Table of Contents

Part I—Profiles of the Past
Chapter 1: The World of Tomorrow
Chapter 2: The Graveyard of Dreams
Chapter 3: The Conquest of the Air
Chapter 4: Waldo and Magic, Inc.
Chapter 5: Cold Fusion?
Chapter 6: The Machiavelli Effect
Chapter 7: The Age of Aquarius
Chapter 8: Forbidden Fruit

Part II—Profiles of the Present
Chapter 9: Ceiling and Visibility Unlimited
Chapter 10: Dialogue Concerning the Two Great Systems of the World
Chapter 11: The Atomic Age
Chapter 12: When Worlds Collide
Chapter 13: When the Sleeper Wakes

Part III—Profiles of the Future
Chapter 14: The Dawn of Robots
Chapter 15: The Second Atomic Age
Chapter 16: Tom Swift and His Flying Car
Chapter 17: Escape Velocity
Chapter 18: Metropolis
Chapter 19: Engineers’ Dreams
Chapter 20: Rocket to the Renaissance

Appendix A: Energy Intensity of Predicted Technologies
Appendix B: Selected Readings
Appendix C: Epigraph Sources
Appendix D: Endnotes
Appendix E: Index

About the Author

J. Storrs Hall, PhD, is an independent scientist and author. He was the founding chief scientist of Nanorex, Inc. and a president of the Foresight Institute. He is currently a research fellow at the Institute for Molecular Manufacturing and an associate editor of the International Journal of Nanotechnology and Molecular Computation. He was also accredited as an expert reviewer for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in the field of computational climate models. Hall's previous books include Beyond AI: Creating the Conscience of the Machine and Nanofuture: What's Next for Nanotechnology. Now residing on Chesapeake Bay, he dabbles in aerodynamics design under the auspices of Eastern Shore Flying Cars, LLC. He lives in Virginia.

Reviews

“One of the best and most interesting books on technology.”
—Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution

“There are many writers with optimistic visions of the future. However, the goals I most often hear are all the negation of negatives: cure cancer, eliminate poverty, stop climate change. . . . This is good, but it is not enough. [These techno-optimists] are content with bringing the whole world up to the current best standard of living, but not increasing it. In this context, I found Where Is My Flying Car? refreshing. Hall unabashedly calls for unlimited progress in every dimension.”
—Jason Crawford, Roots of Progress

"Whether there is 'tech stagnation' or a revolution about to swarm the skies, Where Is My Flying Car? offers piercing questions and answers about what it might take to make the dream come true."
—David Brin, astrophysicist and author of Existence and The Postman

"This book is an inspirational roadmap to an amazing future that can be ours if we will only reach for it. Hall’s bold new perspective on technological progress is a must-read for anyone who claims to be a futurist."
—Robert Freitas, nanotechnology scientist and author of Nanomedicine

"America's 'golden quarter century' of technological and economic progress ended 50 years ago. Instead of flying cars, we got Facebook. J. Storrs Hall brilliantly explains the reasons for this Great Stagnation, and what to do to bring about another golden era of growth and prosperity."
—Glenn Harlan Reynolds, Beauchamp Brogan Distinguished Professor of Law, University of Tennessee