The Future of Humanity: Our Destiny in the UniverseKnopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2. apr 2019 - 368 pages NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The national bestselling author of The God Equation traverses the frontiers of astrophysics, artificial intelligence, and technology to offer a stunning vision of man's future in space, from settling Mars to traveling to distant galaxies. “Amazing … Kaku is in smooth perfect control of it the entire time.” —The Christian Science Monitor We are entering a new Golden Age of space exploration. With irrepressible enthusiasm and a deep understanding of the cutting-edge research in space travel, world-renowned physicist and futurist Dr. Michio Kaku presents a compelling vision of how humanity may develop a sustainable civilization in outer space. He reveals the developments in robotics, nanotechnology, and biotechnology that may allow us to terraform and build habitable cities on Mars and beyond. He then journeys out of our solar system and discusses how new technologies such as nanoships, laser sails, and fusion rockets may actually make interstellar travel a possibility. We travel beyond our galaxy, and even beyond our universe, as Kaku investigates some of the hottest topics in science today, including warp drive, wormholes, hyperspace, parallel universes, and the multiverse. Ultimately, he shows us how humans may someday achieve a form of immortality and be able to leave our bodies entirely, laser porting to new havens in space. |
Contents
PROLOGUE | 1 |
TOWARD A MULTIPLANET SPECIES | 7 |
PREPARING FOR LIFTOFF | 19 |
NEW GOLDEN AGE OF SPACE TRAVEL | 36 |
THE GARDEN PLANET 76 | 50 |
GAS GIANTS COMETS AND BEYOND | 96 |
ROBOTS IN SPACE | 111 |
BUILDING A STARSHIP | 137 |
IMMORTALITY | 185 |
TRANSHUMANISM AND TECHNOLOGY | 206 |
SEARCH FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE | 225 |
13 | 247 |
NOTES | 309 |
SUGGESTED READING | 323 |
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