Visionary Histories

When someone says they want to know the future of something, what they are really saying is they want to know what the state or behavior—especially the emergent behaviors—of some complex adaptive system is going to be at point n in the future. Visionary Histories makes the case for the disciplined study of the future via the historical method, that historians are methodologically well-positioned to anticipate the possible future behaviors of a wide variety of  complex systems.  

The global cataclysm of COVID-19, and the quarantines and social distancing that have accompanied the still-unfolding pandemic, has brought enormous changes to the games industry, the ways we play videogames (and physical games) alone and together, and the meaning and content of games old and new.

A comic book that tells the story of a single electron traveling through a silicon solar cell, illustrating the physics and chemistry behind how electric current is generated in solar panels. Created in collaboration with the Quantum Energy and Sustainable Solar Technologies Research Center.

A collection of short stories by writers from around the world, exploring the climate crisis and how human responses to it will shape the futures we will inhabit. Featuring winning stories from our 2020 Everything Change Climate Fiction Contest.

A collection of science fiction stories, art, and essays exploring how the transition to solar energy will transform cities; catalyze revolutions in politics, governance, and culture; and create diverse futures for human communities. Our contributors imagine solar futures in four U.S. cities: Chicago, San Juan, Portland, and San Antonio.

An anthology of mind-bending science fiction short stories by some of the top authors in the field, drawn from our Future Tense Fiction project. How will living with scientific upheaval and technological transformation change the world–and us?

This biography of a dawn traces one particular sunrise through poetry, photography, and lived experience as it played out from four different vantage points on the San Francisco Peaks. This collection is inspired by James Turrell’s land art project at Roden Crater in Northern Arizona.

A collection of science fiction stories, art, and essays exploring human futures powered by solar energy, with an upbeat, solarpunk twist. What will it be like to live in the photon societies of tomorrow? How will a transition to clean, plentiful energy transform our values, markets, and politics?

A collection of short stories by an international group of authors, drawn from our 2018 Everything Change Climate Fiction Contest, plus a foreword by our lead judge, Kim Stanley Robinson.

In this novella, award-winning science fiction and fantasy author Elizabeth Bear and artist Melissa Gay imagine a near future informed by visceral VR simulations to catalyze positive change.

A collection that brings together science fiction, history, visual art, and exploration, inspired by the literary “dare” that would give birth to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein amidst the aftermath of a massive volcanic eruption. Named one of the top art books of 2019 by the New York Times.

A science-based comic book for 5th through 8th grade students. Created by award-winning comics authors and advised by ASU sustainability scholar Dr. Paul Hirt, this original story envisions the near future of Arizona’s energy systems.

Why should we go to space? Visions, Ventures, Escape Velocities takes on the challenge of imagining new stories at the intersection of public and private—narratives that use the economic and social history of exploration, as well as current technical and scientific research, to inform scenarios for the future of the “new space” era.

A collection of essays by scholars, journalists, scientists, and policy experts, taking the bicentenary of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein as an occasion to explore issues of scientific creativity and responsibility.

A collection of science fiction, art, and speculative timelines exploring the near future of the stratosphere. From Star Trek and 2001: A Space Odyssey to The Martian, great science fiction stories have shaped how we think about voyages into deep space—but what gripping confrontations and adventures might unfold in near space, above the clouds?

Ulises I is an art mission to space by the Colectivo Espacial Mexicano. This is a personal journal, photographic record, and collection of essays documenting the mission, by Juan José Díaz Infante and other collaborators. Note: This is a beta version of the Ulises I book.

This edition of Frankenstein pairs the original 1818 version of the manuscript with annotations and essays by leading scholars exploring the social and ethical aspects of scientific creativity raised by this remarkable story. The result is a unique and accessible edition of one of the most thought-provoking and influential novels ever written.

In this book, Ed Finn considers how the algorithm—in practical terms, “a method for solving a problem”—has its roots not only in mathematical logic but also in cybernetics, philosophy, and magical thinking.

Features short stories from our 2016 Climate Fiction Short Story Contest along with a foreword by science fiction legend and contest judge Kim Stanley Robinson, and an interview with renowned climate fiction author Paolo Bacigalupi.

A collection of research-based “fiction with footnotes” short stories about environmental futures, created by students in Dr. Michele Speitz’s course “Slow Catastrophes, Speculative Futures, Science & Imagintion” at Furman University in South Carolina.