Here are seven books for the curious mind. They are very different types of books each of them exploring the future of innovation from a different perspective. What they all have in common, though, is the ability to explain advances from sometimes arcane scientific fields (neuroscience, genetics or synthetic biology) in a way that generates a broader public discussion about the type of future that we want as a society.
Michio Kaku, The Future of the Mind
While reading about the latest advances in neuroscience may not sound like the ideal way to lounge around the pool during the dog days of summer, Kaku is one of those rare science writers who appears to be just as comfortable on the set of The Daily Show as he is in a traditional academic setting. What Kaku argues here, essentially, is that the future of the mind will look nothing like it does right now, thanks to advances made possible by scientific endeavors such as President Obama’s brain initiative. It may still be some time off, but in the future, says Kaku, we will be able to reverse-engineer the human brain. Once that happens, we might be able to treat mental illness, create human super-intelligence or understand the meaning of consciousness.
Nina Tandon and Mitchell Joachim, Super Cells: Building With Biology
Nina Tandon and Mitchell Joachim take us on a whirlwind tour of the latest developments in bioengineering and synthetic biology. Yes, the book appears to be a bit high on the techno-utopianism quotient, but at under 100 pages, the book is a quick way to get up-to-date on the latest advances in an emerging field that the authors refer to as “bio-design.”The book maps out the amazing future of the cell, as it is used for everything from creating personalized human tissue replacements to growing new types of food. It’s a future in which the biology of nature becomes the building block for future innovation. Super cells, the authors argue, are the key to new advances in fields that one doesn’t typically associate with biology, such as fashion and architecture.
Astra Taylor, The People’s Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age
This book seems to be part of a broader zeitgeist in which people question the type of future that we’ve been building with digital technology. There’s a sense, increasingly expressed online, that something is just not quite right — we give too much power to huge Internet giants such as Google and Facebook and all the former utopian potential of the Web doesn’t appear to be working out as planned. We were promised a “revolution” and ended up with something more like a “rearrangement” of power and influence. Astra Taylor argues that the Internet is actually contributing to the types of inequality that we observe throughout society and changing the way we think about art and culture.
Elizabeth Kolbert, The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History
At first glance, Kolbert’s book — with a dead woolly mammoth on the cover — would appear to be a book more about the past than the future. The book’s title refers to the five great extinctions that have occurred in the world’s history. The sixth extinction is humanity’s own extinction, brought about by radical changes to the planet’s ecosystem. Kolbert asks a poignant question: How is it possible that a technologically advanced society is slowly but methodically destroying itself?. Kolbert brilliantly explains why factors such as biodiversity matter, and why humanity needs to change its future by first realizing what it is doing to the planet. She draws on the latest thinking in fields ranging from geology to marine biology to explain how and why extinction happens.
Sharon Moalem, Inheritance: How Our Genes Change Our Lives — and Our Lives Change Our Genes
Moalem, a neurogeneticist by training, . Now he’s here to tell us how we can change our children’s “genetic inheritance.”he says that, thanks to remarkable progress in understanding the human genome, we no longer need to assume that our genes can not be changed, or that we’re forced to accept a certain genetic fate for our children. The human genome is fluid, and that would appear to open the future to a world of low-cost genetic screening and even genetic enhancements for our offspring.
Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee, The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies
Ever since the book was released in January, “The Second Machine Age” has made headlines in both economic and technology circles, leading to a debate about the way robots and machines are taking over from humans. The book outlines the ways that the growth of exponential, recombinant and digital technologies is leading to a brighter future for humanity. What Brynjolfsson and McAfee argue is that the next age of machines has important implications for how we think about everything – from the future of work to the future of artificial intelligence. Thanks to these “brilliant technologies,” the global economy is on the cusp of a new round of dramatic growth.
Ed Catmull, Creativity, Inc.
The co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios explains the secrets of creativity. This is not so much a book about the future, as about how to unlock the creativity and innovation within all of us. Not surprisingly, the book — with a Pixar cartoon character on the cover — has been a hit with the casual reader as well as business managers anxious to create a culture of creativity within the organization. What’s not to love? In a summer of blockbuster movies, find out from one of the Pixar geniuses how to go about creating your own creative blockbusters.
Michio Kaku, The Future of the Mind
While reading about the latest advances in neuroscience may not sound like the ideal way to lounge around the pool during the dog days of summer, Kaku is one of those rare science writers who appears to be just as comfortable on the set of The Daily Show as he is in a traditional academic setting. What Kaku argues here, essentially, is that the future of the mind will look nothing like it does right now, thanks to advances made possible by scientific endeavors such as President Obama’s brain initiative. It may still be some time off, but in the future, says Kaku, we will be able to reverse-engineer the human brain. Once that happens, we might be able to treat mental illness, create human super-intelligence or understand the meaning of consciousness.
Nina Tandon and Mitchell Joachim, Super Cells: Building With Biology
Nina Tandon and Mitchell Joachim take us on a whirlwind tour of the latest developments in bioengineering and synthetic biology. Yes, the book appears to be a bit high on the techno-utopianism quotient, but at under 100 pages, the book is a quick way to get up-to-date on the latest advances in an emerging field that the authors refer to as “bio-design.”The book maps out the amazing future of the cell, as it is used for everything from creating personalized human tissue replacements to growing new types of food. It’s a future in which the biology of nature becomes the building block for future innovation. Super cells, the authors argue, are the key to new advances in fields that one doesn’t typically associate with biology, such as fashion and architecture.
Astra Taylor, The People’s Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age
This book seems to be part of a broader zeitgeist in which people question the type of future that we’ve been building with digital technology. There’s a sense, increasingly expressed online, that something is just not quite right — we give too much power to huge Internet giants such as Google and Facebook and all the former utopian potential of the Web doesn’t appear to be working out as planned. We were promised a “revolution” and ended up with something more like a “rearrangement” of power and influence. Astra Taylor argues that the Internet is actually contributing to the types of inequality that we observe throughout society and changing the way we think about art and culture.
Elizabeth Kolbert, The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History
At first glance, Kolbert’s book — with a dead woolly mammoth on the cover — would appear to be a book more about the past than the future. The book’s title refers to the five great extinctions that have occurred in the world’s history. The sixth extinction is humanity’s own extinction, brought about by radical changes to the planet’s ecosystem. Kolbert asks a poignant question: How is it possible that a technologically advanced society is slowly but methodically destroying itself?. Kolbert brilliantly explains why factors such as biodiversity matter, and why humanity needs to change its future by first realizing what it is doing to the planet. She draws on the latest thinking in fields ranging from geology to marine biology to explain how and why extinction happens.
Sharon Moalem, Inheritance: How Our Genes Change Our Lives — and Our Lives Change Our Genes
Moalem, a neurogeneticist by training, . Now he’s here to tell us how we can change our children’s “genetic inheritance.”he says that, thanks to remarkable progress in understanding the human genome, we no longer need to assume that our genes can not be changed, or that we’re forced to accept a certain genetic fate for our children. The human genome is fluid, and that would appear to open the future to a world of low-cost genetic screening and even genetic enhancements for our offspring.
Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee, The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies
Ever since the book was released in January, “The Second Machine Age” has made headlines in both economic and technology circles, leading to a debate about the way robots and machines are taking over from humans. The book outlines the ways that the growth of exponential, recombinant and digital technologies is leading to a brighter future for humanity. What Brynjolfsson and McAfee argue is that the next age of machines has important implications for how we think about everything – from the future of work to the future of artificial intelligence. Thanks to these “brilliant technologies,” the global economy is on the cusp of a new round of dramatic growth.
Ed Catmull, Creativity, Inc.
The co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios explains the secrets of creativity. This is not so much a book about the future, as about how to unlock the creativity and innovation within all of us. Not surprisingly, the book — with a Pixar cartoon character on the cover — has been a hit with the casual reader as well as business managers anxious to create a culture of creativity within the organization. What’s not to love? In a summer of blockbuster movies, find out from one of the Pixar geniuses how to go about creating your own creative blockbusters.
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