Synopses & Reviews
Imagine, if you can, the world in the year 2100.
In Physics of the Future, Michio Kaku — the New York Times bestselling author of Physics of the Impossible — gives us a stunning, provocative, and exhilarating vision of the coming century based on interviews with over three hundred of the world's top scientists who are already inventing the future in their labs. The result is the most authoritative and scientifically accurate description of the revolutionary developments taking place in medicine, computers, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, energy production, and astronautics.
In all likelihood, by 2100 we will control computers via tiny brain sensors and, like magicians, move objects around with the power of our minds. Artificial intelligence will be dispersed throughout the environment, and Internet-enabled contact lenses will allow us to access the world's information base or conjure up any image we desire in the blink of an eye.
Meanwhile, cars will drive themselves using GPS, and if room-temperature superconductors are discovered, vehicles will effortlessly fly on a cushion of air, coasting on powerful magnetic fields and ushering in the age of magnetism.
Using molecular medicine, scientists will be able to grow almost every organ of the body and cure genetic diseases. Millions of tiny DNA sensors and nanoparticles patrolling our blood cells will silently scan our bodies for the first sign of illness, while rapid advances in genetic research will enable us to slow down or maybe even reverse the aging process, allowing human life spans to increase dramatically.
In space, radically new ships — needle-sized vessels using laser propulsion — could replace the expensive chemical rockets of today and perhaps visit nearby stars. Advances in nanotechnology may lead to the fabled space elevator, which would propel humans hundreds of miles above the earth's atmosphere at the push of a button.
But these astonishing revelations are only the tip of the iceberg. Kaku also discusses emotional robots, antimatter rockets, X-ray vision, and the ability to create new life-forms, and he considers the development of the world economy. He addresses the key questions: Who are the winner and losers of the future? Who will have jobs, and which nations will prosper?
All the while, Kaku illuminates the rigorous scientific principles, examining the rate at which certain technologies are likely to mature, how far they can advance, and what their ultimate limitations and hazards are. Synthesizing a vast amount of information to construct an exciting look at the years leading up to 2100, Physics of the Future is a thrilling, wondrous ride through the next 100 years of breathtaking scientific revolution.
Review
"Mind-bending...fascinating....Kaku has a gift for explaining incredibly complex concepts, on subjects as far-ranging as nanotechnology and space travel, in language the lay reader can grasp...engrossing" San Francisco Chronicle
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"[Kaku] has the rare ability to take complicated scientific theories and turn them into readable tales about what our lives will be like in the future....fun...fascinating. And just a little bit spooky" USA Today
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"Epic in its scope and heroic in its inspiration" Scientific American
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"Following in the footsteps of Leonardo da Vinci and Jules Verne, Kaku, author of a handful of books about science, looks into the not-so-distant future and envisions what the world will look like. It should be an exciting place, with driverless cars, Internet glasses, universal translators, robot surgeons, the resurrection of extinct life forms, designer children, space tourism, a manned mission to Mars, none of which turn out to be as science-fictiony as they sound. In fact, the most exciting thing about the book is the fact that most of the developments Kaku discusses can be directly extrapolated from existing technologies. Robot surgeons and driverless cars, for example, already exist in rudimentary forms. Kaku, a physics professor and one of the originators of the string field theory (an offshoot of the more general string theory), draws on current research to show how, in a very real sense, our future has already been written. The book's lively, user-friendly style should appeal equally to fans of science fiction and popular science." Booklist
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"Breezy, accessible and cheerily upbeat new book....Kaku's primary strengths, other than his obvious expertise as a physicist, lie in the lucidity of his explanations...enviable access to many laboratories and research and development departments around the world...scrupulous" The Sunday Times (UK)
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"Mesmerizing...the reader exits dizzy, elated, and looking at the world in a literally revolutionary way." Washington Post Book World
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"With his lucid and wry style, his knack for bringing the most ethereal ideas down to earth, and his willingness to indulge in a little scientifically informed futurology now and then....Michio Kaku has written one of the best popular accounts of higher physics." Wall Street Journal
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"What a wonderful adventure it is, trying to think the unthinkable." New York Times Book Review
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"An erudite, compelling, insider's look into the most mind-bending potential of science research." Chicago Tribune
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"Accessible, entertaining, and inspiring" New Scientist
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"Mesmerizing information breathtakingly presented...thoroughly engaging...magnificent!" Philadelphia Inquirer
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"An invigorating experience" Christian Science Monitor
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"Kaku covers a tremendous amount of material...in a clear and lively way." Los Angeles Times Book Review
Synopsis
NATIONAL BESTSELLER - The renowned theoretical physicist and national bestselling author of The God Equation details the developments in computer technology, artificial intelligence, medicine, space travel, and more, that are poised to happen over the next century. "Mind-bending.... An] alternately fascinating and frightening book." --San Francisco Chronicle
Space elevators. Internet-enabled contact lenses. Cars that fly by floating on magnetic fields. This is the stuff of science fiction--it's also daily life in the year 2100.
Renowned theoretical physicist Michio Kaku considers how these inventions will affect the world economy, addressing the key questions: Who will have jobs? Which nations will prosper? Kaku interviews three hundred of the world's top scientists--working in their labs on astonishing prototypes. He also takes into account the rigorous scientific principles that regulate how quickly, how safely, and how far technologies can advance. In Physics of the Future, Kaku forecasts a century of earthshaking advances in technology that could make even the last centuries' leaps and bounds seem insignificant.
Synopsis
Space elevators. Internet-enabled contact lenses. Cars that fly by floating on magnetic fields. This is the stuff of science fiction — it's also daily life in the year 2100.
Renowned theoretical physicist Michio Kaku details the developments in computer technology, artificial intelligence, medicine, space travel, and more, that are poised to happen over the next hundred years. He also considers how these inventions will affect the world economy, addressing the key questions: Who will have jobs? Which nations will prosper? Kaku interviews three hundred of the world's top scientists — working in their labs on astonishing prototypes. He also takes into account the rigorous scientific principles that regulate how quickly, how safely, and how far technologies can advance. In Physics of the Future, Kaku forecasts a century of earthshaking advances in technology that could make even the last centuries' leaps and bounds seem insignificant.
Synopsis
A physicist speeds across space, time and everything in between showing that our elegant universeandmdash;from the Higgs boson to antimatter to the most massive group of galaxiesandmdash;is shaped by hidden symmetries that have driven all our recent discoveries about the universe and all the ones to come.
Why is the sky dark at night? Is it possible to build a shrink-ray gun? If there is antimatter, can there be antipeople? Why are past, present, and future our only options? Are time and space like a butterfly's wings?
No one but Dave Goldberg, the coolest nerd physicist on the planet, could give a hyper drive tour of the universe like this one. Not only does he answer the questions your stoner friends came up with in college, but he also reveals the most profound discoveries of physics with infectious, Carl Saganandndash;like enthusiasm and accessibility.
Goldbergandrsquo;s narrative is populated with giants from the history of physics, and the biggest turns out to be an unsung genius and Nazi holocaust escapee named Emmy Noetherandmdash;the other Einstein. She was unrecognized, even unpaid, throughout most of her career simply because she was a woman. Nevertheless, her theorem relating conservation laws to symmetries is widely regarded to be as important as Einsteinandrsquo;s notion of the speed of light. Einstein himself said she was andldquo;the most significant creative mathematical genius thus far produced since the higher education of women began.andrdquo;
Symmetry is the unsung great idea behind all the big physics of the last one hundred yearsandmdash;and what lies ahead. In this book, Goldberg makes mindbending science not just comprehensible but gripping.and#160; Fasten your seat belt.
Synopsis
When people think of a scientist, they often think of someone who has his or her head in the clouds, motivated by an entirely untainted desire for the pursuit of knowledge and truth. In
Science 3.0, Frank Miedema casts aside these beliefs about scientists as needlessly naïve, and instead suggests that we rebuild our idea of the sciences, particularly the life sciences, with today’s economic reality in mind.This book is a frank discussion of the impact of external forces on the sciences, dealing with topics as diverse as social media for the scientist, the role of academic independence, and the tension between university and business. Miedema also shows the way science shapes both economic and social progress in modern society, and how increasing pressure to solve real-world problems has forced scientists out of the ivory tower and into the corporate world. Sharply observed and exceptionally well-researched,
Science 3.0 provides scientists with a powerful overview of their field that is singular in its candor and breadth.
About the Author
Michio Kaku is a professor of physics at the City University of New York, cofounder of string field theory, and the author of several widely acclaimed science books, including Hyperspace, Beyond Einstein, and Physics of the Impossible—the basis for his Science Channel TV show, Sci Fi Science: Physics of the Impossible—and the host of two radio programs, Explorations and Science Fantastic.
Table of Contents
1. The players and the game: A brief introduction to science
2. Louis Pasteur, the end of a myth
3. The foundations of science called into question?
4. The credibility of the modern scientist
5. Science in literature: A slice of scientific life
6. The longing for Solomons House
7. On the economics of scientific research: Scientists breed at a much faster rate than money does
8. University and industry, a dangerous liaison
9. Sceptical fatalist or sophistic debater? On integrity and academic independence
10. Scientific opinion in the age of Facebook and Twitter
11. Real knowledge please! Science and democracy
References