Synopses & Reviews
Pulse provides a startling glimpse into a new science that has emerged from technology and been perfected by nature, a science destined to reshape every aspect of our lives. Poised to have as great an impact on our world as the machine age once did on the feudal world, this change is all the more surprising in that it is not the future we've been led to expect.
Pulse charts the growing power of this “new biology” of human systems and machines based on the ingenious design of living things. Written in simple, lively prose,
Pulse describes emotional computers; ships that swim like fish; hard, soft, and wet artificial life; farms that grow like prairies; technological ecosystems; money that mimics the energy flows in nature; evolution at warp speed; and a great deal more. Using vivid, concrete examples, Robert Frenay takes us on a world tour of cutting-edge developments and the often colorful personalities behind them. He also shows how, as the machine age morphs into a culture linking seamlessly with nature, the old clash between those who revere nature and those who laud technology is coming to an end. This shift will produce not only systems and machines inspired by living things but also a human “feedback” culture.
Pulse offers thoughtful and original conclusions about the promise, and danger, of our transformation as we move into the next phase of human cultural evolution.
Review
“Can genes trump machines? Frenay, a former contributing editor of Audubon magazine, sees a paradigm shift, with biology moving into the forefront of scientific progress. . . . The apparent conflict between environmentalism and the profit motive will disappear. In the long run, Frenay argues, that recognition will transform society. . . . This account suggests that the new biology may well have legs.”—Kirkus (starred review) Kirkus
Review
“In this wide-ranging look at how biology and technology are being integrated in almost every area of human invention, Frenay writes of virtual communities and societies that are springing up online, some with economic systems that mimic those of the real world. . . . Readers well versed in science who want to avoid future shock will encounter unusual matters on the frontiers of science that may be coming soon to a computer, merchant or medical facility near you.”—Publishers Weekly Publishers Weekly
Review
“A smorgasbord de luxe, Frenays reportage is sustaining fare for environmentalists.”—Booklist Booklist
Review
“Throughout Pulse, Frenay uses clear empirical data and information from reputable scientists and organizations to substantiate his discourse.—San Francisco Chronicle San Francisco Chronicle
Review
“Frenays real interest, and the point of the book, is not to enumerate advances in technology but to exhaustively build his case that the new biology will fundamentally change human culture. . . . It sounds the alarm that the way humans conduct their affairs is unsustainable—and thats a message that bears repeating.”—Harvard Business Review Harvard Business Review
Synopsis
Pulse is not about dance music, not about heart rates-- and not about electromagnetic fields. What it does describe is a sea change in human affairs, a vast and fundamental shift that is about to transform every aspect of our lives. Written in lively prose for lay readers, Pulse shows how ideas that have shaped Western science, industry, and culture for centuries are being displaced by the rapid and dramatic rise of a new biology -- by human systems and machines that work like living things.
In Pulse, Robert Frenay details the coming world of
- emotional computers
- ships that swim like fish
- hard, soft, and wet artificial life
- money that mimics the energy flows in nature
- evolution at warp speed
And these are not blue-sky dreams. By using hundreds of vivid and concrete examples of cutting-edge work, Frenay showcases the brilliant innovations and often colorful personalities now giving birth to a radical new future. Along the way, he also offers thoughtful conclusions on the promises-- and dangers-- of our transformation to the next great phase of human cultural evolution.
About the Author
Robert Frenay (1946-2007) was a freelance writer and a former contributing editor for Audubon magazine, where he covered positive developments along the interface of nature and technology.