Today, Polak is mostly known for his opus magnum The Image of the Future, an impressive cultural-historic study of the relation between imagined futures and the dynamics of culture. He was an original thinker, but his work was remarkably uneven: his encyclopaedic and erudite style has led to both very deep and very shallow analyses. Especially his earlier contributions in the 1950s and 1960s still prove a very valuable resource, although many of his ideas should be handled with care. However, his later works in the 1970s are out of tune with the rise of a more critical approach to the study of the future." Selected publications The Image of the Future Kennen en keuren in de sociale wetenschappen (dissertatie Rotterdam, 1947) De wentelgang der wetenschap en de maatschappij van morgen (inaugurele rede Rotterdam, 1948) De toekomst is verleden tijd (Utrecht, 1955), translated into Engels as 'The Image of the Future'(1973) Hoopvolle toekomstperspectieven (1957) De nieuwe wereld der automatie (1958) Het hoger onderwijs: op de helling of op een hellend vlak? (1961) Hoe veroveren wij de toekomst? (1965) Prognostica. Two Volumes (Deventer, 1968) Prognostica. One volume edition. (edited by Henri van Praag) Prognostics: a science in the making surveys and creates the future. (Amsterdam, New York, 1971) De contraclub van Rome (Amsterdam/Brussel, 1972) Lof der botheid (Amsterdam/Brussel, 1973) Slow-motion mens. Een dier gedoemd tot uitsterven? (Amsterdam/Brussel, 1977) Vermetelste uitdaging. Leeft de Nieuwe Hemel in harmonie met God? (Alphen aan den Rijn, 1979) Wereldvrede blijft. Hoe Goliath door David met een ultraklein wapen opnieuw kan worden geveld (Baarn, 1983) Morgen is anders. De wedloop tussen mensen en kunst-mensen (Baarn, 1985) References 1907 births 1985 deaths Dutch civil servants Dutch sociologists Dutch Jews Dutch corporate directors Jewish Dutch politicians Jewish socialists Labour Party (Netherlands) politicians Democratic Socialists '70 politicians Members of the Senate (Netherlands) Futurologists Businesspeople from Amsterdam University of Amsterdam alumni Academic staff of Erasmus University Rotterdam Directors of the Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis