It seems to me that in this time of treacherous antiscience, rejection of historical truths and a warming world ever-teetering on the brink of greater violence, some of these passages by Dikty are worth amplifying:
- "This was the year when the United States announced it would shortly launch an Earth satellite, when hundreds of lives were saved by the polio vaccine, and when a general announced that hundreds of millions — friend and foe — would be lost in the event of another war because of radioactive fallout."
- "In Germany, a major science-fiction crisis impended when the government was about to ban Utopia and Utopia Grossband on the grounds they contained 'atomic war' stories. Due in large part to a plea by well-known American science-fiction fan and agent Forrest J Ackerman, the German censor board reversed its stand and allowed the magazines to continue."
- "Parents throughout the nation would have no difficulty at all in pointing out the most signficant science development during the year. That was the vaccination — after some delays — of children and expectant mothers with the Salk polio vaccine. Although not 100% effective, there was no doubt that the vaccine substantially reduced the number of cases."
- "Atomic power for peaceful uses was being investigated more eagerly each year, with the realization that by the year 2000 the world will be using eight times as much energy as it does now and fossil fuels will be incapable of supplying this demand."
- "Electronic brains were in the news again. This time they were going to replace the weatherman in forecasting the weather."
- "A guided missile was developed which is guided to its target by the heat given off by said target (and in what science-fiction story did we first read about this?)."
- "With every passing day Tomorrow was a little closer, and science-fiction writers had to be spry and inventive to stay ahead of onrushing technology. The world of the future was no longer just around the corner — it was racing pell mell up the block."