Publisher's Synopsis
A speculative novelette predicting some changes in the world 200 years into the future from the year 1871, written by a noted Dutch scientist, originally published in the Dutch language, the author hiding himself behind the pen name of "Dr. Dioscorides." The story begins as the narrator settles into his comfortable chair and ponders the predictions made by Roger Bacon, the 13th-century scholar, that actually came true by the 19th century: telescopes, self-propelled vehicles, bridges across spans without intermediate supports, devices to navigate without navigators, ships that can be controlled by a single man at great speeds. As he dozes, he suddenly becomes alert and sees that he is in the year 2071 by the date on a clock tower. A noble old man appears before him, whom he recognizes as Roger Bacon, with a young lady named Miss Phantasia. He learns from them that he is in the city of Londinia, a megalopolis formerly London, England. They give him a tour of Londinia and then they take him on a flight over Europe and onward to New Holland (Australia) by airship, explaining the new technologies and changes in the world. Some of the predictions: domed air-conditioned cities, megalopolis cities, end of war due to the cost, electro-magnetic device to control direction of airship travel, universal time for electronic transactions around the globe, electric vehicles powered by batteries, submergence of North Holland under the sea, decline of colonization, the age of aluminum, and more. We are delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive Classic Library collection. Many of the books in our collection have been out of print for decades, and therefore have not been accessible to the general public. The aim of our publishing program is to facilitate rapid access to this vast reservoir of literature, and our view is that this is a significant literary work, which deserves to be brought back into print after many decades. The contents of the vast majority of titles in the Classic Library have been scanned from the original works. To ensure a high quality product, each title has been meticulously hand curated by our staff. Our philosophy has been guided by a desire to provide the reader with a book that is as close as possible to ownership of the original work. We hope that you will enjoy this wonderful classic work, and that for you it becomes an enriching experience.
