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Reviewed for The Public Governance Institute by Van Wishard
Sir Martin Rees is a Royal Society Professor at Cambridge
University, a fellow of King’s College, and England’s
Astronomer Royal. He is considered by many to be the world’s
leading theoretical physicist. As the title suggests, Rees warns
that humankind is potentially the maker of its own demise, and
possibly the demise of the cosmos.
Written by anyone else, this would be considered science fiction.
Written by Rees, it is a riveting and highly authentic warning,
to say the least. States Rees in the prologue, “I think
the odds are no better than 50/50 that our present civilization
on Earth will survive to the end of the present century.”
The remainder of the book catalogues the potential realities
of this statement.
Many of the dangers Rees describes are all too familiar --
humanity possibly being wiped out by lethal “engineered”
airborne viruses, or by rogue nano-machines that replicate catastrophically.
Naturally bioterror and bioerror are included in the inventory
of potential disasters. In fact, in 2002 Rees placed a $1,000
bet with Wired magazine that “by the year 2020 an instance
of bioerror or bioterror will have killed a million people.”
Closer to Rees’s own discipline, he describes possible
experiments crashing atomic nuclei together that might start
a chain reaction that erodes all atoms of Earth, and might even
tear the fabric of space itself. What Rees sees us putting at
risk is an “infinite future” -- a cosmos more vast
and diverse than any of us has ever imagined. If we are the
only sentient beings in the universe, humanity’s fate
takes on a truly cosmic significance.
Sadly, however, Rees believes it nearly impossible to reduce
the risks he so graphically describes without encroaching on
cherished personal freedoms and the pursuit of scientific knowledge.
He reviews possible restraints on scientific research, but concludes
they’re impractical. And he notes, “Anxiety within
the scientific community seems surprisingly muted.” In
sum, Rees sanctions putting humanity at risk in order that a
miniscule proportion of the human race -- scientists -- can
pursue their quest for ever greater knowledge and power: The
Promethean myth.
Our Final Hour is not a book for everyone. However, it should
be required reading for Presidents and Prime Ministers, and
their advisors. There is no more essential issue for them to
jointly address.
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Van Wishard heads WorldTrends Research, a Washington-based
consultancy specializing in the analysis and synthesizing of
global trends. His briefings for members of Congress and professional
groups have been televised by C-SPAN and his Voice of America
commentary was broadcast worldwide. His speaking audiences include
AT&T's Strategic Planning Group, Charles Schwab & Co.,
the Naval War College and many others.
Wishard entered government service in 1970, and during the
'80s was an assistant to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce writing
on U.S. competitiveness, international trade and economic policy.
He was a major contributor to the ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE FUTURE,
published by Simon & Schuster Macmillan. His 2000 book --
BETWEEN TWO AGES: The 21st CENTURY AND THE CRISIS OF MEANING
-- is available through Amazon.com
or Xlibris.com.
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