JUL 2, 2007 - Timeline of the Future is, paradoxically, a nostalgic diversion for anyone with a penchant for science fiction. Oh sure, it offers lots of real astronomical futurisms, such as the return of Halley's Comet in 2061, the transit of Earth across the solar disk as seen from Mars on November 10, 2084, summers hotter than hell in 11,500 when precession brings Earth's perilhelion (closest approach to Sun) in July, Vega as the pole star in 16,000 etc. And there's plenty of socio-political punditry, in the form of projections about greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries exceeding those of the industrialized world by 2015, or two out of three Earthlings living in water-stressed conditions by 2025. Interspersed in all this serious speculation is the fanciful stuff, including sci-fi milestones like James Blish's faster-than-light drive in 2030 and Robert Forward's first expedition to Alpha Centauri in 2042. And plenty of predictions of the world ending - in 2003 (the so-called Zeta aliens), 2004 (Arnie Stanton), 2012 (the "Bible Code"), 2014 (according to Pope Leo XIX), etc. Good stuff! Some of it is wrong (e.g. the already lapsed ends of the world), some of it's right, some of it's just a good story - and it's all quite fascinating.
