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A History of the Future in 100 Objects
What are the 100 objects that future historians will pick to define our 21st century?
A javelin thrown by an 'enhanced' Paralympian far further than any normal human? Virtual reality interrogation equipment used by police forces? The world's most expensive glass of water, mined from the moons of Mars? The first Rechartered City, thrown open to new citizens to prevent declining populations? Or desire modification drugs that fuel the fastest growing new religion?
A History of the Future in 100 Objects describes a hundred slices of the future of everything, spanning politics, technology, art, religion, and entertainment. Some objects are described by future historians; others through found materials, short stories, or dialogues. All of them show a vision of the future in sharp detail and unparalleled breadth.
Author Adrian Hon is CEO at Six to Start, an award-winning games company and co-creators of "Zombies, Run!" Adrian was previously a neuroscientist at the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford, Director of Play at Mind Candy, and technology writer for The Telegraph. He's had work displayed at MOMA and the Design Museum; conducted research in a Mars simulation in the Utah desert; worked with Disney Imagineering, Death Cab for Cutie, the British Museum, and The Economist; and spoken at TED in Monterey, California.
A javelin thrown by an 'enhanced' Paralympian far further than any normal human? Virtual reality interrogation equipment used by police forces? The world's most expensive glass of water, mined from the moons of Mars? The first Rechartered City, thrown open to new citizens to prevent declining populations? Or desire modification drugs that fuel the fastest growing new religion?
A History of the Future in 100 Objects describes a hundred slices of the future of everything, spanning politics, technology, art, religion, and entertainment. Some objects are described by future historians; others through found materials, short stories, or dialogues. All of them show a vision of the future in sharp detail and unparalleled breadth.
Author Adrian Hon is CEO at Six to Start, an award-winning games company and co-creators of "Zombies, Run!" Adrian was previously a neuroscientist at the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford, Director of Play at Mind Candy, and technology writer for The Telegraph. He's had work displayed at MOMA and the Design Museum; conducted research in a Mars simulation in the Utah desert; worked with Disney Imagineering, Death Cab for Cutie, the British Museum, and The Economist; and spoken at TED in Monterey, California.
343 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 31, 2013
23 people are currently reading
275 people want to read
About the author
Adrian Hon
5 books89 followersAdrian Hon is co-founder and CEO at Six to Start, creators of gamelike stories and story-like games including the world's bestselling smartphone fitness game, Zombies, Run!, with ten million players. Six to Start's clients have included Disney, the BBC, Channel 4, and Penguin, and the company has won multiple awards including Best of Show at SXSW.
Adrian is author of A History of the Future in 100 Objects, and has written a column about technology for the Telegraph. He originally trained as a neuroscientist at Cambridge, UCSD, and Oxford.
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Adrian is author of A History of the Future in 100 Objects, and has written a column about technology for the Telegraph. He originally trained as a neuroscientist at Cambridge, UCSD, and Oxford.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
February 18, 2021
Adrian Hon has taken the concept of the successful BBC radio series 'A History of the World in 100 Objects' and imagined a future version of this, looking at dates from 2020 to 2079. Hon makes it clear in his author's note that this is intended to be informative fiction rather than futurology, but the reality is that all futurology is fiction, and it's inevitable to read this book as much in the vein of futurology as pure science fiction.
Certainly the New History shows the futility of futurology as anything other than fiction, since the 2020/2021 examples have no reference to the pandemic - which is particularly ironic as object number 10 is an automated courier, first used to take something to a market, which is demonstrated in Wuhan.
To begin with, I really enjoyed the entries. (They can't really be referred to as objects because many of them are events, people or documents, rather than actual objects.) The first, for example, really brings out the power of the approach when it presents us with the pros and cons of an ankle tag for convicted criminals that is combined with smart speaker type technology to monitor exactly what they do and say.
Admittedly, some entries have irritating omissions, often when Hon becomes a bit too enthusiastic about the technology without thinking through downsides. So, for example, the second entry is a children's toy that is made lifelike by being effectively a remote-controlled puppet - there is no consideration of the potential for child abuse here. Similarly, the timescales can be hilariously over-compressed. So, for example, we see the adoption of a whole new hardware and (sub-vocal) messaging system which is already carrying billions of messages per day by 2022.
Nonetheless, for the first third of the book or so, I very much enjoyed reading the entries. After that, the novelty started to wear out and it became something of a chore to read the rest. It might have been better to pick fewer items and to have given longer and more interesting stories to them - the 100 objects format constrained the book into something that wasn't as readable as it could have been.
Two other moans. You can't blame the author, but some of the ideas are very familiar from existing science fiction. So, for example, 'object' 72 is downvoting, which is almost identical to the premise of the Black Mirror episode Nosedive. Perhaps less forgivable is the lack of portrayal of political developments outside of China. There is a lot of focus on China, but Russia hardly gets mentioned, while the assumption seems to be that both the USA and the EU will not see any further developments as a result of the political problems they are both currently facing.
A genuinely fun and interesting idea, but as the dire H. G. Wells future history style The Shape of Things to Come demonstrated, even the best writer of science fiction can struggle to make this kind of material enjoyable reading for a full-length book.
Certainly the New History shows the futility of futurology as anything other than fiction, since the 2020/2021 examples have no reference to the pandemic - which is particularly ironic as object number 10 is an automated courier, first used to take something to a market, which is demonstrated in Wuhan.
To begin with, I really enjoyed the entries. (They can't really be referred to as objects because many of them are events, people or documents, rather than actual objects.) The first, for example, really brings out the power of the approach when it presents us with the pros and cons of an ankle tag for convicted criminals that is combined with smart speaker type technology to monitor exactly what they do and say.
Admittedly, some entries have irritating omissions, often when Hon becomes a bit too enthusiastic about the technology without thinking through downsides. So, for example, the second entry is a children's toy that is made lifelike by being effectively a remote-controlled puppet - there is no consideration of the potential for child abuse here. Similarly, the timescales can be hilariously over-compressed. So, for example, we see the adoption of a whole new hardware and (sub-vocal) messaging system which is already carrying billions of messages per day by 2022.
Nonetheless, for the first third of the book or so, I very much enjoyed reading the entries. After that, the novelty started to wear out and it became something of a chore to read the rest. It might have been better to pick fewer items and to have given longer and more interesting stories to them - the 100 objects format constrained the book into something that wasn't as readable as it could have been.
Two other moans. You can't blame the author, but some of the ideas are very familiar from existing science fiction. So, for example, 'object' 72 is downvoting, which is almost identical to the premise of the Black Mirror episode Nosedive. Perhaps less forgivable is the lack of portrayal of political developments outside of China. There is a lot of focus on China, but Russia hardly gets mentioned, while the assumption seems to be that both the USA and the EU will not see any further developments as a result of the political problems they are both currently facing.
A genuinely fun and interesting idea, but as the dire H. G. Wells future history style The Shape of Things to Come demonstrated, even the best writer of science fiction can struggle to make this kind of material enjoyable reading for a full-length book.
December 21, 2013
The hundred bite-sized chapters were both a blessing and a curse. The ones I found truly interesting felt too short. Occasionally, I'd get a few in a row that I wasn't too into, making it more difficult than it should have been to pick up the book the next day once I'd set it down for the night. Many chapters dovetail into others, sometimes subtly, sometimes it is more blatant, but they weave a vivid future world. It's definitely a high recommendation if you like the “science” parts of scifi.
Addendum: Upon reflecting on the world this paints, I now realize after the fact that it's a very “cyberpunk” world, with AIs and neural-computer interfaces and freelancers and such, without that term “cyberpunk” (or any of its overdone tropes) popping into my perception as I traversed the chapters. It took stepping back and reflecting to really notice this, and — by my standards — that's a good thing.
Addendum: Upon reflecting on the world this paints, I now realize after the fact that it's a very “cyberpunk” world, with AIs and neural-computer interfaces and freelancers and such, without that term “cyberpunk” (or any of its overdone tropes) popping into my perception as I traversed the chapters. It took stepping back and reflecting to really notice this, and — by my standards — that's a good thing.
June 8, 2016
Published in 2013, the book is sadly already getting dated, since a lot of objects at the beginning are from 2014-2016. I found that surprising – there was the obvious low hanging fruit of starting with real objects invited 2000-2012 and then deftly merging into the hypothetical future (a la the opening credits of Enterprise), with perhaps not too much time spent on the 30-seconds from now section.
Still, the writing style is excellent – an absolute spot on replication of your typical history book. You could practically hear David Starkey narrating the text.
There is some great speculation here on what the 21st century might bring, a lot of sounding quite plausible as Hon clearly is on top of current events, as well as the kind of history that repeats itself.
January 28, 2021
A 2020 staff favorite recommended by Joe. Check our catalog: https://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore...
October 15, 2020
The interplay between science fiction and reality is a constant one. Fiction pushes the boundaries of possibility. It opens the minds of many thinkers who go on to turn some fraction of that dream into reality, through science, policy, or activism. But science also inspires the writer to take a glimpse of the future and flesh it out into a full-blown virtual reality.
Adrian Hon’s New History of the Future in 100 Objects plays back and forth constantly along that line between fantasy and reality. The book is exactly as the title describes. 100, sometimes interconnected vignettes of the future, centred around particular objects, memes or movements. Written from the perspective of a museum curator in 2082, it never stretches the bounds of scientific or societal change beyond the plausible. Though in some ways that makes it all the more terrifying.
The book was originally published in 2013, but this new edition from MIT Press brings it bang up to date, with 20 new or heavily-updated objects and edits to connect the stories to our current times.
Unlike a science fiction novel, the stories in this book are not pegged to a single period. Rather they have been gathered by the fictional future curator from our next sixty years. This starts in the current period – brave for any futurist – and unfolds in time order towards the curator’s present day.
The topics addressed are broad: food and faith, earth and space, love and crime. But all are anchored in an understanding of both humanity and technology that gives them that scary believability.
The stories are anchored too, in the prevailing technologist obsessions of our times. Transhumanism, universal basic income, and planetary terraforming feature strongly. It is presented as ultimately optimistic but not everyone would have such positive interpretations of such ideas. There are strong feminist critiques of the ‘brain in a jar’ basis of much transhumanism. UBI can be argued to be extended life support for consumerist culture. And many would argue our right to begin transforming the solar system having wrecked our corner of it.
But as I frequently have to explain, the role of a futurist is not necessarily to describe the world we want to see, but the world that we do see. This book is an exploration of our current trajectory, more than an attempt to define an alternative.
As someone who spends their professional life engaged with futuristic ideas, both in fiction and in fact, many of the ideas described here are familiar. But most will find this a book packed with novelty. As a vehicle for expanding your thinking, pulling off the blinkers and opening your mind to the possible, it has incredible power. It should be required reading for anyone struggling to imagine a social, technological, and political landscape beyond these times. And for anyone who wants to understand the potential consequences of our current path.
Adrian Hon’s New History of the Future in 100 Objects plays back and forth constantly along that line between fantasy and reality. The book is exactly as the title describes. 100, sometimes interconnected vignettes of the future, centred around particular objects, memes or movements. Written from the perspective of a museum curator in 2082, it never stretches the bounds of scientific or societal change beyond the plausible. Though in some ways that makes it all the more terrifying.
The book was originally published in 2013, but this new edition from MIT Press brings it bang up to date, with 20 new or heavily-updated objects and edits to connect the stories to our current times.
Unlike a science fiction novel, the stories in this book are not pegged to a single period. Rather they have been gathered by the fictional future curator from our next sixty years. This starts in the current period – brave for any futurist – and unfolds in time order towards the curator’s present day.
The topics addressed are broad: food and faith, earth and space, love and crime. But all are anchored in an understanding of both humanity and technology that gives them that scary believability.
The stories are anchored too, in the prevailing technologist obsessions of our times. Transhumanism, universal basic income, and planetary terraforming feature strongly. It is presented as ultimately optimistic but not everyone would have such positive interpretations of such ideas. There are strong feminist critiques of the ‘brain in a jar’ basis of much transhumanism. UBI can be argued to be extended life support for consumerist culture. And many would argue our right to begin transforming the solar system having wrecked our corner of it.
But as I frequently have to explain, the role of a futurist is not necessarily to describe the world we want to see, but the world that we do see. This book is an exploration of our current trajectory, more than an attempt to define an alternative.
As someone who spends their professional life engaged with futuristic ideas, both in fiction and in fact, many of the ideas described here are familiar. But most will find this a book packed with novelty. As a vehicle for expanding your thinking, pulling off the blinkers and opening your mind to the possible, it has incredible power. It should be required reading for anyone struggling to imagine a social, technological, and political landscape beyond these times. And for anyone who wants to understand the potential consequences of our current path.
March 2, 2014
I liked this book a lot, but it failed to get me glued to a chair for more than half an hour a day. The reason might have been its "encyclopedia-entry" format, but I don't think that's exactly the issue here - Hon does his best to keep the attention of the reader, but some entries are more interesting than others (as it happens in a "real", "normal" encyclopedia). I also would have liked to see a more integrated universe, something he tried to do but ultimated failed, IMO. It's a good thing he called his book "A History of the Future", because every time someone asked me about what I was reading, I kept answering "A History of the 21st Century", and that wasn't too far off the mark, was it? I would have liked to see entries going until the early 22nd Century - but that's only me. I enjoyed reading it after all.
September 5, 2021
Calling this a fiction just goes to show how much of genre is content rather than form and how little that is necessarily what is interesting about books.
Hon's speculation is fascinating (there's the "I expect this to become obsolete" and then there's no mention of the mRNA vaccine, which tells you everything you need to know about publication date). It's interesting to see where he's optimistic and where he's pessimistic, where he has faith in us and where he, instead, has DEEP skepticism.
I think he might be a bit optimistic when it comes to climate change and ALSO I don't think he was intending to be.
I have my own deep skepticism, about what he imagines growing and what he imagines fundamentally changing. But isn't that always the way, when it comes to the future. And, as someone who loves to imagine SFF AI, I am deeply skeptical any of us will ever see it.
Hon's speculation is fascinating (there's the "I expect this to become obsolete" and then there's no mention of the mRNA vaccine, which tells you everything you need to know about publication date). It's interesting to see where he's optimistic and where he's pessimistic, where he has faith in us and where he, instead, has DEEP skepticism.
I think he might be a bit optimistic when it comes to climate change and ALSO I don't think he was intending to be.
I have my own deep skepticism, about what he imagines growing and what he imagines fundamentally changing. But isn't that always the way, when it comes to the future. And, as someone who loves to imagine SFF AI, I am deeply skeptical any of us will ever see it.
September 21, 2020
There have been many "History of [X] in 100 Objects" books published, but this is the first one I've seen from the future.
Requiring impressive creativity and (I assume) research, the next 80 years are reviewed based on inventions that are yet-to-be.
From prison reform to expanding sexuality to the role of AI in everything, the only reason this is science "fiction" is because you aren't working hard enough for the future.
**I received this story early from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Requiring impressive creativity and (I assume) research, the next 80 years are reviewed based on inventions that are yet-to-be.
From prison reform to expanding sexuality to the role of AI in everything, the only reason this is science "fiction" is because you aren't working hard enough for the future.
**I received this story early from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
September 19, 2020
Inventive. This is a fascinating survey of fictional devices, apps, functionalities that has impacted society as seen by a curator from the year 2082. It blends real accounts of existing technology to push the boundaries of imagination that feels very real. This book is perfect for geeks and hard science fiction fans.
Thanks to the publisher for the early access to a reading copy.
Thanks to the publisher for the early access to a reading copy.
July 26, 2016
Wonderful collection.
A great set of interwoven stories imagining what the future will be like. Explored lots of current themes like work, ai, virtual reality, and the future of philosophy. A fun read that can be slowly consumed one story at a time.
A great set of interwoven stories imagining what the future will be like. Explored lots of current themes like work, ai, virtual reality, and the future of philosophy. A fun read that can be slowly consumed one story at a time.
December 20, 2024
I really do hope some of the inventions depicted in this book will show up. But for the others, not so much.
April 6, 2025
A fascinating and fictional look into things that might change the way we exist.
March 16, 2020
Incredible concept, OK execution.
October 4, 2020
An interesting speculative history of the 21st Century, as told by a narrator in 2082.
This book is a fictional transcript of a talk (?, it's not made fully clear what the format of the presentation of this is) given in 2082 looking back at 100 objects that defined the 21st Century. This is a very interesting topic and the author attempts to give some commentary on humanity and society through the selection and description of (currently) fictional objects and experiences.
The thing that I most struggle with is the timeline introduced by these objects. By the late 2070's, the book says that humanity will be living predominantly off-Earth and will be taking quick day trips to orbit Saturn. This seems a bit unbelievable, but I suppose that anything is possible in the next 50+ years. Even more so, I think that the objects of the 2020's show the most problems, probably because this book was originally written as a Kickstarter project in 2011. By 2025, the author says that governments will be using virtual reality technology to interrogate terrorists. That seems very plausible. However, by that same year, he also says that we will have a Sex Workers Union very well-established in New York City and having already developed an app that will allow sex workers to provide sexual experiences remotely for customers. This feels like much too fast timing for something like this, given the current political/technological/societal climate.
Overall, for people who enjoy reading science fiction and/or like speculating about the future, this would be a fun read. Especially if you just suspend disbelief for a while...
Thank you to NetGalley and MIT Press for providing an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
This book is a fictional transcript of a talk (?, it's not made fully clear what the format of the presentation of this is) given in 2082 looking back at 100 objects that defined the 21st Century. This is a very interesting topic and the author attempts to give some commentary on humanity and society through the selection and description of (currently) fictional objects and experiences.
The thing that I most struggle with is the timeline introduced by these objects. By the late 2070's, the book says that humanity will be living predominantly off-Earth and will be taking quick day trips to orbit Saturn. This seems a bit unbelievable, but I suppose that anything is possible in the next 50+ years. Even more so, I think that the objects of the 2020's show the most problems, probably because this book was originally written as a Kickstarter project in 2011. By 2025, the author says that governments will be using virtual reality technology to interrogate terrorists. That seems very plausible. However, by that same year, he also says that we will have a Sex Workers Union very well-established in New York City and having already developed an app that will allow sex workers to provide sexual experiences remotely for customers. This feels like much too fast timing for something like this, given the current political/technological/societal climate.
Overall, for people who enjoy reading science fiction and/or like speculating about the future, this would be a fun read. Especially if you just suspend disbelief for a while...
Thank you to NetGalley and MIT Press for providing an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
December 6, 2020
This book was a quick read that I enjoyed in a weekend between chores and family time. While the premise of the book is fantastic and the synopsis made it seem like it would be an amazing book, it was a bit unbelievable. The book is set in 2082, and looks back at objects from the past, and gives commentary on what the world will be like. Some of it was just hard to believe given current developments and social climates. It seems more fantasy than science fiction, making it hard to follow along. For me, it reminded me how in middle school of 2000, I was saying we would have flying cars and robot servants in 2020, yet here living in some strange 1900s dystopian political climate with a global pandemic, and my car continues to obey the laws of gravity. While maybe the book was meant to be entirely fantastical, the way the synopsis and writing came off, it did not seem that way. It seemed to be more of a commentary on the future than a sci-fi novel, based on writing style. It was an interesting read and had thought-provoking thoughts on occasion, but overall, I found it to be far fetched and rooted more in fantasy than sci-fi. It was on that strange middle ground of not being too realistic to be seen as fantasy or dystopian, but too unrealistic to be sci-fi.
July 28, 2020
After reading this, this book is not what I thought it was going to be. Instead it talks about technology and how it has helped different corporations. It is not a discussion about different well-known inventions like the telephone or a Morse code machine. I actually felt this was rather dull. JMO..
You can tell the writer has a lot of passion for this book and probably did a reasonable amount of work, but the execution of this book was off. Some parts where fascinating but it is a no for me.
Thanks to Netgalley, Adrian Hon and MIT Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Available: 10/6/20
You can tell the writer has a lot of passion for this book and probably did a reasonable amount of work, but the execution of this book was off. Some parts where fascinating but it is a no for me.
Thanks to Netgalley, Adrian Hon and MIT Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Available: 10/6/20
March 1, 2014
I took three months to read this book, as it works really well being read a few scenarios at a time. This is a work of fiction, set up as one hundred scenarios about the future.Each chapter explores a different idea, although there are some linkages through the entire book. Different styles are used in the chapters, some taking the form of alledged interviews, others first hand reporting, and some statistics. Some of the chaoters have very interesting ideas and challenges to consider. This may be of interest to people exploring ideas about the future. It was an engaging read.
September 17, 2014
An ambitious effort. It's hard to read right through, more of a "pick and up and read occasionally" kind of book. Some of the scenarios are brilliant but it's hard to maintain that consistency for 100. It's a perspective of the next 75 years so has some interesting projections. Take a look at the web site for many of them. It's a good book to stimulate your thinking.
August 30, 2015
There are some very plausible and insightful ideas but any good thought suffers from poor story telling.
The encyclopedic writing style is dry, forced and very contrived. There's nothing to empathize with, no story to keep pulling you in, just.. words. Some of the words express interesting ideas but that hardly compensates for their bland wordness.
The encyclopedic writing style is dry, forced and very contrived. There's nothing to empathize with, no story to keep pulling you in, just.. words. Some of the words express interesting ideas but that hardly compensates for their bland wordness.
August 18, 2016
This is another one that had me wishing for half-star ratings, I'd probably do 3.5 — the good parts of this were so brilliant and insightful, into both the nature of technology and plain old human nature. A few of the chapters, though, lost me completely. But I bumped it up to four stars primarily for completely upturning my understanding of what science fiction can be.
October 16, 2022
For me the concept is a little too cute. The best entries are single ideas that would work well if included in a longer work. The worst entries are just criticisms of today, usually about America and nearly always about conservative values and policies. Either way, the overall effect is pretty thin.
April 1, 2014
Clever & thought-provoking.
Very much enjoyed this plausible speculative leap into the future (& its format which demonstrates that the author loves the BBC/British Museum's History of the World in 100 Objects as much as I).
Very much enjoyed this plausible speculative leap into the future (& its format which demonstrates that the author loves the BBC/British Museum's History of the World in 100 Objects as much as I).
August 3, 2014
A lot of good concepts. Not every one is a hit, but the format keeps it short and fast moving. Really liked the one about historical preservation of the first space hotel and the super emoji "glyphish." The overall message is that Ben in the future, everything gets old and we keep moving.
September 13, 2014
This book should be required reading in H.S. history classes as the past informs the future. From the year 2082, a look back at the most notable events and inventions from the 21st century. Highly recommended for scifi fans and really pretty much anyone interested in the future.
September 29, 2014
The kind of book I wish I would be able to write. Excellent.
May 13, 2015
Interesting read.
This was an interesting read, and most of it seemed plausible. The furure seems kess distopian than I would expect, though it ends on something of a sad note.
This was an interesting read, and most of it seemed plausible. The furure seems kess distopian than I would expect, though it ends on something of a sad note.
Read
July 31, 2015Fiction H769h 2013
January 21, 2016
An interesting premise, but requires you to suspend your disbelief quite often.
September 24, 2016
Good
The fact I can see you soon as possible and to get my nails are you doing it wrong that I'm
The fact I can see you soon as possible and to get my nails are you doing it wrong that I'm
February 17, 2021
Bit harder to read this than my usual books. It's like a collection of short stories. Some fun and thought-provoking bits!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews