2081 A Hopeful View of the Human Future Author:Gerard K. O'Neill Described by Omni magazine as a "landmark work," 2081 tells what life will be like a century from now - and predicts that it will be as utterly different from today as our world is from the world of 1881. At a time when most predictions of the future ring with doom and gloom, here is a provocative, fascinating, and hopeful view written by Gerard... more » K. O'Neill, the distinguished physicist and author of The High Frontier.
The first part of this illuminating book explores the colorful history of previous attempts to predict the future - including those of Jules Verne, H. G. Wells, and George Orwell - examining their successes and failures, with a view toward avoiding past mistakes. O'Neill then describes the five major developments of the present - computers, automation, space colonies, energy, and communications - that he believes will determine the course of the next hundred years.
The third part of the book is a guided tour over Planet Earth in 2081, a world of abundant energy without environmental damage, of climate controlled towns and of easy travel to solar-powered space colonies. After each section of the "tour," O'Neill explains the reasoning, based on current scientific fact and informed conjecture, that has led to his view of the future.
Brilliantly imaginative but always grounded in scientific fact, 2081 looks forward to a bright future with an exciting view of the world of our great-grandchildren.« less