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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk
Our Final Hour spells out doomsday scenarios for cosmic collisions, high-energy experiments gone wrong and self-replicating machines that steadily devour the biosphere. Just when you've stopped worrying and learned to love the bomb, Sir Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal, comes along with teeming armies of deadly viruses, nanobots, and armed fanatics. Beyond the hazards most of us know about--smallpox, terrorists, global warming--Rees introduces the new threats of the 21st century and the unholy political and scientific alliances that have made them possible.
If we can avoid driving ourselves to extinction, he writes, a glorious future awaits; if not, our devices may very well destroy the universe: "What happens here on Earth, in this century, could conceivably make the difference between a near eternity filled with ever more complex and subtle forms of life and one filled with nothing but base matter."
Rees places much of the blame for many technological debacles squarely on the shoulders of the scientists who participate in perfecting environmental destruction, biological menaces and ever-more powerful weapons. So is there any hope for humanity? Rees is vaguely optimistic on this point, offering solutions that would require a level of worldwide cooperation humans have yet to exhibit. If the daily news isn't enough to make you want to crawl under a rock, this book will do the trick. --Therese Littleton, Amazon.com
Synopsis
A world-renowned astrophysicist advan ces an astonishing and alarming thesis: the odds a re no better than 50/50 that our species will surv ive to the end of the twenty-first century A scientist known for unraveling the compl exities of the universe over millions of years, Si r Martin Rees now warns that humankind is potentia lly the maker of its own demise--and that of the c osmos. Though the twenty-first century could be th e critical era in which life on Earth spreads beyo nd our solar system, it is just as likely that we have endangered the future of the entire universe. With clarity and precision, Rees maps out the way s technology could destroy our species and thereby foreclose the potential of a living universe whos e evolution has just begun.Rees boldly forecas ts the startling risks that stem from our accelera ting rate of technological advances. We could be w iped out by lethal "engineered" airborne viruses, or by rogue nano-machines that replicate catastrop hically. Experiments that crash together atomic nu clei could start a chain reaction that erodes all atoms of Earth, or could even tear the fabric of s pace itself. Through malign intent or by mistake, a single event could trigger global disaster. Thou gh we can never completely safeguard our future, i ncreased regulation and inspection can help us to prevent catastrophe. Rees's vision of the infi nite future that we have put at risk--a cosmos mor e vast and diverse than any of us has ever imagine d--is both a work of stunning scientific originali ty and a humanistic clarion call on behalf of the future of life.
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First Sentence
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY BROUGHT US THE BOMB, and the nuclear threat will never leave us; the short-term threat from terrorism is high on the public and political agenda; inequalities in wealth and welfare get ever wider. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY BROUGHT US THE BOMB, and the nuclear threat will never leave us; the short-term threat from terrorism is high on the public and political agenda; inequalities in wealth and welfare get ever wider. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The book is well worth reading, however be warned that the book is identical in content to "Our Final Century" !!
The books have different covers, and are different sizes, but they are both the same book!
WORD FOR WORD.
I felt cheated by Amazon for selling me the same thing twice!!
BE WARNED !
The books have different covers, and are different sizes, but they are both the same book!
WORD FOR WORD.
I felt cheated by Amazon for selling me the same thing twice!!
BE WARNED !
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Mr Rees obviously forgot to outline another doomsday scenario - everyone who reads this book dies of boredom. (So hopefully I can save the day by putting you off !)
The whole book (and it's a very small book at that) smacks of a sidelined project which has a great premise but no serious devotion. Almost all of the 'catasrophes' are well known and there's next to no 'in depth' analysis about statistical probabilities or objective viewpoints. In most cases it just boils down to Mr Rees saying 'X could happen, it probably won't, but then again there's a lot of nutters out there, so who knows.' To make things worse the last few chapters are nothing to do with 'our final hour' they're just Carl Sagan-esque musings about the possibility of aliens and space flight. I'd suggest you find something better to worry about.
The whole book (and it's a very small book at that) smacks of a sidelined project which has a great premise but no serious devotion. Almost all of the 'catasrophes' are well known and there's next to no 'in depth' analysis about statistical probabilities or objective viewpoints. In most cases it just boils down to Mr Rees saying 'X could happen, it probably won't, but then again there's a lot of nutters out there, so who knows.' To make things worse the last few chapters are nothing to do with 'our final hour' they're just Carl Sagan-esque musings about the possibility of aliens and space flight. I'd suggest you find something better to worry about.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a brief description of the major threats to the survival of life not just on Earth but in the universe itself. The title is suitably dramatic and given the weighty name of Sir Martin Rees the current Astronomer Royal I was expecting a lot. Unfortunately this book never quite lives up to its promise.
The book starts off describing some of the well known threats that we face as a race. I found this part of the book rather mundane. I was really looking for some revelations here and some food for thought on this important subject.
It wasn't until the ninth chapter on experimental particle physics (about half way through the book) that I became truly engaged. Given Sir Rees' vocation it's probably not surprising that this is the area where he is most informative. His discussion here about the dangers of this kind of science and the responsibility of scientists to keep the rest of us informed was enlightening.
I enjoyed the second half of the book much more than the first as it was more optimistic. This part of the book describes the potential that we have as a race and also discusses the level of our cosmic significance.
My disappointment with this book was twofold. The first was that it is a rather brief book. I finished each chapter wanting to know very much more than the author told me. Secondly given the fact that Sir Rees rates our survival past this century as around 50% I was surprised to find that there was no practical advice as to what we as individuals could do to improve our chances. Rees puts our fate squarely in the hands of either scientists or terrorists.
I have to say that given Rees' comments on the possibility of a post human future I was surprised to see him treat scientists such as Ray Kurzweil so scathingly. It seems to me that someone who can so eloquently speak about the possibility of parallel universes should be able to conceive of the world changing to the point where some of us may become immortal.
Overall this is a rather negative view of the world. Rees believes that we are living at a critical time in history. In his view it is this century that will make or break us and on balance he doesn't think we have more than an even chance to survive. He may very well be right but while he should be congratulated for wanting to discuss these issues, I personally don't think a warning such as this is much use without some advice on what to do about it.
The book starts off describing some of the well known threats that we face as a race. I found this part of the book rather mundane. I was really looking for some revelations here and some food for thought on this important subject.
It wasn't until the ninth chapter on experimental particle physics (about half way through the book) that I became truly engaged. Given Sir Rees' vocation it's probably not surprising that this is the area where he is most informative. His discussion here about the dangers of this kind of science and the responsibility of scientists to keep the rest of us informed was enlightening.
I enjoyed the second half of the book much more than the first as it was more optimistic. This part of the book describes the potential that we have as a race and also discusses the level of our cosmic significance.
My disappointment with this book was twofold. The first was that it is a rather brief book. I finished each chapter wanting to know very much more than the author told me. Secondly given the fact that Sir Rees rates our survival past this century as around 50% I was surprised to find that there was no practical advice as to what we as individuals could do to improve our chances. Rees puts our fate squarely in the hands of either scientists or terrorists.
I have to say that given Rees' comments on the possibility of a post human future I was surprised to see him treat scientists such as Ray Kurzweil so scathingly. It seems to me that someone who can so eloquently speak about the possibility of parallel universes should be able to conceive of the world changing to the point where some of us may become immortal.
Overall this is a rather negative view of the world. Rees believes that we are living at a critical time in history. In his view it is this century that will make or break us and on balance he doesn't think we have more than an even chance to survive. He may very well be right but while he should be congratulated for wanting to discuss these issues, I personally don't think a warning such as this is much use without some advice on what to do about it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
doomsday machine
Rees is an eminent astronomer, but fails miserably in every other science he talks about. This very brief book is short on clear reasoning, rational argument and common sense. Read more
Published 8 days ago by Dr. P. R. Lewis
Its the end of the world as we know it
This is how the world might end: A genetically engineered virus, a supervolcano blocks sunlight, scientists in a huge bioerror. Read more
Published on 9 Jun 2003
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