The Toynbee Convector

The Toynbee Convector is a science fiction short story by Ray Bradbury.

In the story the protagonist is a man who claims to have invented a time machine and travelled forwards in time from the present day and then returned. As evidence he has films and other records showing than man has developed an advanced civilisation with many marvellous and helpful inventions. However he also claims to have then destroyed the machine deliberately to prevent anyone else doing the same.

Initially the people of the present day are sceptical; however they are unable to disprove the authenticity or explain the records brought from the future. Inspired by the vision of the future many people begin projects to fulfil the utopian future and invent the machines the traveller saw. When we reach the time the original traveller claimed to have visited we find that mankind has indeed made tremendous improvements in his civilisation, inspired by him. However the future bears little resemblance to what was portrayed in the record he claimed to bring back.

The Toynbee of the title is probably Arnold J. Toynbee who proposed that civilisation must have a challenge to respond to in order to flourish.