Sci-Fi that Inspired Real InventionsLike this list

5 items

• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

  Verne, Jules, 1828-1905

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  Inspired submarines as we know them today.

• Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle

  Appleton, Victor

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  Inspired NASA physicist Jack Cover to invent the Taser, which he named after Tom Swift--the “Thomas A. Swift’s Electric Rifle.”

• Star Trek, the Original Series. Season 3

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  Inspired cell phones, GPS, and smart watches.

• 2001, a Space Odyssey

  Clarke, Arthur C. (Arthur Charles), 1917-2008

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  Inspired the tablet computer.

• From the Earth to the Moon

  Verne, Jules

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  Inspired solar sails and lunar modules.