In the future, accelerating technology and unexpected, revolutionary events—most of which will never be predicted by...
An exuberant account of how biotechnology will vastly enhance not only our health, but our physical and mental abilities as well.
This process, writes Bess (History/Vanderbilt Univ.; Choices Under Fire: Moral Dimensions of World War II, 2006, etc.), is already underway, with drugs, bioelectronics, and genetics all playing leading roles. Familiar names like Prozac, Viagra, and Adderall reveal that the progress of drugs has already come a long way in a relatively short period of time. Thought-controlled prostheses and bioelectronic implants for the deaf and blind remain rudimentary, but in the coming years, we should expect to see impressive advances. Although several decades away, the idea of altering the DNA germline to produce a “designer baby” makes most people uncomfortable, but major improvements will happen through epigenetics, through which we can influence gene expression without changing DNA. All these cheerful prognostications occur in the first 70 pages. In the remaining, more thoughtful, text, Bess discusses their implications. Will society consist of “Brave New World” castes of haves (who can afford their enhancements) and deprived have-nots? How many changes can Homo sapiens undergo and remain the same species? What does it mean to lead a good life? All the advancements, writes the author, “can also lead us to gradually lose our bearings on reality itself. The more enthusiastically we give ourselves over to artifice, the more likely we are to drift insensibly out of touch with the planet that sustains us, the body we were born with, and the core relationships of family and community that frame our existence.”
In the future, accelerating technology and unexpected, revolutionary events—most of which will never be predicted by futurists—may produce a society as alien as some of our tools. Bess delivers an insightful philosophical analysis of how we must adjust.Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-8070-5217-4
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Beacon Press
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2015
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
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