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Abstract

In which science fiction, having successfully foreseen atomic power and space travel, completely misses the third great technological revolution of the 20th century: the advent of miniaturized solid-state electronics. Instead, its predictions of sentient humanoid robots and giant, building-sized computers—often bent on world conquest—failed to materialize (in the Cold War timeframe, anyway). In more general terms, however, the science-fictional vision of automated warfare was borne out in the guided missiles and defence computers of the Vietnam era.

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May, A. (2018). Electronic Brains. In: Rockets and Ray Guns: The Sci-Fi Science of the Cold War. Science and Fiction. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89830-8_3

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