One of the reasons that Future Shock resonated with so many readers was that, rather than just describing the changes that the future was expected to bring, it spoke to the effects of those changes on people, and the ways in which people adapt, or fail to adapt, to change.  Toffler saw future shock as a "disease of change" -- the stress and disorientation induced in people who are subjected to "too much change in too short a time."  He did more than diagnose this disease, he offered a prescription: "social futurism" -- large-scale, organized thinking and research about national goals and probable futures.

A writer, consultant, and former associate editor of Fortune magazine, Toffler gained worldwide fame on the basis of Future Shock.  His influence has been enormous.  Ted Turner, for example, has credited him with the inspiration for founding CNN.  Toffler subsequently authored several more books, including The Third Wave, Powershift, and most recently, Creating a New Civilization.  Most of his writing has been done in collaboration with his wife, Heidi Toffler.  He came into the spotlight once more in the mid-1990s as a confidant of the fiery new Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich.  Toffler continues to write, lecture, and consult.  He and Heidi are also principals of Toffler Associates, an executive advisory firm they founded several years ago.