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I don't know how much inspiration Star Trek provided in this case, but it's not unheard of for scientists and engineers to find some inspiration in science fict

by simmons 13y ago

I don't know how much inspiration Star Trek provided in this case, but it's not unheard of for scientists and engineers to find some inspiration in science fiction. I'm reminded of a story about how the science fiction writer Katherine MacLean [1], who predicted the role of computers in communication and music in her 1947 novelette Incommunicado, accidentally stumbled into a conference of electrical engineers and found herself quickly surrounded by Bell Telephone researchers who were inspired by her ideas to build the next generation of communications equipment. As a software engineer, I have to admit to being inspired by near-future software engineering fiction that explores new ideas, many of which are quite achievable. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_MacLean http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_MacLean

fragsworth 13y ago
I was generalizing too much when I said they don't get any ideas from science fiction. I really just thought the original statement, that he "gets his ideas" for "a warp drive" from Star Trek, was kind of ridiculous. The author of the article actually edited it, so I guess they felt similarly.
Niten 13y ago
> As a software engineer, I have to admit to being inspired by near-future software engineering fiction that explores new ideas, many of which are quite achievable. What are some of your favorite examples of this genre?
- jrarredondo 13y ago
  Minority Report? The Matrix? Office Space?
- simmons 13y ago
  My favorite examples are from several years ago -- Charles Stross's Halting State and Vernor Vinge's Rainbows End. The technology portrayed probably doesn't seem quite as amazing today in 2013, but I'm always reminded of how technology seems to be converging on those futures whenever I read over the latest APIs from the Khronos Group. More recently, Ramez Naam's _Nexus_ from earlier this year is pretty awesome, although a little more out there than the other two.

by simmons 13y ago

fragsworth 13y ago

I was generalizing too much when I said they don't get any ideas from science fiction. I really just thought the original statement, that he "gets his ideas" for "a warp drive" from Star Trek, was kind of ridiculous. The author of the article actually edited it, so I guess they felt similarly.

Niten 13y ago

> As a software engineer, I have to admit to being inspired by near-future software engineering fiction that explores new ideas, many of which are quite achievable. What are some of your favorite examples of this genre?

jrarredondo 13y ago
Minority Report? The Matrix? Office Space?
simmons 13y ago
My favorite examples are from several years ago -- Charles Stross's Halting State and Vernor Vinge's Rainbows End. The technology portrayed probably doesn't seem quite as amazing today in 2013, but I'm always reminded of how technology seems to be converging on those futures whenever I read over the latest APIs from the Khronos Group. More recently, Ramez Naam's _Nexus_ from earlier this year is pretty awesome, although a little more out there than the other two.