From ramscoops and brain pleasure implants ("drouds") to Romulan-class warrior cats ("Kzinti) and Earth-orbit-sized habitats (the Ringworld), few science fiction writers have given us bigger visions than .

Niven has written or co-authored over 50 books, including the Ringworld series, and with co-author Jerry Pournelle, The Mote In God's Eye, The Gripping Hand and Oath of Fealty. Niven has won five Hugo Awards (awarded annually by science fiction fans) and a Nebula Award (awarded annually by the Science Fiction Writers of America). His most recent books include Juggler of Worlds (with co-author Edward M. Lerner) and the upcoming Escape From Hell (with Jerry Pournelle), a sequence to their Inferno. includes a wide range of technology we don't (yet) have, from room-temperature supercomputers (Ringworld) to "stepping disks" (manhole-sized unenclosed teleportation units).

Here's what Niven has to say regarding techniques for predicting a valid future technology:

Look for the goals humankind will never give up. Instant travel, instant education, longevity. Then try to guess when it will appear and what it will look like. Pay close attention to parasite control. There is always someone who wants the money for something else.

You're obliged to predict not just the automobile but the traffic jam and the stranglehold on gas prices. Nobody invents anything unless there is at least the illusion of a profit.