It Still Hasn't Happened Yet Trivia Quiz

Answer: Buck Rogers

In the novella, the given name of "Buck" Rogers is Anthony. "Armageddon 2419 AD" was written by Philip Francis Nolan (1888-1940). In the novella, Buck, a veteran of World War One, is working for a gas company in 1927 when exposure to radioactive gas leaves him in a state of suspended animation for 492 years before awakening to a world where the United States has been taken over by invaders from China. Buck Rogers has appeared in several other media including: a long-running comic strip (1929-1983), a radio program (1932-1947), a 1939 movie serial that starred Buster Crabbe (who also portrayed Flash Gordon), a 1950-1951 television series, and a 1979-1981 television series starring Gil Gerard and Erin Grey.

Flash Gordon was created by Alex Raymond in 1934 for the comic strip of the same name. Buzz Lightyear is an astronaut character from the "Toy Story" series of films. John Carter is a character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs in 1912 for his series of books set on Mars.

Answer: Planet of the Apes

Pierre Boulle (1912-1994) was known both for "Planet of the Apes" (1963) and "The Bridge over the River Kwai" (1952). The original French title of the former book was "La Plančte des singes". In "Planet of the Apes", Ulysse Merou accompanies Professor Antille on a space craft from Earth that experiences time dilation as it approaches the speed of light. Their destination is a planet orbiting the star Betelgeuse where, to their horror, they discover a planet where apes--gorillas, orangutans, and chimpanzees--rule the world and human beings are despised wild animals. At the end of the novel, Jinn and Phyllis are revealed to be chimpanzees who dismiss a story involving talking, intelligent human beings as fantasy.

"The Martian Chronicles" was written by Ray Bradbury. "From the Earth to the Moon" was written by Jules Verne. "The First Men in the Moon" was written by H. G. Wells. The first film adaptation of "Planet of the Apes" was released in 1968 and starred Charlton Heston. Several sequels followed.

Answer: Henry Ford

"Brave New World" (1932) was written by Aldous Huxley (1894-1963). The novel is set in 2540 AD (or AF--After Ford--632). Ford's ideas including extensive use of the assembly line play a role in "Brave New World". In this world, people are engineered genetically to fill predetermined roles. People are kept peaceful through the use of a drug called "soma". The story tells of a man named John who was born outside of this society being introduced to it.

Although Ayn Rand, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Buckminster Fuller were all important thinkers of the twentieth century, their ideas are not particularly emphasized in "Brave New World".

Answer: Larry Niven

Larry Niven (born 1938) has written four novels in the "Ringworld" series: "Ringworld" (1970), The Ringworld Engineers" (1979), "The Ringworld Throne" (1996), and "Ringworld's Children" (2004). The Ringworld is a gigantic metal ring that is approximately as large as Earth's orbit around the sun. The first novel opens about AD 2850 and focuses on 200-year-old Louis Gridley Wu.

Piers Anthony, Jack Chalker, and Robert Heinlein have all published works of science fiction, but none published works in the "Ringworld" universe.

Answer: Frank Poole

The four Space Odyssey novels--"2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968), "2010: Odyssey Two" (1982), "2061: Odyssey Three" (1988), and "3001: The Final Odyssey" (1997)--were written by Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008). In "3001: The Final Odyssey", the freeze-dried body of Frank Poole, an astronaut on the Discovery One mission--is found and brought back to life. A large part of the novel is Frank returning to near Earth and exploring all the changes that have occurred in the past 1,000 plus years.

Heywood Floyd is an important character in the first three books. Walter Curnow appears in "2010: Odyssey Two". Keir Dullea is an actor who portrayed Dave Bowman in the films "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "2010: The Year We Make Contact".

Answer: Manticore

David Weber (born 1952) created the "Honor Harrington" series of books, beginning in 1992. Honor Harrington is an officer in the Navy of the Star Kingdom of Manticore. Most of the books are set in the early 41st century AD. During the course of the series, Honor Harrington moves to positions of increasing rank and responsibility in the navy.

Alderaan is a fictional planet from the "Star Wars" universe (and adopted home of Princess Leia Organa). Kronos is a fictional planet from the "Star Trek" universe (and home of the Klingons). Gallifrey is a fictional planet from the "Doctor Who" universe (and home of the Doctor).

Answer: Frank Herbert

Frank Herbert (1920-1986) was the author of the "Dune" series of novels.
In this universe, powerful noble families hold sway over planets under the authority of the Padishah Emperor. The story focuses on the adventures of Paul Atreides on the desert planet of Dune, source of the "Spice" that is the most valuable substance in the universe.

While Roger Zelazny, Philip K. Dick, and Samuel R. Delany all wrote science fiction, none wrote novels in the "Dune" universe. "Dune" was first adapted as a feature film in 1984.

Answer: Psychohistory

Isaac Asimov (1920-1992) was an author who wrote many famous works of science fiction as well as many books in other fields. The "Foundation" series consisted of the following books: "Foundation" (1951), "Foundation and Empire" (1952), "Second Foundation" (1953), "Foundation's Edge" (1982), "Foundation and Earth" (1986), "Prelude to Foundation" (1988), "Forward the Foundation" (1993). In "Foundation", Hari Seldon describes the concept of Psychohistory--which combines history, sociology, and mathematical statistics. He argued that while it could be very hard to predict the action of an individual person, an observer could be much more successful at predicting how a large group of people would react, allowing the observe to "predict" the future.

While the exact date of the "Foundation" series is hard to pinpoint, Hari Seldon is said to live in the twelfth millennium of the Galactic Empire, which was founded approximately 11,000 years after the present in which Asimov wrote the novels. This suggests that Hari Seldon lived in approximately the 245th century AD.

Answer: James Bolivar diGriz

James Bolivar diGriz was known as "Slippery Jim" or "The Stainless Steel Rat". The character appeared in 13 novels written by Harry Harrison (1925-2012). Jim diGriz is best described as an "antihero". He is a con-man who uses his personal charm. He is skilled at disguise and the martial arts. That said, he does have standards--he feels little shame about stealing, but will avoid killing if at all possible. The adventures of "The Stainless Steel Rat" take place in approximately the 345th century AD.

Harcourt Fenton Mudd was Harry Mudd, adversary of Captain Kirk in two episodes of "Star Trek: The Original Series". Cyrano Jones was another "Star Trek" character, appearing in "The Trouble With Tribbles". Charles Augustus Milverton is an adversary of Sherlock Holmes.

Answer: Morlocks

"The Time Machine" (1895) was written by H. G. Wells (1866-1946), who adapted concepts developed in his earlier short story "The Chronic Argonauts" (1888). In "The Time Machine", a character only referred to as "The Time Traveller" describes a trip he took in his time machine over 800,000 years in the future. There he finds that humanity has divided into two sub-species, both of which he describes as being smaller than himself. The Eloi are a simple, seemingly carefree, species who live on a diet of fruit and spend their days playing simple games and dancing and singing. The Morlocks are a brutal, apelike species who live underground and shun the light. The Time Traveller speculates that the Eloi are the descendants of the idle upper classes and the Morlocks are the descendants of the proletariat. He is horrified to discover later that the Morlocks practice a form of cannibalism and periodically harvest members of the Eloi as a food source.

The Ice Warriors are a Martian race from the "Doctor Who" television series. The Drow are a fictional race of dark elves from the "Dungeons and Dragons" role-playing game. The Jawas are a race of scavengers and tinkers from the "Star Wars" series of films.