What do you think?
Rate this book
Tales of the Biotech Revolution
The Third Millennium: A History of the World AD 2000-3000
Two scientists forecast, on the basis of present scientific knowledge as well as an understanding of historical, social, and political trends, the "history" of the next millenium, written as if looking back from the year 3000 These English scientists and science fiction writers use a past-tense narrative to confront the reader with computerized infantrymen, Jack Spratt grass chops, artificial pets, moon settlements, the volcanic destruction of Japan, and many more future "happenings." The periods of crisis, recovery, transformation, and creation of a new world perplex stimulate and provoke the reader into accepting a new concept of science fiction. The holographic nautilus shell on the cover and the creative photography accompanying the text create a different meaning of deja vu as the writers extend their trained imaginations back into the future. Recommended for public and academic libraries. Constance L. Foster, Western Kentucky Univ., Bowling Green
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- GenresScience FictionFiction
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
3 people are currently reading
92 people want to read
About the author
Brian M. Stableford
882 books136 followersBrian Michael Stableford was a British science fiction writer who published more than 70 novels. His earlier books were published under the name Brian M. Stableford, but more recent ones have dropped the middle initial and appeared under the name Brian Stableford. He also used the pseudonym Brian Craig for a couple of very early works, and again for a few more recent works. The pseudonym derives from the first names of himself and of a school friend from the 1960s, Craig A. Mackintosh, with whom he jointly published some very early work.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 30, 2011
Back in 1985 when this book came out, it was at the very top of my must have list of books. I've read it countless times, with each reading giving me something new as my interests have evolved from focusing on the near-future conflicts to space exploration to the bioengineering of humanity. It's a fascinating read and very well executed. However, it is, of course, a product of its times.
Being written in the early to mid-1980s, the authors have clearly missed many of the sociological, geopolitical, and technological changes and revolutions that have occurred in the past 25 years. Economic instability, miniaturization of technology, the fall of the Soviet Union and the rise of several new nations (China, Brazil, Turkey), Islamic fundamentalism, political upheavals in the U.S., to name just a few. That said, clearly the book was a speculation on the future from a 1985 perspective and cannot be faulted for getting things wrong.
One of the few things that has bothered me for a long time is that the authors paint a picture of future on Earth that is a bit too rosy. The idea that after approximately 2100 C.E., there are no military conflicts strikes me as a bit too optimistic. Perhaps we will overcome our petty differences and work together as a human community for the betterment of all, but it seems a bit of a stretch considering our history.
Being written in the early to mid-1980s, the authors have clearly missed many of the sociological, geopolitical, and technological changes and revolutions that have occurred in the past 25 years. Economic instability, miniaturization of technology, the fall of the Soviet Union and the rise of several new nations (China, Brazil, Turkey), Islamic fundamentalism, political upheavals in the U.S., to name just a few. That said, clearly the book was a speculation on the future from a 1985 perspective and cannot be faulted for getting things wrong.
One of the few things that has bothered me for a long time is that the authors paint a picture of future on Earth that is a bit too rosy. The idea that after approximately 2100 C.E., there are no military conflicts strikes me as a bit too optimistic. Perhaps we will overcome our petty differences and work together as a human community for the betterment of all, but it seems a bit of a stretch considering our history.
January 6, 2022
This book was the textbook for an undergraduate course I took called “History of the Future” at Binghamton University in 1986ish with history professor W. Warren Wagar. I am often reminded of the first day of class when Wagar asked for a show of hands in the large and full lecture auditorium: “How many of you think the world as you know it will end because of a nuclear war?” and pretty much everyone’s hand went up. It was a brilliant course whose lessons stayed with me in a deep and meaningful way.
June 4, 2018
A greatly-detailed "look back" at the years 2000 through 3000. One of the most interesting books I've ever read. Stableford obviously put a lot of work and brainstorming into it. Good luck finding it.
Note, much later: I found a hardcover copy of this book and was surprised to discover that the hologram is different between editions: acorns on the hardcover and a nautilus shell on the paperback. Pretty neat!
Note, much later: I found a hardcover copy of this book and was surprised to discover that the hologram is different between editions: acorns on the hardcover and a nautilus shell on the paperback. Pretty neat!
March 20, 2024
This isn’t a novel, but is nevertheless fiction. It’s an ambitious attempt to present a comprehensive future history—as it might be written in AD 3000—ranging across a thousand years and all fields of human activity. It’s a substantial piece of work, plausibly written in considerable detail and well presented, with plentiful and ingenious photographs.
The aim seems to have been to bring together as one coherent whole many of the common predictions of modern futurism, rather than to indulge in boldly novel speculations. Indeed, anyone familiar with the field of futurism, or sf, may find this a surprisingly conservative vision, considering that it comes from two sf writers.
I mean this in two different senses.
Firstly, there’s an almost complete absence of really unexpected developments—those discontinuities in history which can never be predicted except by a wild leap of the imagination. Their absence preserves the rather scholarly and respectable air of the book, but at the cost of some credibility: the future just won’t be this predictable.
Secondly, everything seems to happen very slowly. Science advances more slowly than we’ve been used to in recent centuries; technology lags behind it as usual; and political developments seem incredibly slow and limited, with no substantial changes to the international pecking order, or to the political systems of the major countries, over most of the thousand-year period.
But I suppose this conservatism follows naturally from the concept of the book. After all, one could hardly attempt to predict a thousand years ahead while taking into account a realistic rate of change and the customary incidence of unpredictable social and scientific revolutions. Fantasize, yes; predict, no.
I don’t think one can write history, especially future history, without some sort of political slant. However, these two seem ‘pragmatic’ centrists, and what comes over is a cynical distrust of all ideologies. They cover politics in adequate detail, but I deduce a lack of real interest in the subject.
The Langfordian sense of humour is not entirely absent, and I suspect there are more in-jokes than meet the eye. But I wonder who was responsible for the juvenile invention of a firm of vintners called Misttafelwein GmbH (a name unlikely to achieve a good market image in Germany); and they seem unaccountably proud of the idea of a lightweight tractor—which would surely be incapable of pulling any substantial load unless its wheels were treated with a magic friction enhancer.
I suppose the ideal reader of this book would be someone who has suddenly become interested in the future and wants a general overview of current thinking on the subject. The literature of futurism is now considerable, but most books deal with specific aspects of the future, and over a more limited timespan. The advantage of this one is that it lays the whole thing out in front of you as a single coherent presentation—although, curiously, the authors missed a trick by not including a chronological chart of the main events. Considered as an introduction to futurism, its main defect is the lack of references or bibliography, though such intrusions would have marred the fictional concept.
(Review written in 1985)
The aim seems to have been to bring together as one coherent whole many of the common predictions of modern futurism, rather than to indulge in boldly novel speculations. Indeed, anyone familiar with the field of futurism, or sf, may find this a surprisingly conservative vision, considering that it comes from two sf writers.
I mean this in two different senses.
Firstly, there’s an almost complete absence of really unexpected developments—those discontinuities in history which can never be predicted except by a wild leap of the imagination. Their absence preserves the rather scholarly and respectable air of the book, but at the cost of some credibility: the future just won’t be this predictable.
Secondly, everything seems to happen very slowly. Science advances more slowly than we’ve been used to in recent centuries; technology lags behind it as usual; and political developments seem incredibly slow and limited, with no substantial changes to the international pecking order, or to the political systems of the major countries, over most of the thousand-year period.
But I suppose this conservatism follows naturally from the concept of the book. After all, one could hardly attempt to predict a thousand years ahead while taking into account a realistic rate of change and the customary incidence of unpredictable social and scientific revolutions. Fantasize, yes; predict, no.
I don’t think one can write history, especially future history, without some sort of political slant. However, these two seem ‘pragmatic’ centrists, and what comes over is a cynical distrust of all ideologies. They cover politics in adequate detail, but I deduce a lack of real interest in the subject.
The Langfordian sense of humour is not entirely absent, and I suspect there are more in-jokes than meet the eye. But I wonder who was responsible for the juvenile invention of a firm of vintners called Misttafelwein GmbH (a name unlikely to achieve a good market image in Germany); and they seem unaccountably proud of the idea of a lightweight tractor—which would surely be incapable of pulling any substantial load unless its wheels were treated with a magic friction enhancer.
I suppose the ideal reader of this book would be someone who has suddenly become interested in the future and wants a general overview of current thinking on the subject. The literature of futurism is now considerable, but most books deal with specific aspects of the future, and over a more limited timespan. The advantage of this one is that it lays the whole thing out in front of you as a single coherent presentation—although, curiously, the authors missed a trick by not including a chronological chart of the main events. Considered as an introduction to futurism, its main defect is the lack of references or bibliography, though such intrusions would have marred the fictional concept.
(Review written in 1985)
June 17, 2022
I have had this book since I was a teenager and I still love it. Yes, it's totally dated because it was written before The Cold War ended, but the futurism and technology aspect is still really fun.
The section on the future types of humans is also discussed in more depth in his other book Future Man which isn't as good, imo, but does go into more detail if that's what you are looking for.
This book is one of a handful that really got me started on my road of becoming an actual futurist and not just a science fiction afficionado. Books like this really get your mind going in the right direction(s).
The section on the future types of humans is also discussed in more depth in his other book Future Man which isn't as good, imo, but does go into more detail if that's what you are looking for.
This book is one of a handful that really got me started on my road of becoming an actual futurist and not just a science fiction afficionado. Books like this really get your mind going in the right direction(s).
February 16, 2025
A fascinating work, very prescient in many ways despite the obvious and understandable inaccuracies in the particulars of the near future sections. The greater thrust on the philosophy of prediction and the nature of the human condition are where it really shines, even if it can be considered a bit politically naive.
November 20, 2021
I don't normally blog and then link to a review, but this time I have. It's here: https://zerothly.wordpress.com/2021/1...
But that's only the first fifth of the book. More to come.
But that's only the first fifth of the book. More to come.
December 31, 2011
Fascinating predictions of the future from the days just before we had the Internet and we were still in a cold war with the USSR.. The prediction misses are as telling as the accurate predictions whose timelines are incredibly accelerated in real life. For instance, the adoption of e-publishing came 18 years earlier than predicted; and devices like the iPad/Kindle arrived 50 years sooner than predicted. 3D Tv is 120 years early!
If the later half of the book is written as conservatively as the first, then we're in for an amazing future! It would be a truly interesting exercise if the authors were to revisit this topic in light of the world changes of the last 25 years.
Excellent book.
If the later half of the book is written as conservatively as the first, then we're in for an amazing future! It would be a truly interesting exercise if the authors were to revisit this topic in light of the world changes of the last 25 years.
Excellent book.
June 12, 2015
An optimistic view of humanity's prospects for the future. So bear up reduce that carbon footprint ad save the planet!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews