Best of
Futurism

1

Ben Bova's Grand Tour SciFi Series: Mars, Moonrise, Moonwar, Return to Mars


Ben Bova
    Mars and Return to Mars follow the struggle of settling on Mars, and Moonrise and Moonwar follow the events of colonizing the Moon – all struggling against the limitations Earth would set on these bold innovators. Mars: A team of astronauts face many challenges on a mission to Mars—including subzero temperatures, violent meteor showers, and a deadly virus. Native American geologist Jamie Waterman must navigate political intrigue at home, team conflict on the base, and a harsh and unforgiving environment to protect his own life and those of his crewmembers.Moonrise: A private company has established the first permanent human settlement on the Moon. But all is not as it seems there. Facing internal conflict and external protest, the company threatens closure—and former astronaut Doug Stavenger must protect the base and its inhabitants from the Moon’s harsh environment and the threat of murder.Moonwar: The second of Ben Bova’s Moonbase Saga, Moonwar picks up seven years after the events of Moonrise—when Doug Stavenger succeeded in protecting his beloved lunar colony. But the nanotechnology that keeps the colony functioning is now illegal on Earth—and the settlers must defend themselves against new threats from Earth.Return to Mars: Six years after the first manned expedition to Mars, a second is being planned, and Native American geologist Jamie Waterman is assigned as commander. He must face deadly internal rivalries, dangerous "accidents" that look like sabotage, and an intense new attraction to one of the crew members—and keep his crew safe while exploring the secrets of the Red Planet.

The Never Ending Quest: Dr. Clare W. Graves Explores Human Nature: A Treatise On An Emergent Cyclical Conception Of Adult Behavioral Systems And Their Development


Clare W. Graves
    Graves's unfinished manuscript on the development and details of his double-helix theory of personality and culture. He also reports verification studies and comparisons with other researchers and then addresses the broader meanings of the concept to psychology and social development These conversations, which run throughout the entire text, range from education to business to large-scale systems change. The book also helps to understand Spiral Dynamics® or its derivatives. It clarifies Dr. Graves's conception of how conditions outside the person(s) and neurological systems inside interact to produce the emergent, cyclical, levels of existence; explains the 'levels' in more accurate detail than ever before; and discusses the realities of the theory."

World After Capital


Albert Wenger
    When we were foragers, food was scarce. During the agrarian age, it was land. Following the industrial revolution, capital became scarce. With digital technologies scarcity is shifting once more. We need to figure out how to live in a World After Capital in which the only scarcity is our attention.

The Singularity is Nearer


Ray Kurzweil
    During the succeeding decade many of Kurzweil's predictions about technological advancements have been borne out, and their viability has become familiar to the public through such now commonplace concepts as AI, intelligent machines, and bioengineering.In this entirely new book Ray Kurzweil brings a fresh perspective to advances in the singularity--assessing the progress of many of his predictions and examining the novel advancements that, in the near future, will bring a revolution in knowledge and an expansion of human potential. Among the topics he discusses are rebuilding the world, atom by atom with devices like nanobots; radical life extension beyond the current age limit of 120; reinventing intelligence by expanding biological capacity with nonbiological intelligence in the cloud; how life is improving with declines in areas such as poverty and violence; and the growth of technologies such as renewable energy and 3-D printing, which can be applied to everything from clothes to building materials to growing human organs. He also considers the potential perils of biotechnology, nanotechnology, and artificial intelligence, including such topics of current controversy as how AI will impact unemployment and the safety of autonomous cars, and After Life technology, which will reanimate people who have passed away through a combination of data and DNA.