Surprise!

Remember the fifties, those fat complacent days
When the future seemed a century away?
Then up went Sputnik, gave the world a butt-kick,
And made it clear tomorrow starts today.

Beep beep beep beep...Hello there!
Sputnik sails giggling through the skies.
Red flags, red faces, jump into the race
As the space age begins with a surprise. (well duh!)

You generals once thought Von Braun a waste of cash,
And Goddard needed treatment really bad.
Then that global shot put gave you the hotfoot
And -- beep beep -- you're blasted off the pad.

Done for a threat, propaganda or prestige --
The point is, the thing was in the sky.
It made the generals frown and put their money down,
And meet that bet or know the reason why.

That's how it started, all those years ago,
The push that got us climbing into space.
Cynic beginnings, greed for big winnings.
But look at all we've gotten from that race!

Sputnik wore out, and spiraled back to Earth;
On re-entry it burned up very soon.
Hail and goodbye to that goose in the sky --
And in twelve more years a man walked on the Moon!
_____________________

These are the lyrics of a song by Leslie Fish (you can order the album here). Hearing this made us think of those who today claim that the radical transformative effects of nanotechnology are 30, 40, 50 or more years away. Surprise!