The world is an uncertain place, which is why the future and the unknown absolutely fascinate us. Veteran television journalist Mike Wallace asked the question What will life be like 50 years from now? to sixty of the world's greatest minds. Their responses offer a fascinating glimpse into the cultural, scientific, political, and spiritual moods of the times. Edited and with an introduction by Mike Wallace, this book provides an imaginative and thought-provoking look into our collective soul and the critical issues that underlie our hopes, prayers, fears, and dreams for life in the 21st century.

Contributors include former presidents, leading scientists, noted writers and artists, respected religious leaders, and current political figures, including: Vint Cerf, Vice President of Google; known as a Father of the InternetFrancis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., a geneticist who led the Human Genome ProjectDr. Wanda Jones, Director of the Office on Women's Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human ServicesRay Kurzweil, an inventor whose developments include the first print-to-speech reading machine for the blind and the first text-to-speech synthesizerGeneral James E. Cartwright, Commander of United States Strategic CommandKim Dae-jung, the former President of the Republic of KoreaRonald Noble, Secretary General of InterpolNorman Borlaug, Nobel Peace Prize winner; called the father of the Green RevolutionCarol Bellamy, former Executive Director UNICEF, first former volunteer to serve as director of Peace Corp, and current president and CEO of World LearningGerardus 't Hooft, Professor of Theoretical Physics at Utrecht University in the Netherlands; Nobel Prize in Physics Craig Newmark, Internet pioneer and founder of craigslist

"These short meditations on the world in 50 years are overwhelmingly devoted to developments in human health, climate change and technology, with a disappointing scarcity of speculation about any social or spiritual transformations. Scientists, who make up more than half of the contributors, predict that genetic engineering will be commonplace and AIDS obsolete, although infectious diseases will adapt and prosper. Marriages will be arranged by compatible genotype; the oceans will rise; cats will no longer be kept as pets — they will have been identified (along with hamsters and birds) as transmitters of everything from Parkinson's to schizophrenia. China and India will be the new superpowers, and the U.S. will finally adopt the metric system. Although many writers note that certain species of plants and animals will be extinct in 50 years, only one laments that several languages will also be dead. This privileging of the scientific viewpoint makes the contributions from immunologist Peter Doherty and writer Michael Shermer all the more welcome as they attempt to focus on humanity rather than technology, imagination more than data. Perhaps it is easier to chart the course of climate change than social change — still the inhabitants of the planet and the future of their governments, beliefs and values deserve as much attention as the planet itself. (Apr .15) " Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"Maybe rocket science will save us, after all. That's the message one gets from Mike Wallace's collection of short essays from 60 of the 'world's greatest minds,' ranging from Nobel Prize-winning scientists to the founder of Craigslist.

Surprising optimism dominates many of these predictions about life in 2058. 'In cities, people will get most of their vegetables from rooftop gardens,'... Washington Post Book Review (read the entire Washington Post review) writes Sandra Postel, an environmentalist at Mount Holyoke College. 'Computers, clothes, cars, and other goods will be made in factories that recycle and reuse all of their water and discharge no pollutants to the environment.'

Some visions are plausible (atheist Richard Dawkins says 'science will have killed the soul'). Some are not (economist Thomas Schelling imagines whole years going by without a front-page story about Israel in the New York Times).

Valli Moosa, president of the World Conservation Union, predicts that parts of London and New York will be permanently under water. But, on the plus side, 'religious fundamentalism' will have waned around the world, thanks to 'a new spirit of cooperation that emerged after the pandemics.'

So cheer up."

Reviewed by Alan Cooperman, Washington Post Book World (Copyright 2006 Washington Post Book World Service/Washington Post Writers Group)
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Veteran television journalist Wallace asked 60 of the world's greatest minds "What will life be like 50 years from now?" Their responses offer a fascinating glimpse into the cultural, scientific, political, and spiritual moods of the times.