Nancy and I were discussing projections by experts and public figures. Here are a few from Cerf's book and my hunting...
"No rocket will reach the moon save by a miraculous discovery of an explosive far more energetic than any known. And even if the requisite fuel were produced, it would still have to be shown that the rocket machine would operate at 459 degrees below zero - the temperature of interplanetary space." Nikola Tesla, November, 1928
"Man will never reach the moon regardless of all future scientific advances." Lee DeForest (inventor of the audion tube) February, 1957.
"By 1980 all power (electric, atomic, solar) is likely to be virtually costless" Henry Luce, 1956
"A few decades hence, energy may be free - just like the unmetered air." John von Neumann, 1956
"By 1980 we will be self-sufficient and will not need to rely on foreign energy." Richard M Nixon, 1973.
"One way I save energy is by asking my servants not to turn on the self-cleaning oven until after seven in the morning." Nancy Reagan, 1982.
"It can be taken for granted that before 1980 ship, aircraft, locomotives and even automobiles will be atomically fuelled." David Sarnoff, 1955.
"A road sign of the future is likely to read 'No wheeled vehicles on this highway.' Cars without wheels will float on air, bringing about the passing of the wheel." Arthur C. Clarke's 1975 vision of transportation in 2000
"Flight by machines heavier than air is unpractical, and insignificant, if not utterly impossible."Simon Newcomb (Astronomer), 1902
and one of my favorites...
"By the year 2000, there will be no C, X, or Q in our every-day alphabet" Ladies' Home Journal, December, 1900
I wonder if anyone has made predictions on really big donuts?
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/set/donut.html
6:16:44 AM 
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