000			01825nam a2200205Ia 4500
999			_c214351 _d214351
005			20211126094945.0
008			200208s9999 xx 000 0 und d
020			_a9781847371003
082			_a149.5 WHA
100			_a"Brockman,John (ed.)"
245		0	_aWhat are you optimistic about?/ edited by John Brockman
260			_aLondon
260			_bSimon and Schuster
260			_c2007
300			_a374p.
365			_dUSD
520			_aConventional wisdom tells us that things are bad and getting worse. Yet despite dire predictions, scientists see many good things on the horizon. John Brockman, publisher of Edge (www. edge. org), the influential online salon, recently asked more than 150 high-powered scientific thinkers to answer a vital question for our frequently pessimistic times: “What are you optimistic about?” Spanning a wide range of topics—from string theory to education, from population growth to medicine and even from global warming to the end of world—What Are You Optimistic About? Taps into an impressive array of world-class minds. Contributors include Brian Greene (The Hidden Reality) on humanity’s capacity to solve problems, Jared Diamond (The World Until Yesterday) on the evolutionary advantage of good choices, Sam Harris (Lying) on moral progress, Walter Isaacson (Steve Jobs) on the importance of the printed word, Richard Dawkins (An Appetite for Wonder) on a new scientific enlightenment, Steven Pinker (The Better Angels of Our Nature) on the decline of violence, Lisa Randall (Knocking on Heaven’s Door) on the value of truth, Ray Kurzweil (How to Create a Mind) on the power of information technology and George Smoot (Nobel Prize-winning author of Wrinkles in Time) on the pleasures of the present, among many others.
650			_aOptimism
942			_cB _2ddc