Roy Amara

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Roy Amara
Amara circa 1980
Born
Roy Charles Amara

(1925-04-07)7 April 1925
Died31 December 2007(2007-12-31) (aged 82)
NationalityAmerican
EducationMIT, Harvard, Stanford
Alma materStanford
Known forAmara's law
Spouse
Margaret Frances Terestre
​
​
(m. 1949)​
Children3
Scientific career
FieldsFuturism
InstitutionsSRI International, IFTF

Roy Charles Amara (7 April 1925[1] – 31 December 2007[2]) was an American researcher, scientist, futurist[3] and president of the Institute for the Future best known for coining Amara's law on the effect of technology. He held a BS in Management, an MS in the Arts and Sciences, and a PhD in Systems Engineering,[4] and also worked at the Stanford Research Institute.

Amara's law[edit]

His adage about forecasting the effects of technology has become known as Amara's law and states:

We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run.[5][6][7]

The law has been used in explaining nanotechnology.[8]

Selected bibliography[edit]

Books[edit]

  • Amara, Roy; Boucher, Wayne I. (1977). National Science Foundation (ed.). The study of the future: an agenda for research. Washington, D.C.: General Post Office. OCLC 3200105.
  • Amara, Roy; Lipinski, Andrew J. (1983). Business planning for an uncertain future: scenarios & strategies. New York: Pergamon Press. ISBN 9780080275451.
  • Amara, Roy; Morrison, J. Ian; Schmid, Gregory (1988). Looking ahead at American health care. Washington, D.C.: McGraw-Hill, Healthcare Information Center. ISBN 9780070013841.
  • Amara, Roy; Institute for the future (2003). Health and health care 2010: the forecast, the challenge (2nd ed.). Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9780470932513.

Reports[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Amara, Roy". Library of Congress. Retrieved 18 February 2015. data sheet (Amara, Roy Charles, b. 4/7/25)
  2. ^ Pescovitz, David (3 January 2008). "Roy Amara, forecaster, RIP". BoingBoing. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  3. ^ Four Geeky Laws That Rule Our World
  4. ^ "Roy Amara (biography)". University of Arizona: Anticipating the future (course), Futures Thinkers. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  5. ^ Susan Ratcliffe, ed. (2016). "Roy Amara 1925–2007, American futurologist". Oxford Essential Quotations. Vol. 1 (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acref/9780191826719.001.0001.
  6. ^ "Encyclopedia: Definition of: Amara's law". PC Magazine. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  7. ^ Doc Searls (2012). The Intention Economy: When Customers Take Charge. Harvard Business Press. p. 257. ISBN 978-1-4221-5852-4.
  8. ^ Context
  9. ^ Roy Amara at DBLP bibliography


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