A century ago, one man was boldly making predictions for what life would be like in 2025.
Although there were some duds, such as that we would be wearing one-piece suits made from felt – Professor Archibald Montgomery Low was largely eerily accurate.
Many of the scientist’s ideas were laid out in his 1925 book The Future and also reported by newspapers at the time.
Now, genealogy website Findmypast has unearthed reports of Low’s predictions from its digital archive.
Professor Low predicted in 1925 that a home ‘loud speaker’ would tell its user the news, and that a ‘television machine will replace the picture paper’.
He also said that ‘automatic telephones’ would ‘get the right number every time’, instead of the fiddly rotary dials of the 1920s.
The expert also foresaw the widespread use of escalators and airport travelators, writing that ‘moving sidewalks’ would save us from exertion.
Remarkably, Professor Low foresaw the shift to renewable energy, by predicting that ‘wind and tide are also to be harnessed to the service of man.’
A century ago, one man was boldly making predictions for what life would be like in 2025. Dr Archibald Low predicted in 1925 that a home ‘loud speaker’ would tell its user the news. Above: An Apple smart speaker
Born in 1888, Professor Low was an engineer, physicist, inventor and author
He also suggested that manual labour would continue to be replace by machines, writing: ‘Life is to be made far easier by the use of machinery that will do all the heavy and disagreeable work.’
Another newspaper report told of Professor Low’s prediction that alarm clocks would become popular.
The average man would be ‘called punctually by a radio alarm clock set to pick up the particular signal at the time he wishes to rise.’
Although Professor Low did say that the getting up time would be ‘probably nine-thirty’.
Before alarm clocks were used en masse, many workers chose to be woken by a ‘knocker upper’, who would use a long stick or pea shooter to alert clients in the early morning.
The practice continued in some areas into the 1940s and 1950s.
Born in 1888, Professor Low was an engineer, physicist, inventor and author.
He invented the first powered drone and worked on the development of television.
The expert also foresaw the widespread use of escalators and airport travelators, writing that ‘moving sidewalks’ would save us from exertion
Remarkably, Professor Low foresaw the shift to renewable energy, by predicting that ‘wind and tide are also to be harnessed to the service of man’
The Daily Mail was among outlets that reported in 1914 how Professor Low had developed ‘apparatus for seeing simple objects by wire’.
He called the technology ‘TeleVista’.
Writing on the subject a decade later, Professor Low prophetically said: ‘Certainly within half a century we shall be able to see a race or see our friends crossing the Atlantic while we converse with them.
‘It is a wonderful thought that the crew of a submarine, the miner, and even of the cabin of an aeroplane dashing to destruction, may be broadcast to us in pictures in our own room.’
The following year, Scottish inventor John Logie Baird made the first public display of the first television.
Professor Low was also known as the ‘father of radio guidance systems’ after working on planes, torpedo boats and guided rockets.
His sensitive work are said to have made him a target for the Germans, who reportedly made two attempts on his life in 1914.
London outlet the Daily News reported in October that year that shots had been fired through the window of his laboratory, and a German visitor had offered him a cigarette laced with the poison strychnine chloride.
Dr Low also had a hand in the development of television. Above: A family watching a TV in 1955
Writing about television and what we would know as video calling, Professor Low said in 1924: ‘Certainly within half a century we shall be able to see a race or see our friends crossing the Atlantic while we converse with them’
Another newspaper report told of Professor Low’s prediction that alarm clocks would become popular. Before alarm clocks were used en masse, many workers chose to be woken by a ‘knocker upper’, who would use a long stick or pea shooter to alert clients in the early morning. Above: Knocker upper Molly Moore at work in Stepney, 1953
The expert also prophetically predicted in 1925 that secret cameras and listening devices would be used to catch criminals.
However, Professor Low did have some more outlandish imaginings, such as that streets might one day be lit up by herbs, and that mind-to-mind electrical communication would be possible.
He also said that the average cinema-goer would ‘find half a dozen films being shown simultaneously on the screen at one time’.
The expert went on: ‘He will glance at the programme, and, by setting his observation apparatus to the key number of the film he wishes to see, he will cut out all save that one.’
Although cinemas do not offer such a service, Professor Low’s prediction does align with the layout of the average smart TV that millions of Britons now have in their homes.
Professor Low’s wife, Amy, divorced him on the grounds of adultery with two other women in 1936.
However, the following year, the decree for their divorce was rescinded.
Amy died in 1953 after being hit by a motorbike. Professor Low died aged 68 three years later.
Jen Baldwin, research specialist at Findmypast, said: ‘This is a fascinating and unique story, pieced together thanks to the rich details to be found in Findmypast’s newspaper collection.
‘It’s amazing that a century ago, one visionary scientist could predict how emerging technology – in its infancy at the time – could have changed the world by 2025.
‘It makes you stop to wonder how the advancements we see around us today will be experienced by our own descendants.’
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