Thursday, December 24th, 2009
Accelerando (Singularity)
By Charles Stross 2004
324 pages
Accelerando charts the not too distant rappidly accelerating future where some new technology or idea comes along every page. The story follow Manfred Macx as he tries to stay one step ahead of the every changing game. Manfred build social capital by doling out new ideas to bring the singularity ever closer. In the process he tries not to get burned by artificial intelligences, tax hungry governments, dominatrix ex wives, economic resets and bio-nanotechnology run amok. Somehow Macx and family manage to hang on through the ups and downs of an ever onrushing future.
Monday, December 21st, 2009
1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus
By: Charles Mann 2006
541 pages
Mann draws on recent scholarship to offer a radical picture of American history before the arrival of Columbus. This book tours major American civilizations arguing for their sophistication and scale. Mann builds a case for extensive settlement across the continents starting over 30,000 years ago. These civilizations engineered their environment to support complex agriculture enabling social systems with large concentrations of people. They developed sophisticated political systems which governed empires spanning thousands of miles. Much of this was never apparent to early colonizers due to massive death from the pathogens they introduced. While Mann presents many contentious issues as settled he makes a convincing case that American civilization was far more developed than your history textbook would have you believe.
Monday, December 7th, 2009
Whole Earth Discipline: An Ecopragmatist Manifesto
By Stewart Brand 2009
336 pages
Brand, the founding editor of the influential Whole Earth Catalog charts a new course for he 21st century environmental movement taking a pragmatic approach to many issues dogmatically dismissed by traditional greens. Cities, Nuclear, and Genetic Crops have been derided as the cause of many of the worlds problems. Brand argues these are necessities for building a sustainable future for mankind. He cites the incredible innovation and quality of life improving potential of some of the worlds biggest slums and cities. While they may appear to be human tragedies they in fact represent the quickest way out of poverty for much of the world’s destitute. Nuclear may leave behind some of the deadliest residue known to man, but it is entirely controllable and miniscule in scale compared to traditional energy sources. New Nuclear technology will make this a necessary and efficient component of the transition away from fossil fuels which needs to happen as fast as possible. Genetic crops are an ongoing battleground for many that cary the green banner. Now more than ever the world needs cheap, abundant food that can withstand the threats of rapid climate change. Only GM provides a means of preventing millions of starvation deaths. The technology has been proven safe and it is now pure hubris on the part of the developed world to say that poor need to starve because we have moral qualms about a technology that WILL save lives. Brand is first and foremost a pragmatist. He recognizes the issues of the day and argues for effective solutions, but most important, he is not afraid to change his mind as the situation does. This is a must read for anyone concerned with building a sustainable future.