It looks like you're offline.
Open Library logo
additional options menu

MARC Record from marc_columbia

Record ID marc_columbia/Columbia-extract-20221130-004.mrc:3643753:5449
Source marc_columbia
Download Link /show-records/marc_columbia/Columbia-extract-20221130-004.mrc:3643753:5449?format=raw

LEADER: 05449fam a2200481 a 4500
001 1502575
005 20220602050543.0
008 940126s1994 mnua b 000 0 eng
010 $a 94003101
020 $a0943852498 :$c$29.95
020 $a0943852579 (pbk.) :$c$19.95
035 $a(OCoLC)29797779
035 $a(OCoLC)ocm29797779
035 $9AJE5542CU
035 $a(NNC)1502575
035 $a1502575
040 $aDLC$cDLC$dNNC
050 00 $aT173.8$b.W67 1994
082 00 $a303.48/3/0905$220
245 04 $aThe World of 2044 :$btechnological development and the future of society /$cedited by Charles Sheffield, Marcelo Alonso, Morton A. Kaplan.
260 $aSt. Paul, Minn. :$bParagon House,$c1994.
263 $a9405
300 $axv, 381 pages :$billustrations ;$c24 cm
336 $atext$2rdacontent
337 $aunmediated$2rdamedia
338 $avolume$2rdacarrier
504 $aIncludes bibliographical references.
500 $a"A PWPA book".
505 2 $aPreface / Morton A. Kaplan -- Ch. 1. Materials and Energy / Alexander Zucker -- Ch. 2. Robotics and Artificial Intelligence / Hans Moravec -- Ch. 3. Biological Technologies / Claude Villee -- Ch. 4. Biomedical Technologies / Ernest G. Cravalho -- Ch. 5. Transportation and Communication / S. Fred Singer -- Ch. 6. Inhabiting the Oceans / Athelstan Spilhaus -- Ch. 7. Living in Space / Gerard K. O'Neill -- Ch. 8. The Biological Century / Gregory Benford -- Ch. 9. Prenatal Genetic Testing and Euthanasia / Stephen Post -- Ch. 10. O Brave New (Virtual) World / Ben Bova -- Ch. 11. Report on Planet Earth / Charles Sheffield -- Ch. 12. An Address to the Council / Ben Bova -- Ch. 13. A Nightmare / Morton A. Kaplan -- Ch. 14. A Land of Empty Abundance / Jerry Pournelle -- Ch. 15. A Visit to Belindia / Frederik Pohl -- Ch. 16. A Utopian World / Morton A. Kaplan -- Ch. 17. The View from Outside America / Christie Davies -- Ch. 18. The Evolution of the World in the Next Fifty Years / Jan Knappert.
505 0 $aCh. 19. The United States in 2044 / Gordon L. Anderson -- Ch. 20. 2044: A View from Guatemala / Armando De la Torre et al -- Ch. 21. Thai Society in the 21st Century / Weerayudh Wichiarajote -- Ch. 22. Opportunities for Africa / Ernest Emenyonu -- Ch. 23. Australia in 2044 / Ivor Vivian et al -- Ch. 24. The Case for Jordan / Subhi Qasem -- Ch. 25. Polish Brainstorming / Maria Golazewska -- Ch. 26. The Philippines Fifty Years Hence / Andrew Gonzalez.
520 $aPredicting the future has always fascinated and interested humankind. This interest has not been limited to just knowing the future but with being able to influence the future in one way or another. Predicting or influencing the future of a physical system is, in principle, possible. Predicting the future of humanity in general, or of a social group in particular, is a much more difficult, almost impossible task.
520 8 $aSocial evolution is critically affected by ideological, political, religious, and military leaders, whose appearance and subsequent actions are impossible to predict. The "human factors" affecting the development of society are so unpredictable that a comprehensive forecast of the human future must be intrinsically flawed. At best, we can guess some possible scenarios.
520 8 $aBeyond ideology, politics, and religion, one other human factor exerts an enormous influence on social evolution - "science and technology." The list of science and technology discoveries and inventions that have produced profound social changes includes fire, agriculture, metallurgy, gunpowder, the printing press, steam power and electricity. Yet none of these were the result of any desire to achieve social change.
520 8 $aThe last five decades have seen technological developments at an unprecedented scale; they are likely to exert an even more profound impact on the coming five decades. The technological forecasts in this book look specifically at developments in materials, energy, transportation, robotics, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, biotechnology, medical technology, new human habitats, and communications.
520 8 $aWhat we make of technological advances is largely a result of political and moral values. The benefits of technology can be used by elites for their own gain, by tyrants to oppress, or can be shared by all. History has shown that human beings can use technology to create a heaven or a hell, a utopia or a dystopia.
520 8 $aNoted science fiction writers Jerry Pournelle, Ben Bova, Charles Sheffield, Frederick Pohl, and Gregory Benford have written a range of scenarios ranging from optimistic to pessimistic. Several social scientists from different regions of the world have then written chapters that explain how their societies might achieve a more optimistic future and avoid a pessimistic one.
650 0 $aTechnological innovations$xSocial aspects.$0http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh2008112654
650 0 $aTechnological forecasting.$0http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85133142
650 0 $aTwenty-first century$vForecasts.$0http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85139025
700 1 $aSheffield, Charles.$0http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79143786
700 1 $aAlonso, Marcelo,$d1921-$0http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79107854
700 1 $aKaplan, Morton A.$0http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79003982
852 00 $boff,leh$hT173.8$i.W67 1994