Product Description

How might we mitigate the evil consequences of technology and enhance the good? Using hypothetical and genuine examples of the advancement of science and technology (past, present and future), the author attempts to answer this question and examines the ethics involved.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #533194 in Books
• Published on: 1998-08-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Review
One of the books I enjoyed most last year...was Freeman Dyson's "Imagined Worlds", in which the famed Princeton scientist speculated on the likely evolution of humanity over the next 10, 100, 1,000 10,000, 100,000 and 1 million years..."Imagined Worlds"...deserves to be read for its elegance and sagacity. -- Michael Thompson-Noel "Financial Times [UK]"

Customer Reviews

A very perceptive look at science and scientists
Freeman Dyson is quite possibly the best writer of science fact today. In this book he discusses the whole spectrum of science perceptively and tries to explain his view of technological development and the antagonism between scientific effort and progress, with fascinating looks at scientific events in history and intelligent discussion. This book is entertaining, informative and leaves any lover of science deeply fulfilled.

Evolution of airplanes to galactic migrations, imagine !
Freeman Dyson is a world famous physicist but his range of interests are rather wide: this book deals with evolution of technology, evolution itself, asteroid defense (Armageddon makers have not read this book), colonization of space, time scales in cosmology etc. These stories seem to be a bit unconnected but everyone of them is nice as a separte story. This should be marketed as airport non-fiction: easy reading (and very short) but full of original ideas.

Excellent distillation of Dyson's ideas

Physicist and philosopher Freeman Dyson based the five chapters in this book on a 1995 lecture series. The resulting essays are wonderfully written, profound, and convincing.

As the title suggests, Dyson uses scenarios from science fiction and futurism as starting points and milestones in his discussions. He manages to work both _Jurassic Park_ and Stapledon's _Last and First Men_ into Chapter 3, which is about genetic engineering.

Chapter 4, Evolution, is a jarring trip through history past and present.

Aw, hell. Just buy it. You won't be sorry.