Top-5 Tuesday- Pre-atomic Predictions

Though atomic power and the atomic bomb seem like very specific things for an author to be able to predict, they did not appear out of the blue. People have been speculating about the nature of atoms since before the time of Christ. Therefore, it makes sense that their power should have become the subject of discussion in science fiction before it became realized in actual science. The following five authors speculated and warned about what might lurk inside the fabric of matter.

1.The Crack of Doom by Robert Cromie (1895)-

Fifty years before the first atomic bomb was dropped in the Second World War, novelist Robert Cromie imagined a villain who developed a device able to unlock the atomic energy contained in matter for destructive purposes.

2. A Columbus of Space by Garrett P. Servis (1909)-

In his story about an adventure to the planet Venus, Servis imagines nuclear power employed in a less destructive manner- as the propulsion system for a space ship!

3. The Lord of Labor by George Griffith (1911)-

This novel, published after the author’s death, describes the technological terrors involved in a horrific future war. Griffith held to the idea that technology would someday become so powerful that it would make war too dangerous to engage in. Some of his predicted weapons included atomic missiles, and disintegrator rays.

4.  The World Set Free by H.G. Wells (1914)-

Definitely the most well-known and influential novel on this list, Well’s 1914 classic describes a horrific nuclear war, the likes of which, we still have not seen. As the experienced science fiction writer watched the progression of power sources, and weapons technology, he could only imagine how the atom could be utilized in the future.

5. “Deadline” by Cleve Cartmill (1944)-

After reading unclassified material on nuclear research being conducted at the time, Cartmill wrote a short story on the subject, and sold it to Amazing Science Fiction. While the plot is not considered to be groundbreaking or even all that substantial, the scientific details were convincing enough to warrant an FBI investigation into the author, Astounding Science Fiction’s editor, John W. Campbell, and several other notable sci-fi authors such as Asimov and Heinlein. Even when their fears of a leak of classified military secrets were allayed, they still asked Campbell to suspend publication of any nuclear-related stories until a later date.

Keep on glowing in the dark,

Elora