Humans 3.0: The Upgrading of the Species
By (Author) Peter Nowak
HarperCollins Publishers
The Friday Project Limited
22nd June 2015
United Kingdom
General
Non Fiction
Impact of science and technology on society
303.483
Paperback
300
Width 129mm, Height 198mm, Spine 14mm
160g
Welcome to Human 3.0.
Life for early humans wasnt easy. They may have been able to walk on two feet and create tools 4 million years ago, but they couldnt remember or communicate. Fortunately, people got smarter, and things got better. They remembered on-the-spot solutions and shared the valuable information of their experiences. Clubs became swords, caves became huts, and fires became ovens. Collectively these new tools became technology. As the 21st century unfolds, the pace of innovation is accelerating exponentially. Breakthroughs from robotics to genetics appear almost on a daily basis. Its all happening so quickly that its hard to keep track but recently theres been a shift. We used to create technology to change the world around us; now were using it to change ourselves. With vaccinations, in-vitro fertilization, and individual genetic therapy, were entering a new epoch, a next step, faster and more dramatic than the shift from Australopithicines to Homo Sapiens. The technology that set us apart from our earliest selves is becoming part of the evolutionary process. Advancements in computing, robotics, nanotechnology, neurology, and genetics mean that our wildest imaginings could soon become commonplace. Peter Nowak deftly presents the potential outcomesboth exciting and frighteningof key, rapidly advancing technologies and adroitly explores both the ramifications of adopting them and what doing so will reveal about the future of our species. Weve come a long way in 4 million years. Welcome to Human 3.0.
Critical acclaim for Sex, Bombs, and Burgers:
Hugely entertaining. Nowakan experienced journalistconfidently treads where other historians of technology might avoid. THE NEW SCIENTIST
An enjoyable and informative history of the surprising origins of some of the technological marvels that underpin the modern world. BBC FOCUS
Thought-provoking. You can think of it, if you wish, as a modern version of Mandeville's The Fable of the Bees, which proposed that society's vices are actually good for overall economic health. THE GUARDIAN
Witty and well-researched . . . An engaging read, leaving one with several I did not know that moments. THE GLOBE AND MAIL
Peter Nowak is the author of Humans 3.0 and Sex, Bombs, and Burgers, and his work has appeared in The Atlantic, the Huffington Post, the Boston Globe, New Scientist magazine and elsewhere. He won the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance Award for excellence in reporting, and the Telecommunications Users Association of New Zealand named him technology journalist of the year. He lives in Toronto with his wife.