Will the Human Race Survive the Twenty-First Century?
Claims that the end of the world is nigh are nothing new, but when Professor Sir Martin Rees, the Astronomer Royal and the leading British cosmologist of his generation, suggests that our species has only a 50/50 chance of surviving the new century, we would do well to take notice . . .
Our planet may be insignificant on a cosmic scale, but the evolution of intelligent life here makes it unusual; it is likely to be unique in our galaxy. Yet we may be on the verge of destroying it, of destroying ourselves - over the next century the future of life in the cosmos could be either jeopardised - or safeguarded for perpetuity.
Exploring the threats of genetically engineered viruses, nanotechnology, and environmental catastrophe, Martin Rees demonstrates the risks we are taking, as well as the great difficulties of limiting them. Doomsday scenarios are familiar to us all, but rarely are they presented with such authority and knowledge as in this book.
