The Singularity is Near eBook editions: far into the future with Ray Kurzweil

  The Singularity is Near is pretty dense.  Not something most people will want to sit down and read in one pass.  In fact I worked on it over a couple of months.  It is hard to really grasp Kurzweil's future.  A future driven by exponential growth in knowledge and computing power.that actually alter the basic tenets of human life.

His future vision is about knowledge explosion, computing, the biological revolution, the nanotechnology revolution and the organization of the human brain. As usual it is a mind blowing collection of great value to those of us who care where the future is taking us.

To grapple with the information contained in this expansion of the human potential over the next four decades takes an open mind and a willingness to accept at least some of what you may not understand.

I know some basic things about nanotech and the biotech revolution. I am as familiar with computing as any person who has participated in the development of that technology for the last forty years. But this book expanded my breadth and depth of knowledge dramatically. It is a heady experience and one well worth living if you like to know where humanity may be headed.

Buy it, borrow it, steal it, (apologies to Ray) but get your hands on it and read this book. It will help you understand the changes that are approaching and help you benefit from them rather than simply being run over by them. They are headed our way and moving at exponential speeds already. We do need to be ready for them.

Here is the publisher's take:

The great inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil is one of the best-known and controversial advocates for the role of machines in the future of humanity.

In his latest, thrilling foray into the future, he envisions an event--the "singularity"--in which technological change becomes so rapid and so profound that our bodies and brains will merge with our machines.

The Singularity Is Near portrays what life will be like after this event--a human-machine civilization where our experiences shift from real reality to virtual reality and where our intelligence becomes nonbiological and trillions of times more powerful than unaided human intelligence. In practical terms, this means that human aging and pollution will be reversed, world hunger will be solved, and our bodies and environment transformed by nanotechnology to overcome the limitations of biology, including death. We will be able to create virtually any physical product just from information, resulting in radical wealth creation.

In addition to outlining these fantastic changes, Kurzweil also considers their social and philosophical ramifications. With its radical but optimistic view of the course of human development, The Singularity Is Near is certain to be one of the most widely discussed and provocative books of 2005.

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Physics Of The Impossible eBook edition

Henri is the serious science reader in our household.  He just finished this book and highly recommends it.  After this review, I am (almost) tempted to read it.                                      ---Gigi            

Some of the best Science Fiction I have ever read was masquerading   as science fact.

The ultimate discovery of the truth about our universe has always fascinated me. When I was taught Physics, in that high school so long ago, in a galaxy far away.  Newton still largely filled the pages with his view of the universe. Schrodinger’s Cat was a little too hip for that place and time.

Since then I have tried on many occasions to read such deathless tomes as, “Quantum Mechanics For Dummies.” (That book really exists in some universe in the multiverse, I am certain of that fact; just not yet in this one.)

Michio Haku’s new book, “Physics Of The Impossible,” accomplished the almost impossible feat of updating me on the physics of the brave new world of the atomic and subatomic scales. That is a world where natural phenomena are weirder than fiction. The simple fact is the author clarified what is known. He discussed what is not known. He even speculated on what is likely to never be known; in the particular sense that is the purview of the physicist’s theories about our universe and its possible brethren in the multiverse.

The book engaged my ancient curiosity and thoroughly fulfilled its role in defining how the physical world is constructed and the possible limits of human endeavors to control it.

The author divides the world where current knowledge is not quite yet complete into three categories of impossibility. That is a particularly clever device in expostulating about the Quantum world and the Multiverse. Both are places where the impossible happens, often before breakfast.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and the author’s clarity on what is known and what is still unknown in an area of science where he has spent a lifetime.

The plot may have been a little thin, but I am used to Science Fiction and can live on plots so thin that the air in them is likely to never stir up a mote of dust.

I recommend this book to the curious or the merely acquisitive; who often need a tabletop book to impress their friends and acquaintances. Even if you don’t ever read this book, buy it. Someone else will eventually read it and it will spread its knowledge and confusion clarifying facts a little further into the human world.

Here is what the publisher says:

A fascinating exploration of the science of the impossible—from death rays and force fields to invisibility cloaks—revealing to what extent such technologies might be achievable decades or millennia into the future.

One hundred years ago, scientists would have said that lasers, televisions, and the atomic bomb were beyond the realm of physical possibility. In Physics of the Impossible, the renowned physicist Michio Kaku explores to what extent the technologies and devices of science fiction that are deemed equally impossible today might well become commonplace in the future.

From teleportation to telekinesis, Kaku uses the world of science fiction to explore the fundamentals—and the limits—of the laws of physics as we know them today. He ranks the impossible technologies by categories—Class I, II, and III, depending on when they might be achieved, within the next century, millennia, or perhaps never.

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A Practical And Results-Oriented Guide

Best single source of information on this subject I've seen. I own and sell items related to Solar Power and other forms of Renewable Energy. I read this book and use it as reference when people approach me about using Renewable Energy. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in protecting our environment, self-sufficient living or simply saving money through an efficient lifestyle.

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A Viewer From Seattle, WA USA

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Great Minds Think Alike...

'Uncertainty' by David Lindley. It is unlikely that any three decades in human history witnessed as great a degree of fundamental and revolutionary change in our scientific understanding of the world than those from 1900 to 1930. David Lindley introduces us to the giants who made this revolution - Heisenberg and Einstein, of course, but also Niels Bohr, Wolfgang Pauli, Arnold Sommerfeld, Erwin Schrodinger, Paul Dirac, Hendrik Kramers, and Max Born. Lindley's approach more or less traces the chronological history of the events leading to quantum physics and Heisenberg's formal statements of the ultimate uncertainty of measurement at the atomic level. I recommend this book to anyone who is making their first forays into this area and wants to learn how these ideas were conceived and developed. 'Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body' by Neil Shubin. This is the most enjoyable book I've read on evolution since Gould's fine Wonderful Life. Shubin starts with the search for a link between fish and land animals that took him to the Canadian Arctic and culminated in the discovery of Tiktaalik--a fish with a flattened head and flippers that made it look rather like a very primitive alligator in ways. This eBook left me with a deep appreciation for the wonder of the modern human body. Great information for the casual reader! Be sure to use the Coupon Code below for a Discount on either of these two eBooks!

Uncertainty (Mobipocket) eBook edition by Lindley, David In 1927, the young German physicist Werner Heisenberg challenged centuries of scientific understanding when he introduced what came to be known as “the uncertainty principle.” Building on his own radical innovations in quantum theory, Heisenberg proved that in many physical measurements, you can obtain one bit of information only at the price of losing another. › More Info Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body (Mobipocket) eBook edition by Shubin, Neil Why do we look the way we do? What does the human hand have in common with the wing of a fly? Are breasts, sweat glands, and scales connected in some way? To better understand the inner workings of our bodies and to trace the origins of many of today's most common diseases, we have to turn to unexpected sources: worms, flies, and even fish. › More Info

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Very eye opening and impressive!

Very eye opening and impressive! I am an avid ufologist and have always found bits and pieces of what I knew to be a much bigger picture. This series "connects the dots" and takes you on a fascinating and intimate journey of personal experiences, revelations and provides answers to some long-standing questions. Thank you, Mr. Peniel!                                                       A viewer:   Seattle, WA USA

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Whole New Meaning To: iRobot!

'Love and Sex with Robots' by David Levy. The eBook is filled with odd but plausible devices such as robot vaginas and robotic penis strokers that will have capabilities far beyond any human's. A robotic partner and lover will always be the perfect mate and will never get bored or inattentive. Whether the future envisioned is ultimately for good or bad, it seems inevitable that some day the things imagined by Levy will happen. Unfortunately, humans have a tragic history of using technology for evil as much as good. 'iPod & iTunes For Dummies, 2nd Edition' by Cheryl Rhodes, Tony Bove. This reference eBook is very informative and answers most questions you might have about the subject. After receiving an iPod as a gift and being electronically challenged because this was my first iPod. I bought this eBook and found it easy to understand and now I'm the Master with my iGadgets, in less than ½ the time it would have taken me. Use the Coupon Code Below to receive a Discount on either of these Two eBook Titles.

Love and Sex with Robots by Levy, David Love, marriage, and sex with robots? Not in a million years? Maybe a whole lot sooner.From a leading expert in artificial intelligence comes an eye-opening, superbly argued book that explores a new level of human intimacy and relationship › More Info iPod & iTunes For Dummies, 2nd Edition (Mobipocket) eBook edition by Bove, Tony / Rhodes, Cheryl The iPod, Apple's breakthrough MP3 music player, boasts a contact list, calendar, alarm clock, notes reader, and a handful of games In its first year, iTunes has sold more than 70 million songs; since hitting the market in November 2001, the iPod has sold more than 3 million units This updated edition covers cool new third-party accessories, new iTunes features, iPod functions, troubleshooting, and more › More Info

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