What's next? : dispatches on the future of science : original essays from a new generation of scientists /
edited by Max Brockman.
- New York : Vintage Books, 2009.
- 237 p. : cov. ill. ; 21 cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
Will we decamp for the Northern Rim? / Laurence C. Smith -- Mirror neurons : are we ethical by nature? / Christian Keysers -- How to enhance human beings / Nick Bostrom -- Our place in an unnatural universe / Sean Carroll -- Just what is dark energy? / Stephon H.S. Alexander -- Development of the social brain in adolescence / Sarah-Jayne Blakemore -- Watching minds interact / Jason P. Mitchell -- What makes big ideas stocky? / Matthew D. Lieberman -- Fruit flies of the moral mind / Joshua D. Greene -- How does our language shape the way we think / Lera Boroditsky -- Memory enhancement, memory erasure : the future of our past / Sam Cooke -- Vital importance of imagination / Deena Skolnick Weisberg -- Brain time / David M. Eagleman -- Out of our minds : how did Homo sapiens come down from the trees, and why did no one follow? / Vanessa Woods and Brain Hare -- Aliens among us / Nathan Wolfe -- How did the social insects become social? / Seirian Sumner -- Extinction and the evolution of humankind / Katerina Harvati -- Why hasn't specialization led to the Balkanization of science? / Gavin Schmidt.
« 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.» (Publisher's description)