Physics of the future

In Physics of the future: how science will shape human destiny and our daily lives by the year 2100 Michio Kaku uses the information from interviews with experts in many fields to predict how our lives are going to change in the next century.

The book looks at the future of computers and artificial intelligence, at medicine and nanotechnology, at the future of energy at space travel and at the distribution of wealth. For each topic three time periods are considered, roughly now-2030, that is the next few decades, 2030-2070, when we should expect to see big changes to the way we live, and 2070-2100 when, at the current rate of progress, our descendants might be able to do things which today would seem like magic.

When I started reading this book I was a bit irritated by Kaku's style of writing, and I realised that was because it was similar to a lot of popular science TV shows -somewhat repetitive and presenting every scientist as struggling to get their idea accepted against a reactionary establishment. If you don't like such shows then maybe you should give this book a miss, if you don't mind them then you might appreciate its wide range of ideas about our possible future.