Seeing into the Future

Much of contemporary life rests on the ability to foresee what comes next. Officials could not plan for a growing population, meteorologists could not chart shifting weather, and businesses could not estimate demand or stock their shelves without some form of forecasting.

How did people in earlier eras attempt this? This book examines the premises that guided them and the techniques they relied on. It also asks whether modern computing and the latest algorithms have made us better at anticipating events, or whether we remain no more accurate than those who read omens in the flight of birds.

The discussion moves from ancient divination to the data-driven practices of companies such as Google and Facebook, tracing the history of prediction up to the present and considering what it may mean for the future.