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goodkoopa's review against another edition
3.0
The section on the multiverse blew my mind. Its a relatively old book, and some predictions are outdated, but its interesting to see how a lot of them were right.
optimaggie's review against another edition
2.0
Parts of this were interesting, but my eighteen-year-old self just could not stay awake for this book that was recommended reading for all incoming college freshman.
jbrito's review against another edition
4.0
Still a very good read.
Reread this book (1'st read was in 1999/2000) after having finished "Physics of the Future" also by Michio Kaku.
Parts of this book were used verbatim in the later one, this is no wonder as we have a long way to go until some of these 'events' come to pass.
In hindsight it seems to me that computer science is the only science that keeps up with the predictions. It's true that major steps have been taken in other sciences but nothing that compares to... Moore's law.
Genetics is making good progress but there are some pretty tough questions/decisions lying in waiting. Questions that on the service seem so easy but turn very nasty as the euphoria wares off and reality kicks in. Decisions which may already have been taken for us.
Reread this book (1'st read was in 1999/2000) after having finished "Physics of the Future" also by Michio Kaku.
Parts of this book were used verbatim in the later one, this is no wonder as we have a long way to go until some of these 'events' come to pass.
In hindsight it seems to me that computer science is the only science that keeps up with the predictions. It's true that major steps have been taken in other sciences but nothing that compares to... Moore's law.
Genetics is making good progress but there are some pretty tough questions/decisions lying in waiting. Questions that on the service seem so easy but turn very nasty as the euphoria wares off and reality kicks in. Decisions which may already have been taken for us.
wensa's review against another edition
4.0
I admire Michio Kaku. His ability to explain scientific concepts in such a way that anyone can understand is truly a gift. His work is certainly worth reading. I find this book to be both enlightening and scary. Where will the future lead us?
lizzyinatizzy26's review against another edition
4.0
What a fun book. It was especially fun to read this book in 2021. Kaku breaks up his prediction to three eras, from 2000-2020, 2020-2050, and beyond 2050.
For the 2000-2020 era there was so much he got right, but also so much he got wrong. Near the beginning of the book, he claims that when social scientists and science fiction writers make predictions about the future, they are often wrong because they don’t know the current trajectories of scientific discovery. However, where Kaku is wrong is where is lacks knowledge about the current trajectories of social change.
He drastically underestimates the way capitalism shapes the development of technology, who has access to it, and what form it takes in our daily lives. He also, interestingly, underestimates climate change. (Which you could also say is a form of underestimating capitalism.) Repeatedly in the book he writes along the lines of “if we avoid environmental disaster, x, y, z will happen,” and hs tone implies environmental disaster is rather avoidable. But here in 2021, we can be less sure.
All in all, a very fun book and it makes me want to read some of his more recent writing!
For the 2000-2020 era there was so much he got right, but also so much he got wrong. Near the beginning of the book, he claims that when social scientists and science fiction writers make predictions about the future, they are often wrong because they don’t know the current trajectories of scientific discovery. However, where Kaku is wrong is where is lacks knowledge about the current trajectories of social change.
He drastically underestimates the way capitalism shapes the development of technology, who has access to it, and what form it takes in our daily lives. He also, interestingly, underestimates climate change. (Which you could also say is a form of underestimating capitalism.) Repeatedly in the book he writes along the lines of “if we avoid environmental disaster, x, y, z will happen,” and hs tone implies environmental disaster is rather avoidable. But here in 2021, we can be less sure.
All in all, a very fun book and it makes me want to read some of his more recent writing!
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