The Next Fifty Years: Science in the First Half of the Twenty-First Century
Encyclopedia
The Next Fifty Years: Science in the First Half of the Twenty-First Century is a 2002 collection of essays by twenty-five well-known scientist
s, edited by Edge Foundation
founder John Brockman
, who wrote the introduction.
The essays contain speculation by the authors about the scientific and technological advances that are likely to occur in their various fields in the first half of the 21st century.
The collection is divided into two parts; the twelve essays in Part One are devoted to more theoretical speculation, whereas the thirteen essays in Part Two discuss the possible practical applications of scientific and technological advance.
The contributing scientists are:
Scientist
A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...
s, edited by Edge Foundation
Edge Foundation, Inc.
The Edge Foundation, Inc. is an organization of science and technology intellectuals created in 1988 as an outgrowth of The Reality Club. Its motto is 'To arrive at the edge of the world's knowledge, seek out the most complex and sophisticated minds, put them in a room together and have them ask...
founder John Brockman
John Brockman (literary agent)
John Brockman is a literary agent and author specializing in scientific literature. He founded the Edge Foundation, an organization aimed to bring together people working at the edge of a broad range of scientific and technical fields. Referencing C.P...
, who wrote the introduction.
The essays contain speculation by the authors about the scientific and technological advances that are likely to occur in their various fields in the first half of the 21st century.
The collection is divided into two parts; the twelve essays in Part One are devoted to more theoretical speculation, whereas the thirteen essays in Part Two discuss the possible practical applications of scientific and technological advance.
The contributing scientists are:
- Lee SmolinLee SmolinLee Smolin is an American theoretical physicist, a researcher at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, and an adjunct professor of physics at the University of Waterloo. He is married to Dina Graser, a communications lawyer in Toronto. His brother is David M...
, The Future of the Nature of the Universe - Martin Rees, Cosmological Challenges: Are We Alone, and Where?
- Ian StewartIan Stewart (mathematician)Ian Nicholas Stewart FRS is a professor of mathematics at the University of Warwick, England, and a widely known popular-science and science-fiction writer. He is the first recipient of the , awarded jointly by the LMS and the IMA for his work on promoting mathematics.-Biography:Stewart was born...
, The Mathematics of 2050 - Brian GoodwinBrian GoodwinBrian Carey Goodwin was a Canadian mathematician and biologist, a Professor Emeritus at the Open University and a key founder of the field of theoretical biology.He made key contributions to the foundations of biomathematics, complex systems and generative models in developmental biology...
, In the Shadow of Culture - Marc D. Hauser, Swappable Minds
- Alison GopnikAlison GopnikAlison Gopnik , daughter of Myrna Gopnik, is an American Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. She is known for her work in the areas of cognitive and language development, specializing in causal learning and theory of mind...
, What Children Will Teach Scientists - Paul Bloom, Toward a Theory of Moral Development
- Geoffrey MillerGeoffrey Miller (evolutionary psychologist)Geoffrey F. Miller , Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of New Mexico, is an American evolutionary psychologist.Miller is a 1987 graduate of Columbia University, where he earned a B.A. in biology and psychology. He received his PhD in cognitive psychology from Stanford University...
, The Science of Subtlety - Mihaly CsikszentmihalyiMihaly CsikszentmihalyiMihaly Csikszentmihalyi is a Hungarian psychology professor, who emigrated to the United States at the age of 22. Now at Claremont Graduate University, he is the former head of the department of psychology at the University of Chicago and of the department of sociology and anthropology at Lake...
, The Future of Happiness - Robert M. SapolskyRobert SapolskyRobert Maurice Sapolsky is an American scientist and author. He is currently Professor of Biological Sciences, and Professor of Neurology and Neurological Sciences and, by courtesy, Neurosurgery, at Stanford University. In addition, he is a Research Associate at the National Museums of...
, Will We Still Be Sad Fifty Years from Now? - Steven StrogatzSteven StrogatzSteven Henry Strogatz is an American mathematician and the Jacob Gould Schurman Professor of Applied Mathematics at Cornell University...
, Fermi's "Little Discovery" and the Future of Chaos and Complexity Theory - Stuart KauffmanStuart KauffmanStuart Alan Kauffman is an American theoretical biologist and complex systems researcher concerning the origin of life on Earth...
, What Is Life? - Richard DawkinsRichard DawkinsClinton Richard Dawkins, FRS, FRSL , known as Richard Dawkins, is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author...
, Son of Moore's Law - Paul DaviesPaul DaviesPaul Charles William Davies, AM is an English physicist, writer and broadcaster, currently a professor at Arizona State University as well as the Director of BEYOND: Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science...
, Was There a Second Genesis? - John H. Holland, What Is to Come and How to Predict It?
- Rodney BrooksRodney BrooksRodney Allen Brooks is the former Panasonic professor of robotics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Since 1986 he has authored a series of highly influential papers which have inaugurated a fundamental shift in artificial intelligence research...
, The Merger of Flesh and Machines - Peter AtkinsPeter AtkinsPeter William Atkins is a British chemist and former Professor of Chemistry at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Lincoln College. He is a prolific writer of popular chemistry textbooks, including Physical Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, and Molecular Quantum Mechanics...
, The Future of Matter - Roger C. SchankRoger SchankRoger Schank is an American artificial intelligence theorist, cognitive psychologist, learning scientist, educational reformer, and entrepreneur.-Academic career:...
, Are We Going to Get Smarter? - Jaron LanierJaron LanierJaron Zepel Lanier is an American computer scientist, best known for popularizing the term virtual reality .A pioneer in the field of VR, Lanier and Thomas G. Zimmerman left Atari in 1985 to found VPL Research, Inc., the first company to sell VR goggles and gloves...
, The Complexity Ceiling - David GelernterDavid GelernterDavid Hillel Gelernter is a professor of computer science at Yale University. In the 1980s, he made seminal contributions to the field of parallel computation, specifically the tuple space coordination model, as embodied by the Linda programming system...
, Tapping Into the Beam - Joseph E. LeDouxJoseph E. LeDouxJoseph E. LeDoux is a neuroscientist, the Henry and Lucy Moses Professor of Science, and professor of neuroscience and psychology at New York University. He is also the director of the Center for the Neuroscience of Fear and Anxiety, a multi-university Center in New York City devoted to using...
, Mind, Brain, and Self - Judith Rich HarrisJudith Rich HarrisJudith Rich Harris is a psychology researcher and the author of The Nurture Assumption, a book criticizing the belief that parents are the most important factor in child development, and presenting evidence which contradicts that belief.Harris has been a resident of Middletown Township, New...
, What Makes Us the Way We Are: The View from 2050 - Samuel Barondes, Drugs, DNA, and the Analyst's Couch
- Nancy Etcoff, Brain Scans, Wearables, and Brief Encounters
- Paul W. EwaldPaul W. EwaldPaul W. Ewald is an evolutionary biologist, specializing in the evolution of infectious disease. He received his B.Sc. in 1975 from the University of California, Irvine, in Biological Sciences and his Ph.D. in 1980 from the University of Washington, in Zoology, with specialization in Ecology and...
, Mastering Disease