Our Molecular Future

by Mulhall, Douglas

• ISBN13: 9781573929929
• ISBN10: 1573929921
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-08-01
• Publisher: Prometheus Books

Summary

What Alvin Toffler's Future Shock was to the 20th century, Our Molecular Future will be to the 21st century. What will happen to our jobs, health care, and investments when the molecular revolution hits? How might artificial intelligence transform our lives? How can molecular technologies help us cope with climate changes, earthquakes, and other extreme natural threats? Our Molecular Future explores some intriguing possibilities that answer these questions and many others. Douglas Mulhall describes the exponential changes that are about to be wrought by the nanotechnology and robotic revolutions, which promise to reduce the scale of computing to the nanometre, a billionth of a meter, while increasing computing power to almost unimaginable levels. The resulting convergence of genetics, robotics, and artificial intelligence may give us hitherto undreamed-of capacities to transform our environment and ourselves.

Author Biography

Douglas Mulhall is a sustainable development specialist and technology journalist. He has managed scientific institutes that pioneered adaptive technologies such as water, recycling and flood prevention, in collaboration with governments, research laboratories, and multinational companies. He has contributed to professional journals, magazines, and books, including the Futurist and Financial Times publications

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	9	(2)
About the Title	11	(2)
Acknowledgments	13	(2)
Preface	15	(6)
Introduction. Collision of Futures	21	(6)
PART 1. THE MOLECULAR AGE
Singularity	27	(3)
Molecular Building Blocks	30	(22)
What Comes First and What Does It Mean for Each of Us?	52	(29)
What Comes Next? Megatrends That Could Alter Our Lives	81	(32)
The Nanoecology Revolution	113	(7)
Reviving Tropical Islands	120	(4)
Who's Driving the Molecular Machine?	124	(19)
PART 2. NATURE'S TIME BOMBS
Are We Getting More or Less Vulnerable?	143	(7)
Shaking Up Tokyo and the Globalized Economy	150	(6)
So, You're Bored by Doomsday?	156	(18)
An Elephant in the Room of Environmentalism	174	(6)
Lost Messages from Ancient Times	180	(9)
PART 3. BLUEPRINTS FOR A MOLECULAR DEFENSE
Why Go There?	189	(2)
Tools for Defusing Time Bombs	191	(26)
Lessons from Tokyo-Learning to Predict the Big One	217	(4)
The Long Valley Caldera Defense-Avoiding a Dark Age	221	(5)
How to Avert Armageddon-Have an Asteroid for Lunch	226	(7)
PART 4. GETTING FROM HERE TO THERE
The Right Questions	233	(22)
Overcoming Cultural Amnesia	255	(8)
Bypassing the Road to Hell	263	(19)
Using Open Source	282	(4)
Redesigning Democracy for Artificial Intelligence	286	(7)
Liberating Each One of Us	293	(18)
Conclusion	311	(4)
Appendix A. Isaac Asimov's Laws of Robotics	315	(1)
Appendix B. Excerpt from Foresight Guidelines on Molecular Nanotechnology	316	(1)
Notes	317	(54)
A Brief Sampling for the Scientifically Inclined Reader	371	(6)
Index	377