 'savages'.

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