''To-day and To-morrow'' (sometimes written ''Today and Tomorrow'') was a series of over 150 speculative essays published as short books by the London publishers

Kegan Paul Charles Kegan Paul (8 March 1828 – 19 July 1902) was an English clergyman, publisher and author. He began his adult life as a clergyman of the Church of England, and served the Church for more than 20 years. His religious orientation moved f ...

between 1923 and 1931 (and published in the United States by

E. P. Dutton E. P. Dutton was an American book publishing company. It was founded as a book retailer in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1852 by Edward Payson Dutton. Since 1986, it has been an imprint of Penguin Group. Creator Edward Payson Dutton (January 4, ...

, New York). As

Fredric Warburg Fredric John Warburg (27 November 1898 – 25 May 1981) was a British publisher best known for his association with the author George Orwell. During a career spanning a large part of the 20th century and ending in 1971, Warburg published Orwel ...

proudly recalled in 1959:

Content and reception

The series was one of several series initiated at Kegan Paul by

C. K. Ogden Charles Kay Ogden (; 1 June 1889 – 20 March 1957) was an English linguist, philosopher, and writer. Described as a polymath but also an Eccentricity (behavior), eccentric and Emic and etic, outsider, he took part in many ventures related to li ...

. The first essay to appear, in November 1923, was

J. B. S. Haldane John Burdon Sanderson Haldane (; 5 November 18921 December 1964), nicknamed "Jack" or "JBS", was a British-Indian scientist who worked in physiology, genetics, evolutionary biology, and mathematics. With innovative use of statistics in biolog ...

's '' Daedalus; or, Science and the Future'', an extended version of a lecture to the

Heretics Society Charles Kay Ogden (; 1 June 1889 – 20 March 1957) was an English linguist, philosopher, and writer. Described as a polymath but also an eccentric and outsider, he took part in many ventures related to literature, politics, the arts, and philo ...

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

on 4 February 1923. In 1926

Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires '' Decl ...

offered to provide a book in the series to be called ''Noah; or the Future of Intoxication''. Though completed in 1927, Waugh's manuscript was rejected for the series and never appeared.

Influence on fiction

Brian Stableford Brian Michael Stableford (born 25 July 1948) is a British academic, critic and science fiction writer who has published more than 70 novels. His earlier books were published under the name Brian M. Stableford, but more recent ones have dropped ...

noted that the ''To-day and To-morrow'' series provided "an important stimulus to the discussion of future possibilities among the British intelligensia", and hence an increased interest in fiction extrapolating the ideas the series discussed.Brian Stableford, ''Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction Literature''. Scarecrow Press, 2004. , (p. 358). The work of J. B. S. Haldane and J. D. Bernal in the series influenced later science fiction writers like

Olaf Stapledon William Olaf Stapledon (10 May 1886 – 6 September 1950) – known as Olaf Stapledon – was a British philosopher and author of science fiction.Andy Sawyer, " illiamOlaf Stapledon (1886-1950)", in Bould, Mark, et al, eds. ''Fifty Key Figures ...

Neil Barron Richard Neil Barron (23 March 1934 - 5 September 2010) was a science fiction bibliographer and scholar. His training was as a librarian. He is perhaps best known for his book '' Anatomy of Wonder: A Critical Guide to Science Fiction''. He won the ...

, '' Anatomy Of Wonder: a Critical Guide to Science Fiction''. Libraries Unlimited, Incorporated, 2004 . (p. 29) Many of the contributors to the ''To-day and To-morrow'' series had either written

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

before (

Winifred Holtby Winifred Holtby (23 June 1898 – 29 September 1935) was an English novelist and journalist, now best known for her novel '' South Riding'', which was posthumously published in 1936. Biography Holtby was born to a prosperous farming family in ...

, Muriel Jaeger) or would write it after contributing pamphlets to the series (

Gerald Heard Henry FitzGerald Heard (6 October 1889 – 14 August 1971), commonly called Gerald Heard, was a British-born American historian, science writer, public lecturer, educator, and philosopher. He wrote many articles and over 35 books. Heard was a g ...

, J. Leslie Mitchell,

John Gloag John Gloag (10 August 1896 - 17 July 1981) was an English writer in the fields of furniture design and architecture. Gloag also wrote science fiction novels. Gloag served with the Welsh Guards during the First World War, and was invalided home af ...

References

External links

* Brett Holman
bibliography
an
discussion
19 January 2010 Publications established in 1923 Series of non-fiction books Publications disestablished in 1931 {{essay-stub