Max Brockman

What's Next

What are the hot scientific topics going to be over the next few decades? In What's Next? Dispatches on the Future of Science Max Brockman gets some of the young scientists at the forefront of current research to write about where they think their science is heading.

Laurence C Smith considers what we might be forced to do by global warming, and Nick Bostrom writes about how we may respond to the possibility of genetic enhancement of humans. There are a few essays on the future of cosmology - what can we find out about the universe before the big bang for instance. I found it interesting, though, that many of the essays seem to be linked to the applications of neuroscience to the social sciences.

One might hope that readers of a book like this would be inspired enough to become the scientists who bring some of the advances mentioned to fruition, but I rather doubt it. In the end I didn't find the essays particularly memorable and there are no suggestions for following up on the topics discussed (in fact the book doesn't even have an index) It has lots of interesting ideas and was an enjoyable read, but didn't leave me with any new mental images of the future of science.

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Paperback 256 pages
ISBN: 0307389316
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Published: 2009 Vintage

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Paperback 256 pages
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ISBN: 0307389316
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Product Description
Will climate change force a massive human migration to the Northern Rim? How does our sense of morality arise from the structure of the brain? What does the latest research in language acquisition tells us about the role of culture in the way we think? What does current neurological research tell us about the nature of time? This wide-ranging collection of never-before-published essays offers the very latest insights into the daunting scientific questions of our time. Its contributors—some of the most brilliant young scientists working today—provide not only an introduction to their cutting-edge research, but discuss the social, ethical, and philosophical ramifications of their work. With essays covering fields as diverse as astrophysics, paleoanthropology, climatology, and neuroscience, What's Next? is a lucid and informed guide to the new frontiers of science.

Product Description

Will climate change force a massive human migration to the Northern Rim?

How does our sense of morality arise from the structure of the brain?

What does the latest research in language acquisition tells us about the role of culture in the way we think?

What does current neurological research tell us about the nature of time?

This wide-ranging collection of never-before-published essays offers the very latest insights into the daunting scientific questions of our time. Its contributors—some of the most brilliant young scientists working today—provide not only an introduction to their cutting-edge research, but discuss the social, ethical, and philosophical ramifications of their work. With essays covering fields as diverse as astrophysics, paleoanthropology, climatology, and neuroscience, What's Next? is a lucid and informed guide to the new frontiers of science.

A review of two of the articles only The end of it all and the survival of us ****
For a more comprehensive review of this book I refer the reader to the review on this site written by Dennis Littrell. My review will focus on two of the articles only. Sean Carrol's article on 'Our Place in An Unnatural Universe' was a survey of current cosmological research. The Universe is not a small warm cuddly place but one mysterious and problematic. The seemingly unhappy news that the galaxies are accelerating in their movement away from each other, seems to promise an End to all in total entropy . But Speculation never seems to be in short supply when it comes to Cosmology and he also reports about there being efforts to imagine a pre- Big Bang Universe. Apparently the rule is the less data one has the more need to send in the Armies of the Imagination, in. In any case the 'picture we have of the Universe ' today on the macro- scale is a very uneasy and uneven one. In another area the essay by Katerina Harvati analyzes the whole process of species extinction, and focuses on the extinction of Paranthrapus one million years ago and Neanderthal thirty- thousand years ago. Mankind according to Harvati made it through for a number of reasons including our generalist diet, ability to survive in a wide range of environments, shorter birth intervals than other 'great apes' longer maturity times, longer life spans. Harvati does not discuss the wide- range of challenges to human continuity presented today, but focuses on what has been until now.

A review of two of the articles only The end of it all and the survival of us ****

For a more comprehensive review of this book I refer the reader to the review on this site written by Dennis Littrell.
My review will focus on two of the articles only. Sean Carrol's article on 'Our Place in An Unnatural Universe' was a survey of current cosmological research. The Universe is not a small warm cuddly place but one mysterious and problematic. The seemingly unhappy news that the galaxies are accelerating in their movement away from each other, seems to promise an End to all in total entropy . But Speculation never seems to be in short supply when it comes to Cosmology and he also reports about there being efforts to imagine a pre- Big Bang Universe. Apparently the rule is the less data one has the more need to send in the Armies of the Imagination, in. In any case the 'picture we have of the Universe ' today on the macro- scale is a very uneasy and uneven one.
In another area the essay by Katerina Harvati analyzes the whole process of species extinction, and focuses on the extinction of Paranthrapus one million years ago and Neanderthal thirty- thousand years ago. Mankind according to Harvati made it through for a number of reasons including our generalist diet, ability to survive in a wide range of environments, shorter birth intervals than other 'great apes' longer maturity times, longer life spans. Harvati does not discuss the wide- range of challenges to human continuity presented today, but focuses on what has been until now.

Some essays standout ****
Dispatches from the Future Dispatches from the future is a collection of essays by young scientists on the cutting edge. The topics vary from dark energy, to linguistics to neuroscience. All the essays are interesting and reveal young fields which will surely develop in the next decade. Some of the essays offer little major revelations, they simply explain a phenomenon or area of research. Of the fifteen essays, two stuck out for the implications with respect to social interactions and behaviours of societies: * Mirror Neurons and whether our ability to mimic others enables us to be more compassionate and ethical. * How our mother tongue affects the way we think about objects, people, and our place in the universe.

Some essays standout ****

Dispatches from the Future

Dispatches from the future is a collection of essays by young scientists on the cutting edge. The topics vary from dark energy, to linguistics to neuroscience. All the essays are interesting and reveal young fields which will surely develop in the next decade. Some of the essays offer little major revelations, they simply explain a phenomenon or area of research.

Of the fifteen essays, two stuck out for the implications with respect to social interactions and behaviours of societies:

* Mirror Neurons and whether our ability to mimic others enables us to be more compassionate and ethical.

* How our mother tongue affects the way we think about objects, people, and our place in the universe.

WHAT'S NEXT? DISPATCHES ON THE FUTURE OF SCIENCE: ORIGINAL ESSAYS FROM A NEW GENERATION OF SCIENTISTS EDITED BY MAX BROCKMAN ***
For anyone who wonders what the near future holds and what exactly are all those scientists doing with the grants and tax dollar funding they receive, What's Next? is a book with some answers. Featuring eighteen original essays that have never been published from some of today's best scientists, What's Next? will insight a curiosity in the reader on advances and research that is being made in the many fields of science. While a little patience and perhaps some scientific background is recommended, as these scientists are not authors of multiple books and tend to get very detailed and complex in their essays, readers will find news and answers in the fields if neurological research, behavior, how humans think, the nature of time, and where our idea of morality possibly arises from. Global warming is addressed in a most interesting essay that analyzes a warming world where the Northern Rim becomes further habitable, but leaves readers with the question of how many people will want to move into the undeveloped heartland of Russia? What's Next? is a collection of some very interesting and insightful essays that give readers news and information on some areas of research and science that may not be readily available to them through magazines or newspapers, or perhaps are only available through expensive science journals. Perhaps a book to truly show "your tax dollars at work." [...]

WHAT'S NEXT? DISPATCHES ON THE FUTURE OF SCIENCE: ORIGINAL ESSAYS FROM A NEW GENERATION OF SCIENTISTS EDITED BY MAX BROCKMAN ***

For anyone who wonders what the near future holds and what exactly are all those scientists doing with the grants and tax dollar funding they receive, What's Next? is a book with some answers. Featuring eighteen original essays that have never been published from some of today's best scientists, What's Next? will insight a curiosity in the reader on advances and research that is being made in the many fields of science.

While a little patience and perhaps some scientific background is recommended, as these scientists are not authors of multiple books and tend to get very detailed and complex in their essays, readers will find news and answers in the fields if neurological research, behavior, how humans think, the nature of time, and where our idea of morality possibly arises from. Global warming is addressed in a most interesting essay that analyzes a warming world where the Northern Rim becomes further habitable, but leaves readers with the question of how many people will want to move into the undeveloped heartland of Russia?

What's Next? is a collection of some very interesting and insightful essays that give readers news and information on some areas of research and science that may not be readily available to them through magazines or newspapers, or perhaps are only available through expensive science journals. Perhaps a book to truly show "your tax dollars at work."

[...]

Some younger scientists report on what they're doing. *****
The main difference between this and other science anthologies that I have read is 1) the essays are original, written especially for this volume; and 2) the scientists are relatively young not yet at the pinnacle of their careers. Max Brockman believes that "it's important to engage with the thinking of the next generation, to better understand not just what is going on in our own time but what issues society will face in the future. This exercise is especially valuable in science, where so many of the important discoveries are made by those in emerging generations." (p. xiii) Consequently he "approached some of today's leading scientists and asked them to name some of the rising stars in their respective disciplines: those who, in their research, are tackling some of science's toughest questions and raising new ones." (pp. xii-xiv) The result is this book with essays from 18 scientists in fields ranging from cosmology to microbiology. In the first essay UCLA climatologist Laurence C. Smith asks "Will We Decamp for the Northern Rim?" His answer is that he does "not advise buying acreage in Labrador," but "maybe in Michigan." What is clear is that the north is warming up and making "land that is hardly livable [in]to land that is somewhat livable." He sees the US and Canada as the two countries "best positioned for expansion" into what has been known as the lands of the "minus-forty" degrees. Central to his piece is the prediction that north of the 45th parallel "temperatures will rise at nearly double the global average...and precipitation will increase sharply as well." In the second essay neuroscientist Christian Keysers argues that "mirror neurons" in our brain that enable us mimic and feel what other are doing and feeling merely by watching--something we do automatically--strongly suggests that humans are ethical by nature. He believes that our brain circuits "lay the foundation for an intuitive altruism." Philosopher Nick Bostrom looks at enhancing human beings so that we might be better acclimated to the modern world instead of the savannahs of Africa on which we evolved. Physicist Sean Carroll explores entropy and the arrow of time in the cosmos while physicist Stephon H.S. Alexander grapples with dark energy. There are essays on the social development of the brain in adolescence by Sarah-Jayne Blakemore; on using brain imaging to explore social thought (Jason P. Mitchell); how language shapes the way we think (Lera Broditsky); on memory enhancement (Sam Cooke); and so on to whether specialization in science is making it impossible for scientists in different field to communicate (Gavin Schmidt, who says that the last person able to keep up with all the sciences lived in the eighteenth century). Of particular interest to me are the essays by David M. Eagleman on "Brain Time," and by Vanessa Woods and Brian Hare on how humans came "down from the trees" and why no one followed. In the former, Eagleman addresses the familiar phenomenon that "time 'slows down' during brief, dangerous events such as car accidents and robberies." (p. 159) I've had that experience myself and have tried to account for it. What Eagleman discovered is that because of the emergency situation we take in much more information about what is happening than we usually do and this "higher density of data" makes the event appear to last longer. (p. 161) This is similar to the sense that for a child the day is long and for the old person the day is short. The day seems longer for the child because so much of what the child is experiencing is new and requires close attention, whereas for a person of senior years much of what happens has been seen before and requires only the most cursory attention. In the latter essay, Woods and Hare explore the canine-human relationship and show how dogs are better able to read humans than are our closer relatives, chimpanzees. Dogs were able to find hidden objects in an experiment when humans would gaze at or point to the hiding place or even tap on the hiding place. But chimps have not the habit of paying that much attention to humans and would just miss the clues. Woods and Hare ask why this should be and answer: "One idea is that dogs live with us, so over thousands of hours of interacting with us, they learn to read our body language. Another idea is that the pack lifestyle and cooperative hunting of wolves, the canids from which all dogs evolved, made all canids, dogs included, more in tune with social cues." (p. 177) Woods and Hare also report on an experiment by the Russian scientist Dmitri Belyaev who raised some forty generations of foxes, selecting those most friendly to humans in each generation. The foxes "became incredibly friendly toward humans. Whenever they saw people, they barked, wagged their tails, sniffed the people, and licked their faces. But even stranger were the physical changes...." Their ears "became floppy" and their "tails turned curly." "In short, they looked and behaved remarkably like their close relative the domestic dog." (pp. 178-179) Incidentally Max Brockman is the son of John Brockman who has edited a number of first class science anthologies. "What's Next" continues that excellent tradition.

Some younger scientists report on what they're doing. *****

The main difference between this and other science anthologies that I have read is 1) the essays are original, written especially for this volume; and 2) the scientists are relatively young not yet at the pinnacle of their careers.

Max Brockman believes that "it's important to engage with the thinking of the next generation, to better understand not just what is going on in our own time but what issues society will face in the future. This exercise is especially valuable in science, where so many of the important discoveries are made by those in emerging generations." (p. xiii) Consequently he "approached some of today's leading scientists and asked them to name some of the rising stars in their respective disciplines: those who, in their research, are tackling some of science's toughest questions and raising new ones." (pp. xii-xiv) The result is this book with essays from 18 scientists in fields ranging from cosmology to microbiology.

In the first essay UCLA climatologist Laurence C. Smith asks "Will We Decamp for the Northern Rim?" His answer is that he does "not advise buying acreage in Labrador," but "maybe in Michigan." What is clear is that the north is warming up and making "land that is hardly livable [in]to land that is somewhat livable." He sees the US and Canada as the two countries "best positioned for expansion" into what has been known as the lands of the "minus-forty" degrees. Central to his piece is the prediction that north of the 45th parallel "temperatures will rise at nearly double the global average...and precipitation will increase sharply as well."

In the second essay neuroscientist Christian Keysers argues that "mirror neurons" in our brain that enable us mimic and feel what other are doing and feeling merely by watching--something we do automatically--strongly suggests that humans are ethical by nature. He believes that our brain circuits "lay the foundation for an intuitive altruism."

Philosopher Nick Bostrom looks at enhancing human beings so that we might be better acclimated to the modern world instead of the savannahs of Africa on which we evolved.

Physicist Sean Carroll explores entropy and the arrow of time in the cosmos while physicist Stephon H.S. Alexander grapples with dark energy.

There are essays on the social development of the brain in adolescence by Sarah-Jayne Blakemore; on using brain imaging to explore social thought (Jason P. Mitchell); how language shapes the way we think (Lera Broditsky); on memory enhancement (Sam Cooke); and so on to whether specialization in science is making it impossible for scientists in different field to communicate (Gavin Schmidt, who says that the last person able to keep up with all the sciences lived in the eighteenth century).

Of particular interest to me are the essays by David M. Eagleman on "Brain Time," and by Vanessa Woods and Brian Hare on how humans came "down from the trees" and why no one followed. In the former, Eagleman addresses the familiar phenomenon that "time 'slows down' during brief, dangerous events such as car accidents and robberies." (p. 159) I've had that experience myself and have tried to account for it. What Eagleman discovered is that because of the emergency situation we take in much more information about what is happening than we usually do and this "higher density of data" makes the event appear to last longer. (p. 161) This is similar to the sense that for a child the day is long and for the old person the day is short. The day seems longer for the child because so much of what the child is experiencing is new and requires close attention, whereas for a person of senior years much of what happens has been seen before and requires only the most cursory attention.

In the latter essay, Woods and Hare explore the canine-human relationship and show how dogs are better able to read humans than are our closer relatives, chimpanzees. Dogs were able to find hidden objects in an experiment when humans would gaze at or point to the hiding place or even tap on the hiding place. But chimps have not the habit of paying that much attention to humans and would just miss the clues. Woods and Hare ask why this should be and answer: "One idea is that dogs live with us, so over thousands of hours of interacting with us, they learn to read our body language. Another idea is that the pack lifestyle and cooperative hunting of wolves, the canids from which all dogs evolved, made all canids, dogs included, more in tune with social cues." (p. 177)

Woods and Hare also report on an experiment by the Russian scientist Dmitri Belyaev who raised some forty generations of foxes, selecting those most friendly to humans in each generation. The foxes "became incredibly friendly toward humans. Whenever they saw people, they barked, wagged their tails, sniffed the people, and licked their faces. But even stranger were the physical changes...." Their ears "became floppy" and their "tails turned curly." "In short, they looked and behaved remarkably like their close relative the domestic dog." (pp. 178-179)

Incidentally Max Brockman is the son of John Brockman who has edited a number of first class science anthologies. "What's Next" continues that excellent tradition.

An interesting but unbalanced collection of essays ***
The latest developments in science are the source of enduring fascination, by both the insiders and outsiders of the scientific community. Even more fascinating are the speculations about what may lay just around the corner, within next few years or decades of scientific research. The future always tends to be more exciting than even the most amazing advances of today. In that respect, this book is a very good overview of the status of some of the most advanced current research and the directions in which it is headed. It is written by many young but well established experts in the field, and they are the best guide to all the upcoming developments. Their presentation of their own work is well geared towards a general reader, and overall they tell some very interesting and compelling stories. If you are at all interested in science, this will be an engaging read. However, it is not always clear if some of the predictions that are offered here are based on solid scientific understanding of where that particular field is headed, or are they more of a wishful thinking at the author's part. Another thing that I don't like about this book is the lack of diversity among the chosen scientific topics. Most of the chapters are dedicated to one of the three main themes: fundamental Physics, human mind and behavior, or climate change. The reader will thus get a rather skewed and unbalanced view of the kinds of research that are done these days.

An interesting but unbalanced collection of essays ***

The latest developments in science are the source of enduring fascination, by both the insiders and outsiders of the scientific community. Even more fascinating are the speculations about what may lay just around the corner, within next few years or decades of scientific research. The future always tends to be more exciting than even the most amazing advances of today. In that respect, this book is a very good overview of the status of some of the most advanced current research and the directions in which it is headed. It is written by many young but well established experts in the field, and they are the best guide to all the upcoming developments. Their presentation of their own work is well geared towards a general reader, and overall they tell some very interesting and compelling stories. If you are at all interested in science, this will be an engaging read. However, it is not always clear if some of the predictions that are offered here are based on solid scientific understanding of where that particular field is headed, or are they more of a wishful thinking at the author's part. Another thing that I don't like about this book is the lack of diversity among the chosen scientific topics. Most of the chapters are dedicated to one of the three main themes: fundamental Physics, human mind and behavior, or climate change. The reader will thus get a rather skewed and unbalanced view of the kinds of research that are done these days.