No,'' though I know it is unwise to be too categorical in such things. He invented the inertialess drive, which is probably impossible and which, in any case, would only achieve light- speed, nothing more. Still, the principle remains. Nothing unusual, judging by my own. It's just a matter of knowing science and technology and the way they have developed, and of thinking what the next steps might logically be - and thinking and thinking.
People expect dramatic shortcuts, but it all boils down to the dull, hard work of thought.
Which doesn't mean that science fiction writers have anticipated everything. Their record isn't that good. For instance, they concentrated on space flight under direct human control and never realized what could be done by remote-controlled probes. They foresaw computers but missed their true role in space flight. No one, for example, predicted the advent of the microchip, the computer's compactness and versatility, and how essential it would become to piloting, say, a shuttle.