Next: The Coming Era in Science

Essays discuss scientific discovery, supercomputers, artificial intelligence, biological computers, communications, space exploration, and grand unification theories

Students particularly will welcome this gathering of nine lucid, insightful essays on the possibles and probables of science and technology in the 21st century, a "coming era" that will bring marvels "really never dreamed of." This useful summation of where sci-tech stands and where it is headed offers a convenient introduction to the field. Noble, deputy director of science news for the New York Times, includes pieces by four of his Times colleagues: Richard Flaste and Peter Lewis write about thinking computers, Andrew Pollack on optic fibers and John Noble Wilford on space exploration. Fermi National Lab director Leon Lederman opens the book with an absorbing overview of science from Pythagoras to modern quantum theory, particle physics and GUTs (Grand Unified Theories). Following are PC Week editor Michael Edelhart's predictions about "biochips" and a merger of computers and biology. Equally enlightening are science writers Wayne Biddle's future view of a satellite-thick sky and Tim Ferris's forecast on where GUTs might lead us.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.