Autonomy : The Quest to Build the Driverless Car-And How It Will Reshape Our World

An automotive and tech world insider investigates the quest to develop and perfect the driverless car—an innovation that promises to be the most disruptive change to our way of life since the smartphone

We stand on the brink of a technological revolution. Soon, few of us will own our own automobiles and instead will get around in driverless electric vehicles that we summon with the touch of an app. We will be liberated from driving, prevent over 90% of car crashes, provide freedom of mobility to the elderly and disabled, and decrease our dependence on fossil fuels. 

Autonomy is the story of the maverick engineers and computer nerds who are creating the revolution. Longtime advisor to the Google Self-Driving Car team and former GM research and development chief Lawrence D. Burns provides the perfectly-timed history of how we arrived at this point, in a character-driven and heavily reported account of the unlikely thinkers who accomplished what billion-dollar automakers never dared.

Beginning with the way 9/11 spurred the U.S. government to set a million-dollar prize for a series of off-road robot races in the Mojave Desert up to the early 2016 stampede to develop driverless technology, Autonomy is a page-turner that represents a chronicle of the past, diagnosis of the present, and prediction of the future—the ultimate guide to understanding the driverless car and navigating the revolution it sparks.

This definitive insider’s account of the quest for autonomous vehicles reveals:

• The Birth of the Google Self-Driving Car: Go inside the secret project, now known as Waymo, and meet the maverick engineers who turned science fiction into reality.
• An Insider’s Perspective: Gain unparalleled insight from the author’s time as a former GM R&D chief and a key advisor to the Google team.
• Silicon Valley vs. Detroit: Witness the clash of cultures as scrappy computer nerds accomplish what billion-dollar automakers never dared.
• A Rich Engineering History: Trace the incredible journey from government-sponsored robot races in the desert to the global stampede for driverless technology.
• The $4 Trillion Disruption: Understand the economic forces that promise to disrupt our way of life more than the smartphone.

Lawrence D. Burns served as corporate vice president of research, development and planning at General Motors, where he oversaw GM’s advanced technology and innovation programs as well as corporate strategy. He was also a professor of engineering practice at the University of Michigan and led the Program for Sustainable Mobility at Columbia University. He has served as an adviser to the Google self-driving car project (now Waymo) since 2011 and is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering. He lives in Franklin, Michigan.

Christopher Shulgan is a writer who specializes in collaborations with world-renowned experts. His eight books include the bestseller The One-Minute Workout: Science Shows a Way to Get Fit That’s Smarter, Faster, Shorter. He lives in Toronto.