The Synthetic Age: Outdesigning Evolution, Resurrecting Species, and Reengineering Our World (Mit Press) - Softcover

Preston, Christopher J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0262537095 ISBN 13: 9780262537094

Publisher: The MIT Press, 2019

Synopsis

Imagining a future in which humans fundamentally reshape the natural world using nanotechnology, synthetic biology, de-extinction, and climate engineering.

About this title

About the Author

Christopher J. Preston is Professor of Philosophy and a Research Fellow in the Mansfield Center's Program on Ethics and Public Affairs at the University of Montana.

Review

The Synthetic Age is a powerful exposé of our ability to play nature and outperform evolution. This well-written and accessible book reminds us that humanity must accompany its ever-expanding technical prowess with a greater sense of responsibility of planetary proportions.

―Calestous Juma, Professor, Harvard Kennedy School; author of Innovation and Its Enemies: Why People Resist New Technologies

Preston's thorough and engaging exploration of the many ways that our species has learned to control the natural world, from manipulating molecules to reorganizing ecosystems to controlling the climate, provides a compelling argument in favor of renaming the present epoch the Synthetic Age. The book is a fascinating combination of history, science, and ethics that asks us to consider what we value most in nature and in our own humanity.

―Beth Shapiro, Professor, Physical and Biological Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz; author of How to Clone a Mammoth

Preston thoroughly examines the promises and the perils of the forthcoming Synthetic Age. But I fear―more than he does―the prospect of living an artificial life on a denatured planet. I concede that we face a Semi-Anthropocene, a Symbiotic Age, hoping to keep the natural basics on a wonderland Earth.

―Holmes Rolston, Colorado State University

Christopher Preston is a philosopher who writes for you and me about the most important development in human history―the remaking of the planet from top to bottom, or rather from bottom to top. In the midst of distressing upheavals, he counsels and inspires calm engagement in the decisions that are upon us.

―Albert Borgmann, Regents Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, University of Montana; author of Real American Ethics and Technology and the Character of Contemporary Life

Whether you are a techno-optimist or deeply skeptical of technological fixes to environmental problems, Preston's overview of emerging technologies and call for a broad-based, truly democratic decision-making process is sure to resonate. In the Anthropocene, humans have a responsibility to care for our planet with collective, conscious intention. Preston makes clear the stakes involved and the decisions that lie ahead. We all must ask ourselves where our own values lie.

―Emma Marris, author of Rambunctious Garden: Saving Nature in a Post-Wild World

Edition details

• Publisher: The MIT Press
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 0262537095
• ISBN 13: 9780262537094
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 222