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    Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100
    Unavailable
    Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100
    Unavailable
    Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100
    Audiobook15 hours

    Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100

    Written by Michio Kaku

    Narrated by Feodor Chin

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Imagine, if you can, the world in the year 2100.

    In Physics of the Future, Michio Kaku-the New York Times bestselling author of Physics of the Impossible-gives us a stunning, provocative, and exhilarating vision of the coming century based on interviews with over three hundred of the world's top scientists who are already inventing the future in their labs. The result is the most authoritative and scientifically accurate description of the revolutionary developments taking place in medicine, computers, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, energy production, and astronautics.

    In all likelihood, by 2100 we will control computers via tiny brain sensors and, like magicians, move objects around with the power of our minds. Artificial intelligence will be dispersed throughout the environment, and Internet-enabled contact lenses will allow us to access the world's information base or conjure up any image we desire in the blink of an eye.

    Meanwhile, cars will drive themselves using GPS, and if room-temperature superconductors are discovered, vehicles will effortlessly fly on a cushion of air, coasting on powerful magnetic fields and ushering in the age of magnetism.

    Using molecular medicine, scientists will be able to grow almost every organ of the body and cure genetic diseases. Millions of tiny DNA sensors and nanoparticles patrolling our blood cells will silently scan our bodies for the first sign of illness, while rapid advances in genetic research will enable us to slow down or maybe even reverse the aging process, allowing human life spans to increase dramatically.

    In space, radically new ships-needle-sized vessels using laser propulsion-could replace the expensive chemical rockets of today and perhaps visit nearby stars. Advances in nanotechnology may lead to the fabled space elevator, which would propel humans hundreds of miles above the earth's atmosphere at the push of a button.

    But these astonishing revelations are only the tip of the iceberg. Kaku also discusses emotional robots, antimatter rockets, X-ray vision, and the ability to create new life-forms, and he considers the development of the world economy. He addresses the key questions: Who are the winner and losers of the future? Who will have jobs, and which nations will prosper?

    All the while, Kaku illuminates the rigorous scientific principles, examining the rate at which certain technologies are likely to mature, how far they can advance, and what their ultimate limitations and hazards are. Synthesizing a vast amount of information to construct an exciting look at the years leading up to 2100, Physics of the Future is a thrilling, wondrous ride through the next 100 years of breathtaking scientific revolution.




    From the Hardcover edition.

    Editor's Note

    The reality of science fiction…

    Ever wondered how realistic science fiction is? Michio Kaku speculates about a utopian future not that far off from today, given the latest breakthroughs in physics. An exciting look at the endless possibilities.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateMar 15, 2011
    ISBN9780307877062
    Unavailable
    Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100
    Author

    Michio Kaku

    Dr. Michio Kaku is a theoretical physicist and the cofounder of string field theory (a branch of string theory), and he continues Einstein’s search to unite the four fundamental forces of nature into one unified theory. He is also the New York Times bestselling author of seven books, including his most recent work, Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100.

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    Reviews for Physics of the Future

    4/5

    260 ratings21 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Are super powers, sentient robots, and flying cars in our future? According to Michio Kaku’s latest book, the answers to that question is probably; not any time soon; and at least floating cars almost definitely. In this book, Kaku makes predictions about what the next 100 years of science will bring and how that science will effect our daily lives. He makes these predictions based on both extensive interviews with scientists doing cutting edge research and his own experience as a researcher.Ever since I read Kaku’s Hyperspace I have been astonished and impressed by his ability to explain complex physics concepts to a general audience. In this book, he applies that ability to other fields as well. Looking at his discussion of my field, bioinformatics, I found that his descriptions were very simplified, but still accurate and contained information I’d be excited to have the general public know. Reading about fields that I’m not familiar with, I appreciated the simplification and found his discussions enjoyable and easy to follow. The constant connections between this science and our future quality of life in particular made the science interesting through relevancy. Kaku does a great job conveying his own excitement too, about not only potential applications but also the basic science.The overall organization was very well done, with one topic leading into the next and sometimes referring to each other so that concepts began to feel familiar. Throughout the book and again at the end, Kaku also draws our attention to the fascinating ethical implications of cutting edge science. He also makes incredible predictions about where that science will go. For both of those reasons, I would highly recommend this book to scientists as well as any non-scientists who’d like to be better informed (which in my opinion, should really be everyone, since that’s who this science is going to affect!). But for scientists in particular, it’s important to always remember three things: the social implications of your work; the ethical implications of your work; and the big dreams we should all be striving for in order to make our daily lives better. This book does a great job bringing home all of those points.
    • 4/5
      Michio Kaku is, in my opinion, our most entertaining science popularizer right now. He's a theoretical physicist and a science fiction fan, and the result is he's not afraid to imagine and project what might be, as well as talking knowledgeably about what we do know and can do now, on the cutting edge of science and technology.

      In this book, he looks at what we can expect in technology in manufacturing, information technology, medicine, and transportation, in the near, medium, and more distant future. Said that way, it doesn't sound too exciting, but three-d printers, nano-technology, self-driving cars, and the ability to slow or reverse the aging process offer possibilities as amazing to us as airplanes and space travel would have been to 18th century Europeans. Programmable matter, able to transform into any number of different tools and objects at the press of a button, might turn out to be one of the more mundane developments.

      Kaku breaks his text up into broad subject areas, including artificial intelligence, medicine, transportation, and space travel, and then gives us near-term, medium-term, and "by 2100 or beyond" projections of what we can expect. He has a clear, direct, conversational style, and never talks down to his readers, but assumes anyone can understand the essential points if they're explained clearly.

      Recommended.

      I borrowed this book from the library.
    • 5/5
      I had not heard of this author until I read that former President Clinton was reading a couple of his books. Now I plan to read more by him. This book gave me a lot to think about and explained technology and concepts in a way that made them accessible to me. Fortunately, the author writes about a lot more than physics. He covers many areas of the sciences and social sciences and interweaves ideas from various disciplines in a comprehensible and entertaining manner.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed the parts of this book that talk about cutting edge science. He explains the science very clearly and understandably. Two drawbacks I found were that the book is already a bit out of date and that the book is repetitive. I also personally did not like the parts where the author tried to predict the future and where the author started to talk about how society would change in the future.
    • 3/5
      Theoretical physicist and science writer, Michio Kaku, provides a futuristic view with the aid of 300 scientists of the next 100 years in the fields of medicine, computer, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, energy, and space travel. The predictions in each of area of study are presented for the near future and 50 years and 100 years out. Of course, the further removed from the present, the more uncertain the accuracy of the predictions. I enjoyed the book until his political views colored his science and technology views for the future.
    • 5/5
      Fun, upbeat perspective on the future from one of our brighter minds.
    • 1/5
      the topics are definitely unfortunately kaku and his writing style are as boring as always
    • 3/5
      Pretty interesting. A tiny bit stilted, but still very readable. Fun to imagine what the world will be like in the future. The book presents a pretty optimistic view of humanity in the next 100 years that was kind of refreshing.
    • 5/5
      This is one of the best books that I have ever read. The author has a great job being able to interact with scientists that are working on cutting edge technology. I used to work on military and DARPA projects and now am a director at the FDA. Although I have a reasonable knowledge about this information, I am surpassed and impressed by Michio’s knowledge. I have read another book by him and watched him on TV. I am envious. I am writing a book with a similar but different look at the future.
    • 4/5
      I'm slightly ashamed how long it took me to read this book, but after reading, rereading, and rerereading passages if this book, I've finally ingested it and proud that I understood a lot of it without growing bored and discouraged.
    • 5/5
      People who could most benefit by reading this willl not find it or read it... wish it was otherwise...
    • 2/5
      I found this book extremely overgeneralized and with too much filler for a book that was supposed to cover future scientific advances. Kaku takes on a wide range of topics and expounds for almost 400 pages about a lot of topis that alone would merit their own book. I grew tired of him discussing scientists he met and descriptions of interesting things they showed him or what their lab/office looked like. I also felt that although this book was published in 2011, it felt very much like different parts were completed much before that and shelved. He tangentially mentioned 3-D printing and cloud computing but did not seem to dwell much on either when both seem to currently be the source of a lot of excitement. Also he claimed that the only stand-alone computers around right now are in museums. There were some interesting points in this book but its way too long with way too much fluff to be worth the time investment.
    • 4/5
      Positively fascinating. I really wish he'd support more of his hypotheses with evidence of what's going on RIGHT NOW in the field, but it was a brilliant look of what will come from what has already happened.
    • 4/5
      Celebrity physicist Michio Kaku channels his inner seer and attempts to predict scientific and cultural advancements over the next 88 years. He starts out regaling us with failed predictions a century ago...the pace of technological advancement turned out far greater than 19th century minds could have ever conceived. Kaku takes a look at the current state of astronomy, computing, robotics, transportation and more and begins with assessment of today's state of the art. Current developments are easily extrapolated to the next quarter century, beyond that, it gets a little more difficult. Kaku posits scientific goals -- true AI; near immortality; visiting other solar systems -- and discusses how we might get there from here. Some of this technology faces cultural hurdles -- particularly by religious nutjobs who feel man is reaching over their skis. This too he believes will be overcome -- I'm not entirely certain. Stem cell research, for example, nearly died on the vine during GWB's eight year reign of ignorance.Beneficiaries of some of the most incredible technology -- such as ultra-longevity, will likely be the province of the wealthy in the coming century. Personally, I think the human race needs to establish an off-planet presence elsewhere before life-extending technology makes ecological sense. Planetary population is estimated to level off at 11 billion -- should the species manage zero population growth at that point, then we should talk about living indefinitely. Kaku's contention is that there is no natural reason we couldn't live indefinitely if we could just manage all of the external factors that cause aging. Nano-bots and other treatments can help in this regard.When it comes to computers and robotics, established theories make prediction a little more plausible. Moore's law, where computing power doubles every 18 months, will level off once we're talking about circuitry on an atomic level. Still, around mid-century, AI could be developed that meets then exceeds the human mind. Being a media creature, Kaku compares this with the Terminator scenario, and thinks we'll be able to manage it without creating the harbingers of our own doom. At least he doesn't predict we will master time and be able to travel outside the present.Nanobots play a large role in the future. Not only do they fix what ails us, but the could be spammed out into space at near-light speed, containing some basic instructions that allow them to start manufacturing larger, more useful structures, once they land at a destination. Millions could be sent to compensate for the low success rate.Sadly, some of the more interesting predictions are beyond my lifetime (the longevity ones won't happen soon enough to benefit me). Eighty eight years from now, some pundit will have some fun at Kaku's expense ala Nostrodamus. The most interesting part of the book was his discussion od the current state of the art -- there's some pretty interesting developments going on that fail to garner media attention. The future is so bright, I'll have to wear shades.
    • 3/5
      Robots, AI, nanotechnology, energy, superconductivity... The list of projected future achievements speculated about in this book is impressive. I look forward to seeing some of these things. An effective cure for aging perhaps is most appealing, since I'm beginning to feel the effects of this universally fatal ailment. But one thing that pervades this book is the (probably unintentional) implication that these these will come, inevitably. It's only a matter of time. I'm not saying they won't, it's just that scientific and technological advances don't just happen. People make them happen, and people can also fail to make them happen in any number of ways. The future may be a strange and wonderful place, but we have to work to get there.
      Still, despite an overuse of sage, bumper sticker quotes, I found the book informative. I recommend it for readers with an interest in science and future tech.
    • 5/5
      this book should be required reading for highschoolers
    • 3/5
      I did really like it and I really thought I was understanding it for awhile, then it went beyond my imagination to perceive. I will re-visit this book again.
    • 3/5
      Interesting overview of where science and technology may take us in the next 90 years. The ideas were fascinating, but the author managed to make them seem almost mundane in his prose. Phrases were repeated - some within a page! To the author's credit, though, he handled some very complex topics and made them understandable to the layman.
    • 4/5
      Kaku interviewed over 300 scientists who are working on the inventions of the future. He covers robotics, medicine, space, transportation, computing, nano technology, energy and much more. Each subject is organized into Near future (2000-2030), Midcentury (2030-2070), and Far future (2070-2100). Many of the inventions are amazing and seem to come straight out of science fiction, but some have unusual and disturbing consequences. The focus is on the inventions, not a critique of whether or not society would benefit or the possible adverse consequences. I enjoyed the second half of the book more than than the first.
    • 3/5
      Kaku's book reads like science fiction, in its fanciful description of contact lenses that deliver the Internet directly to your retina, robots the size of pinheads that colonize distant planets, materials that change shape, an elevator that goes out to space, etc. but it's based on current scientific knowledge and plausible theories. Kaku interviews countless other scientists and is himself an astrophysicist. He looks forward to the near, middle, and distant future and it's a fascinating glimpse at a world almost unrecognizable. His later chapters, that dwell on political economy are too simplistic and he should have left this topic to others more qualified than himself, such as economists like Thomas Friedman. But his chapters on how scientific advancements can shape the future are a serious mind bend. The writing is simple (perhaps overly) and so there is no need to be good at math to appreciate this book.
    • 5/5
      In this fascinating book, scientist Michio Kaku makes predictions about what life will be like in the near future, middle future, and distant future-- 20, 50, and 100 years from now. The changes are astounding, but believable. All of his predictions are based on research and development already taking place, and historical documentation helps set the stage for the astounding changes to come. I wish I could live long enough to see whether it all comes true! Highly recommended for the tech-minded and those curious about what life might be like at the turn of the next century.