TOP 11 outstanding predictions of scientists of the past that came true

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Outstanding scientists of the past have already inscribed their names in the history of scientific research and discoveries. At the same time, sometimes their genius is so ahead of time that they are able to predict not only the course of development of science and technology, but also to predict what kind of inventions await humanity in the future. Indeed, far from one prediction of scientists of past years has come true. Here are 11 accurate predictions of recognized geniuses that have already come true.

1. Cellular communication (Nikola Tesla)

Nikola Tesla was and remains one of the most outstanding and mysterious scientists of the last century, whose inventions were really ahead of their time in many ways. At the same time, some of his ideas were not implemented by him due to the lack of the necessary level of technological progress at that time. But the correctness of the scientist's line of thought was proved after a time, when his predictions came true.

Back in 1908, Nikola Tesla gave a description of one of his projects, which is the creation of a wireless communication tower. This technology turned out to be strikingly similar to the cell tower familiar to modern people. And more than a hundred years ago, the scientist wrote about his idea as follows:

“Once the project is completed, the business person will be able to dictate instructions from New York, and they will immediately appear in his office in London or elsewhere. He will be able to talk from his workplace with any telephone subscriber in the world."

2. Smart watch (Nikola Tesla)

Nikola Tesla's genius clearly did not stop at one prediction that came true - after all, he was quite aptly, albeit jokingly, called "the man who invented the 20th century." But, as it turned out, the scientist went beyond one century and predicted the appearance of at least one gadget that entered the technology market only in the 21st century. This is a smart watch.

In 1909, in an interview with the New York Times, Nikola Tesla revealed his vision of the development of future technologies. The genius scientist spoke about the device, the description of which exactly fit a modern smart watch:

“An inexpensive instrument, no more than a watch, will allow its owner to listen to, anywhere - at sea or on land - music or songs, the speeches of a political leader, an eminent scientist, or the sermons of a priest located at a great distance. Any picture, sign, drawing or text can be transferred in the same way."

3. New chemical elements (Dmitry Mendeleev)

Professor Dmitry Mendeleev inscribed his name in the history of chemical science primarily with his periodic table of chemical elements, the first version of which was compiled in 1869. During its compilation, the scientist more than once moved cards with elements in different combinations, trying to make up of them rows of elements similar in properties.

As a result, he settled on building a sequence of elements from light to heavy, that is, in terms of relative atomic mass. However, at the same time, Mendeleev left in the table a number of empty cells, where, according to his forecasts, the elements not yet discovered by science will be located.

Interesting fact:to somehow name the still unknown elements, Mendeleev used the prefixes "eka", "dwi" and "three" which in Sanskrit respectively means "one", "two" and "three". The use of this or that prefix was determined by the approximate position of the future element: how many lines down from the known element with similar properties the predicted element was.

So, for example, in 1875-1886 gallium (ekaaluminium), scandium (ekabor) and germanium (ekasilicium) were discovered. Before that, in 1871, Mendeleev predicted the appearance of an element located between thorium and uranium - it turned out to be protactinium, which was discovered thirty years later. In addition, the 1869 table suggested the existence of an element heavier than titanium and zirconium, and two years later, lanthanum appeared in that place. Also Mendeleev predicted hafnium discovered only in 1923.

4. Internet and Wikipedia (Arthur Clarke)

In fairness, it should be clarified that the emergence of such a phenomenon as the Internet was predicted by more than one person. One of them was the eminent science fiction writer, best known for his novel 2001: A Space Odyssey, Arthur Charles Clarke.

So, in 1976, during an IT conference at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Clark gave an interview to AT&T corporation, where he told about the imminent appearance of information resources like Wikipedia, which can be located in electronic form, as well as transmitted, which, in principle, can be considered as predicting the appearance and The Internet is its present form.

The forecast was as follows: “In the future, computers will be connected to a giant library, where everyone can ask any question and get an answer to it, as well as get reference material on what is of interest to him directly. The machine will select only the information you need in the central library, not the … rubbish that you get when you buy two or three pounds of wood - the newspaper."

5. Distance learning (Arthur Clarke)

Another prediction of the famous science fiction writer, which has already been successfully realized, was the forecast of the possibility of homeschooling with the help of the aforementioned online encyclopedias, as well as the necessary technical devices for this. Clark sees an opportunity in this educational practice to stop seeing the process as tedious and compulsory:

“… No matter how old the user is and how stupid his question may seem, he will be able to find the answer to it. And he will be able to do this in his own house, at his own speed, in his own way, in his own time. Then everyone will enjoy the learning process. After all, what is called education now is actually violence.

Everyone is forced to learn the same thing, at the same time, at the same speed, and in one place - in the classroom. But all people are different! For some, this process is too fast, for others too slow, for others it is simply not the right path. But give them a chance to follow their passions as an optional extra. For the first time, there will be no intermediary between the source of information and the consumer of information”.

6. Geostationary satellite orbit (Arthur Clarke)

The greatest contribution of Arthur Clarke as a popularizer of science was the prediction of one of the types of satellite orbit - geostationary. Back in February 1945, a science fiction writer, in a letter to the editor of Wireless World, mentioned that geostationary satellites could be used for telecommunication transmitters. And already in October of the same year, he broadcast the same idea in an article written there under the title "Extraterrestrial relay communication: can space rockets provide signal coverage of the whole world?"

In his study, Clarke indicated the estimated characteristics of the orbit, the indicators for the required power of the transmitters, the ability to generate electricity using solar panels, and the calculated levels of the likely impact of solar eclipses.

The writer's idea was only brought to life in 1963, when NASA specialists launched satellites into space to test his theory in practice. Currently, the geostationary orbit is successfully functioning, and they began to call it in honor of the author - Clark's Orbit or Clark's Belt.

7. Great London Fire (Nostradamus)

The French alchemist Michel de Nostradamus, better known as Nostradamus, is a very controversial person, especially when it comes to his predictions. Many are skeptical about the ability of a scientist of the Late Middle Ages - after all, most of them were related to astronomical phenomena, and he could simply calculate them.

However, one forecast stands out from the general picture of Nostradamus's predictions. We are talking about an entry in his book Les Propheties de Nostradamus, which was published in 1555: "Just blood will be thirsty in London, burned in the fire 66, the old lady will fall from her high place, and many brothers in faith will be killed" …

Amazingly, it was in 1666 that the event that went down in history as the "Great Fire of London" took place. Then the flame, which raged for three days, destroyed the property of about 70 thousand residents of the English capital, despite the fact that their total number at that time was about 80 thousand.

Interesting fact: a large-scale fire, which brought colossal destruction and losses, nevertheless had at least one positive result - it stopped the so-called "Great Plague". This is a massive outbreak of the bubonic plague in London in 1665-1666.

8. The appearance of Adolf Hitler in the historical arena (Nostradamus)

Surprisingly, among the predictions of Nostradamus there was one that predicted the appearance of a certain person. It sounded like this: "In the depths of Western Europe, a small child will be born by poor people, he is the one whose tongue the great troops will be tempted by, his glory will increase on the way to the East."

Most interpreters of the forecasts of the French alchemist and astrologer are inclined to believe that these lines are about … Adolf Hitler. The future Fuhrer of the Third Reich was indeed born in Western Europe into a poor family. And he used his oratorical skills already in adulthood to win over the huge population of Germany, which he quite easily succeeded in those historical realities.

Moreover, Nostradamus, apparently, predicted the advance of the troops of the Third Reich in the first stage of World War II before the deployment of the eastern front - in 1939-1941, his army seized and occupied the territories of the states of Western Europe without much resistance. And only the decision to turn the troops to the East stopped this aggressive tendency.

9. Cold War (Alexis de Tocqueville)

In 1831, the famous French politician who would later become French Foreign Minister Alexis de Tocqueville published a treatise entitled Democracy in America. In it, where he quite accurately outlined the confrontation between Russia and the United States in the future, although he lived more than a hundred years before this period. This is the era of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Alexis de Tocqueville speaks of the essence of power in these states, as well as their “superpower” future: “At present, there are two great nations in the world, which, despite all their differences, seem to be moving towards a common goal. These are Russians and Anglo-Americans. Both of these peoples appeared on the stage unexpectedly …

… In America, to achieve goals, they rely on self-interest and give full play to the strength and intelligence of man. As for Russia, we can say that there the entire power of society is concentrated in the hands of one person. In America, activity is based on freedom, in Russia - slavery. They have different origins and different paths, but it is very possible that Providence secretly prepared each of them to become the mistress of half of the world."

10. Prosthetics and transplantation (Robert Boyle)

Co-author of the famous Boyle-Mariotte law, Robert Boyle, turned out to be a good predictor. The 17th century chemist made a number of assumptions about the scientific and technological progress of the future, which were found only after the death of their author in 1691. 24 predictions made in handwritten text have been published by the Royal Society.

It was among these predictions that the following assumptions were found: in the future it will be possible to "restore youth through the acquisition of new teeth and hair" and "treatment of diseases at a distance through transplantation." These predictions describe the practice of hair transplantation, dental prosthetics, and organ transplantation today with astonishing accuracy. Thus, Robert Boyle was able to look into the future more than two centuries ahead.

11. Molecules (Robert Boyle)

Despite the accuracy of medical predictions, Robert Boyle was primarily a chemical scientist. Therefore, it is not surprising that his predictions in his home sphere also came true. So, he questioned the postulate of the researchers of the era of Antiquity, in particular, Aristotle, that everything material on the planet can consist of only four elements of the elements - water, earth, fire and air.

In his works, Robert Boyle wrote about this: "everything in this world consists of corpuscles - ultra-small details that, in different combinations, form various substances and objects." In fact, the predictor scientist accurately predicted the discovery of a molecule - the smallest particle of a chemical that has all of its chemical properties. It was first scientifically described and named almost two hundred years after the publication of Boyle's forecast - at the International Congress of Chemists in Karlsruhe in 1860.