The staples of modern life that eccentric professor predicted a century ago… but he did get some things wrong
A century ago, a man made bold predictions about what life would be like in 2025.
Although there were some duds, such as us wearing felt one-piece suits, for the most part Professor Archibald Montgomery Low was eerily accurate.
Many of the scientist’s ideas were set out in his 1925 book The Future and were 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 ‘loudspeaker’ in the home would tell the user the news, and that a ‘television apparatus would replace photographic paper’.
He also said that “automatic telephones” would “get the right number every time,” instead of the clunky rotary dials of the 1920s.
The expert also foresaw the widespread use of escalators and escalators at airports, writing that “moving sidewalks” would save us from exertion.
Remarkably, Professor Low foresaw the shift to renewable energy, predicting that ‘wind and tides will also be harnessed to human service.’
A century ago, a man made bold predictions about what life would be like in 2025. Dr. Archibald Low predicted in 1925 that a ‘loudspeaker’ in the home would tell the 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 labor would be increasingly replaced by machines, writing: ‘Life must be made much easier by the use of machines which will do all the hard and unpleasant work.’
Another newspaper report noted Professor Low’s prediction that alarm clocks would become popular.
The average man would receive “punctual calls from a clock radio set to pick up the specific signal at the time he wants to get up.”
Although Professor Low did say that the wake-up time would be ‘probably half past eight’.
Before alarm clocks came into widespread use, many employees opted to be woken by a “knocker top,” which used a long stick or peashooter to alert customers 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 escalators at airports, writing that “moving sidewalks” would save us from straining
Remarkably, Professor Low foresaw the shift to renewable energy, predicting that ‘wind and tides will also be harnessed for human service’
The Daily Mail was one of the newspapers that reported in 1914 how Professor Low had developed ‘an apparatus for seeing simple objects by wire’.
He called the technology ‘TeleVista’.
Ten years later, Professor Low wrote prophetically on this subject: ‘Surely within half a century we will be able to watch a race or watch our friends cross the Atlantic while we talk to them.
“It’s a wonderful thought that the crew of a submarine, the miner, and even the cabin of an airplane hurtling towards destruction, can be broadcast to us on screen 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 aircraft, torpedo boats and guided missiles.
His sensitive work is said to have made him a target for the Germans, who reportedly made two attempts on his life in 1914.
London’s Daily News newspaper reported in October that year that shots had been fired through the window of his laboratory and that 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 television in 1955
Writing about television and what we would know as video calling, Professor Low said in 1924: ‘Surely within half a century we will be able to watch a race or watch our friends cross the Atlantic while we talk to them’
Another newspaper report noted Professor Low’s prediction that alarm clocks would become popular. Before alarm clocks came into widespread use, many employees opted to be woken by a “knocker top,” which used a long stick or peashooter to alert customers in the early morning. Above: Beater 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 had even more bizarre ideas, such as that streets could one day be illuminated by herbs, and that electrical communication from mind to mind would be possible.
He also said the average moviegoer would see “half a dozen movies on screen at the same time.”
The expert continued, “He will glance at the program, and by setting his observation device to the key number of the movie he wants to see, he will cut out everything except that one.”
Although cinemas do not offer such a service, Professor Low’s prediction is in line with the layout of the average smart TV that millions of Britons now have in their homes.
Professor Low’s wife, Amy, divorced him in 1936 on the grounds of adultery with two other women.
However, the following year the decree for their divorce was revoked.
Amy died in 1953 after being hit by a motorcycle. Professor Low died three years later at the age of 68.
Jen Baldwin, Research Specialist at Findmypast, said: ‘This is a fascinating and unique story, brought together thanks to the rich detail found in Findmypast’s newspaper collection.
‘It’s amazing that one visionary scientist a century ago could predict how emerging technology – then in its infancy – could have changed the world by 2025.
‘It makes you wonder how the progress we see around us today will be experienced by our own descendants.’