manfred von ardenne  

The Vision of the Microchip and the Internet

As for the miniaturization of electronic components, the semiconductor and molecular electronics, he foresaw the microchip and the wild developments that are connected with it, which even “specialists find it difficult to keep up with.”

Even more astonishing was his vision of the internet:

“Within a few decades, electronic data processing and storage (including that in miniature design) will increase the capacity of the human brain to an extent that can scarcely be conceived today.  With every passing day, the increasing power and rapid specialization in the sciences demands the use of carefully arranged methods for storing scientific material, which today still strains the brain unnecessarily”, he concluded in his essay.  

The Vision of Genetics as Blessing and Curse

After the decoding of human DNA, Manfred von Ardenne foresaw genetics as both a blessing and a curse for humanity: “Now that the synthesis of nucleic acids has been achieved recently, we may hope that the synthesis of important proteins can be achieved within the near future. Given the current status of this work, we can predict the solution to the riddle of the heredity of protein structure. And with that humanity will be granted the great but also terrifying possibility of creating living entities at will.”

The Vision of Wallpaper made of Light

Concerning telecommunications he made a prophecy that has turned out to be exactly true to an astonishing extent: “At the end of the development, for example, every telephone subscriber will be able to dial every other subscriber in the world using a dialing system without any delay.” And in semiconductor and display technology, as far back as 1962 he announced the so-called OLEDs (organic light emitting diodes): “In lighting technology diffuse ambient light using electroluminescent panel lights will find many friends. It will replace the light bulb or the fluorescent tube with luminescent panels, which can be fitted on the wall of the room partially or wholly.” The current development projects at VON ARDENNE are precisely on this technology.

What was unbelievably remarkable about von Ardenne’s thoughts at the time was the sweeping way he cut through the most different scientific disciplines and how exact his prognoses were.

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