FR : "Une brève histoire du futur : Comment la science va changer le monde"
NL: "Reis naar de toekomst: het leven in het jaar 2100"
Imagine, if you can, the world in the year 2100. 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!
One particular kind of movies that I really enjoy is the kind portraying the not-so-distant future: movies like A.I., Minority Report, The Fifth Element, 28 Days Later, Total Recall … Which explains why this book drew my attention, I guess. Kaku looks into that nearby future and envisions what the world will look like, based on his interviews with over three hundred of the world’s top scientists who are already inventing the future in their labs. In this way, he follows in the footsteps of Leonardo da Vinci and Jules Verne. By the way, did you know Jules Verne wrote a stunning accurate book called "Paris in the Twentieth Century", that has only recently been discovered?
Michio Kaku is the rare individual who is both a top-flight scientist and a successful popularizer of science and technology. Kaku uses mythology and movie analogies (The Matrix, Star Trek, Terminator, Jurassic Park) to describe the impact of the revolutionary developments taking place in medicine, computers, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, energy production, and astronautics. He writes about complex matters in an easy and accessible style: this book should appeal equally to fans of science fiction and popular science. It contains 8 chapters: Future of the Computer, Future of AI, Future of Medicine, Nanotechnology, Future of Energy, Future of Space Travel, Future of Wealth, Future of Humanity. Each chapter is sorted into three sections: Near future (2000-2030), Midcentury (2030-2070), and Far future (2070-2100).
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.
In the area of medicine, the chapter that I most enjoyed, Kaku mixes the plausible and the ethically troublesome. These include almost fully computerized visits to physicians’ offices, medical treatments based on precise analysis of one’s genetic makeup, the ability to grow human organs, designer children, and … human cloning. 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.
For the most part, Kaku is a technological optimist. But he also makes clear that he understands that technology can be used for dark as well as for good purposes. For example, he cites how the development of sonograms has led to dramatic increases in abortions, primarily of female fetuses, in certain developing countries. Some critics say that he would have done readers a service by discussing, for example, the potential implications of new health care technologies on health care costs, given that the life-extension technologies he discusses could radically extend the human life span. More of this would certainly have improved the book. But Physics of the Future is still a thrilling, wondrous ride through the next 100 years of breathtaking scientific revolution.
