What innovation owes to science fiction

The author laments the current state of innovation throughout the world. To quote one example:

China is frequently cited as a country now executing on Big Stuff, and there’s no doubt they are constructing dams, high-speed rail systems, and rockets at an extraordinary clip. But those are not fundamentally innovative. Their space program, like all other countries’ (including our own), is just parroting work that was done 50 years ago by the Soviets and the Americans. A truly innovative program would involve taking risks (and accepting failures) to pioneer some of the alternative space launch technologies that have been advanced by researchers all over the world during the decades dominated by rockets. 

On a relevant note, Vaclav Smil seeks to dispel the notion that Steve Jobs is the new Thomas Edison, and argues that to make any comparison is to do injustice to Edison.