Synopsis
A brilliant ensemble of the world s most visionary scientists provides twenty-five original never-before-published essays about the advances in science and technology that we may see within our lifetimes.
Theoretical physicist and bestselling author Paul Davies examines the likelihood that by the year 2050 we will be able to establish a continuing human presence on Mars. Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi investigates the ramifications of engineering high-IQ, geneticially happy babies. Psychiatrist Nancy Etcoff explains current research into the creation of emotion-sensing jewelry that could gauge our moods and tell us when to take an anti-depressant pill. And evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins explores the probability that we will soon be able to obtain a genome printout that predicts our natural end for the same cost as a chest x-ray. (Will we want to read it? And will insurance companies and governments have access to it?) This fascinating and unprecedented book explores not only the practical possibilities of the near future, but also the social and political ramifications of the developments of the strange new world to come.
Also includes original essays by:
Lee Smolin
Martin Rees
Ian Stewart
Brian Goodwin
Marc D. Hauser
Alison Gopnik
Paul Bloom
Geoffrey Miller
Robert M. Sapolsky
Steven Strogatz
Stuart Kauffman
John H. Holland
Rodney Brooks
Peter Atkins
Roger C. Schank
Jaron Lanier
David Gelernter
Joseph LeDoux
Judith Rich Harris
Samuel Barondes
Paul W. Ewald"
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Review
Fifty years is a long time in science. The contributors to this volume of 25 specially commissioned essays write with a proper sense of caution as well as bold speculation. Each essay is written by an expert in his or her chosen field - on subjects ranging from mathematics to cyborgs; information technology to the treatment of disease; DNA to the discovery of life on other planets. Divided into two broad sections ('The Future, In Theory' and 'The Future, In Practice'), what's especially engaging about the book is the fact that the focus rarely strays from considerations of how developments might actually impinge upon our lives. For the most part, too, the contributors (including Richard Dawkins) have successfully pitched their essays towards what Brockmann calls 'the generally educated reader'. Fascinating stuff.
Book Description
A thought provoking and wide ranging look at what science might, and might not, be able to do for us in the first half of the twenty-first century.
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