▁Re ception ▁ ▁A ▁ 2 0 0 5 ▁article ▁by ▁Ru ud ▁van ▁der ▁Hel m ▁states : ▁" Am ong ▁the ▁found ers ▁of ▁the ▁fut ures ▁studies ▁field , ▁the ▁Dutch ▁soci ologist ▁Fred ▁Pol ak ▁is ▁one ▁of ▁the ▁least ▁known . ▁Although ▁he ▁is ▁still ▁mentioned ▁by ▁several ▁ren owned ▁fut ur ists , ▁very ▁little ▁has ▁been ▁written ▁about ▁the ▁evolution ▁of ▁Pol ak ’ s ▁ideas ▁and ▁as ▁far ▁as ▁we ▁have ▁been ▁able ▁to ▁trace ▁back , ▁no ▁ret ros pective ▁work ▁has ▁been ▁published . ▁Today , ▁Pol ak ▁is ▁mostly ▁known ▁for ▁his ▁op us ▁mag num ▁The ▁Image ▁of ▁the ▁Future , ▁an ▁impress ive ▁cultural - histor ic ▁study ▁of ▁the ▁relation ▁between ▁imag ined ▁fut ures ▁and ▁the ▁dynamics ▁of ▁culture . ▁He ▁was ▁an ▁original ▁think er , ▁but ▁his ▁work ▁was ▁remark ably ▁une ven : ▁his ▁en cyc lo pa edic ▁and ▁er ud ite ▁style ▁has ▁led ▁to ▁both ▁very ▁deep ▁and ▁very ▁shall ow ▁anal ys es . ▁Es pecially ▁his ▁earlier ▁contributions ▁in ▁the ▁ 1 9 5 0 s ▁and ▁ 1 9 6 0 s ▁still ▁prove ▁a ▁very ▁valuable ▁resource , ▁although ▁many ▁of ▁his ▁ideas ▁should ▁be ▁handled ▁with ▁care . ▁However , ▁his ▁later ▁works ▁in ▁the ▁ 1 9 7 0 s ▁are ▁out ▁of ▁t une ▁with ▁the ▁rise ▁of ▁a ▁more ▁critical ▁approach ▁to ▁the ▁study ▁of ▁the ▁future ." ▁ ▁Selected ▁publications ▁▁▁ ▁The ▁Image