The Visionaries, Madmen, and Tinkerers Who Created the Future That Never Was
THE HISTORY OF THE FUTURE SERIES
Flying Cars: The Miracle of Flight - In Your Driveway!
(Amazon link)
WHAT WAS IT? The Mystery Airship of 1896
(Amazon link)
Max Valier: Rocket Man
(Amazon link)
Flight is one of the oldest dreams of humanity. When the automobile and the airplane debuted at the turn of the 20th century, inventive minds immediately sought to put them together, to have the miracle of flight available at arm’s reach at every minute. The Flying Car tantalized for decades, so easy to conceive, so hard to make work. This brief history of flying cars details the lure of the flying car as it was announced over and over again, almost available to everyone, only to slip away and become the symbol of the lost future that never was.
A chapter from a planned book on the History of the Future, available on Amazon as a Kindle ebook.
For an introduction on this site visit
“WHAT WAS IT?” screamed the first headline in November 1896. People looked up and saw a brilliant light, coming "from - somewhere." Had the Age of Flight begun, had a new marvel been added to the list of the automobile, the electric light, and the telephone? What else could it be? The Mystery Airship was seen by thousands over California and elsewhere, causing a media frenzy equal to any on today’s 24-hour cable news. This book covers the frenzy day-by-day as the story grew wilder, reporters hunted down every angle, and people wondered – could they believe they own eyes?
A standalone article in the History of the Future series, available on Amazon as a Kindle ebook.
For an introduction on this site visit
Max Valier invented a working rocket car, and a rocket train, and a rocket plane, all by 1929, creating world-wide headlines. He predicted rockets would propel riders from Berlin to New York in a few hours. He wrote of exploring the Moon and Mars and gave more than 800 presentations to thrilled audiences. And then, in an awful second, an exploding rocket engine slit his throat, making him the first casualty of the Space Age. Almost forgotten today, Max Valier's life serves as a symbol of why the speed, the power, the possibilities of rockets have had a hypnotic effect on so many for the past hundred years. This is his lost story.
A standalone article in the History of the Future series, available on Amazon as a Kindle ebook.
For an introduction on this site visit