Full record for alternate future n.

Definition	one of several possible futures
OED requirements	antedating 1941
Earliest cite	Alfred Bester, "The Probable Man"
Comment	Douglas Winston submitted a 1967 cite from John Brunner's "Quicksand". Douglas Winston submitted a 1999 cite from Rudy Rucker's "Saucer Wisdom". Fred Galvin submitted a 1983 cite from an editorial blurb by Isaac Asimov in "Isaac Asimov Presents the Golden Years of Science Fiction". Fred Galvin submitted a 1950 cite from Clifford D. Simak's "Time Quarry". Fred Galvin submitted a cite from a 1952 reprint of Damon Knight's 1951 "Don't Live in the Past". Douglas Winston submitted a 2006 cite from Simon R.Green's "Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth" We would like cites of any date from other authors.
Last modified	9 July, 2009

Citations for alternate future n.

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1941 Astounding Sci.-Fiction July 90/2

It takes time, lots of time before the alternate futures split off and differentiate.

1950 C. D. Simak Time Quarry in Galaxy Sci. Fiction Nov. 146/1

That meant that Asher Sutton could not, would not be allowed to die before the book was written. However it were written, the book must be written or the future was a lie. Sutton shrugged. The tangled thread of logic was too much for him. There was no precept, no precedent upon which one might develop the pattern of cause and result. Alternate futures? Maybe, but it didn't seem likely. Alternate futures were a fantasy that employed semantics-twisting to prove a point, a clever use of words that covered up and masked the fallacies.