That man has been called “The Father of Modern Science Fiction,” also known as Hugo Gernsback. Let’s talk about how he motivated millions of people not only to tinker and invent but also to imagine better futures for these technologies.
If you are not a science fiction fan, you may not be familiar with his fascinating story. Born in Luxembourg City in 1884, Gernsback immigrated to the United States in 1904, looking for new business opportunities. Since early childhood, he was always interested in technology, tinkering with radios and thinking about the future possibilities of this technology and others.
His love for science led him to founded a journal dedicated to electronics and radio called Modern Electrics, created for wireless aficionados nationwide. With this magazine, he also co-founded the Wireless Association of America (WAA) in 1909, which connected radio enthusiasts throughout the US. Within the first year, the WAA had 10,000 members, and by 1912, it had grown to 40,000. Modern Electrics’ success led Gernsback to start other magazines like The Electric Experimenter, which later became Science and Invention.
Modern Electrics was initially intended to be mail-ordered and featured purchasable radio parts, like a catalog. In 1908, the magazine attempted to offer “wireless registration,” where you could purchase a subscription to Modern Electrics by contacting them over the radio. Starting with 2000 copies in circulation, its subscription had gained notoriety, with 52,000 copies in circulation by 1911. Later, Modern Electrics became a vehicle for science fiction, as Gernsback thought the readers needed something less dry to inspire their imagination. He decided to do this with a story he authored, Ralph 124C 41+: A Romance of the Year 2660.
The story focused on Ralph, a famous inventor from the future, specifically on September 1, 2660. In the midst of his experimentation, Ralph is mistakenly contacted by a woman in the Alpes who is about to be killed in an avalanche. Ralph, thinking quickly, decides to use his radio wave equipment to direct a powerful beam of electromagnetic waves to melt the avalanche, saving her life. After she is saved, she brings her family to New York City to thank Ralph. As a result of the rescue, Ralph takes her on a date on the moon, where she gets kidnapped by villains from space, leading to more daring adventures.
Although the story is a sweet sentiment, the narrative only functions to describe several futuristic inventions that Gernsback had envisioned. Throughout the story, he uses the phrase “as you know” and then describes a theoretical invention that you actually do not know about. Some of the unbelievably accurate predictions he made in 1911 were microfilm, satellites, space flight, tape recorders, artificial textiles, television and channel surfing, remote controls, video calls, transcendental air service, solar energy, sound movies, synthetic foods, and voice printing. To see how Gernsback’s ideas for these inventions played out in real life, refer to our “Fut-O-Translator” below.
After WWI ended and civilian radio returned with the Radio Act of 1924, Gernsback started his own radio station, WRNY, in New York City, that transmitted from the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan.
He also founded the most influential science fiction magazine of all time in 1926, titled Amazing Stories, where he published stories like The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells. Amazing Stories ushered in what is now called the “Golden Era of Science Fiction,” not only influencing the printing medium but also inspiring many technologies we use today.
Bibliography:
Bleiler, E. F., Bleiler, R. (1998). Science-Fiction: The Gernsback Years. United Kingdom: Kent State University Press.
The Road to Science Fiction: From Wells to Heinlein. (2002). United Kingdom: Scarecrow Press.
Massie, Keith & Perry, Stephen. (2002). Hugo Gernsback and Radio Magazines: An Influential Intersection in Broadcast History.
https://web.archive.org/web/20070704174902/http://home.utah.edu/~u0202363/hugo_pub.pdf
Gernsback, H. (2016). The Perversity of Things: Hugo Gernsback on Media, Tinkering, and Scientifiction. United States: University of Minnesota Press.
Stout, M. (2023). World War I and the Foundations of American Intelligence. United States: University Press of Kansas.
Lewis, T. (2021). Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio. United Kingdom: Cornell University Press.