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.