Science Fiction Meets Reality: Hannes Alfven's 1966 Vision of Future Computers

A few programmable computers existed already in the 19-thirties and forties. Around 1955, larger numbers of commercially produced computers became available. In the years 1968-1974, researchers working in different fields of mathematics and physics met at international conferences with titles like `Computers in Mathematical Research' (1968) or `The Impact of Computers on Physics' (1972). To my knowledge, the Swedish-American plasma physicist Hannes Alfven (1908 - 1995) did not attend any of these meetings. Also, he did not mention computers in his Nobel Lecture in 1970. Under the pseudonym Olof Johannesson, however, he published a science fiction story about the future impact of computers, in Swedish (1966), English (1968), and in German (1970), describing how the development of computers did lead to a global world society in which everything is automated and organized by computers. Finally computers even reproduce themselves and some computers service the others and prevent the whole system from breaking down. It is amazing to read this text today: some of Alfven's predictions did become real in the meantime, others are still desirable for the future, and others are a strong warning or clearly a satire. It is unclear how much Alfven's booklet influenced the development of technology and society. In Germany, Klaus Brunnstein (1937-2015) used it in 1973 to start a public discussion about the future role of computers. Brunnstein (computer scientist, politician and IFIP officer) had strong influence on German legislation with respect to IT security, social accountability and information privacy.