"Imagined Worlds" makes illuminating criticisms of what [Dyson]
calls 'ideologically driven' technologies, which, because they
symbolize national pride, are obliged to succeed...Ideologically
driven technologies, Dyson argues, discourage the rigorous
experimentation without which no technology can properly
evolve.--Timothy Ferris "New York Review of Books "
[A] marvellous little book.--Tim Radford "The Guardian (Manchester,
England) "
[A] remarkable book.--John Leslie "London Review of Books "
[Dyson] constantly surprises and challenges us with his
views...[His] independence of mind and his learning make his views
on the future well worth reading. At first sight, "Imagined Worlds"
may seem thin and insubstantial, but it actually contains more
rewarding insights than most books 10 times its length.--Graham
Farmelo "Sunday Telegraph "
As well as mind-boggling speculations [on our future], "Imagined
Worlds" includes some good discussions of how science and
technology relate to politics and ethics...The future? Freeman
Dyson has it figured out.--Rudy Rucker "Washington Post Book World
"
Dyson has a startlingly profound imagination, a willingness to take
ideas as far as they can possibly go...In this book he provides a
fascinatingly plausible view of artificial telepathy. He has helped
to design extraordinary spaceships and advised the Pentagon on wild
(and no doubt occasionally woolly) weapons. Best of all, from the
science-fiction writer's point of view, he admires science-fiction
writers. This book is, in part, a tribute to science-fiction; it is
an attempt not to predict the future, but rather, through
imagination, to bring some of its potential to life.--Oliver Morton
"Nature "
Freeman Dyson is one of the last survivors of the heroic age of
theoretical physics and contributed greatly to the standard theory
of quantum electrodynamics. However...he does not suffer from
tunnel vision. His imagination embraces the entire cosmos and all
the possibilities of future technology..."Imagined Worlds" is one
of those mind-stretching books that any intelligent reader can
enjoy.--Arthur C. Clarke "Times Higher Education Supplement "
Freeman Dyson...[is] brilliant and admirable: a physicist (now
retired) of considerable accomplishment and a storyteller of
delightful humanity and skill.--Philip Gold "Washington Times "
In his new volume, "Imagined Worlds", Freeman Dyson, following in
the tradition of two of his heroes, novelist H. G. Wells and
biologist J. B. S. Haldane, gives us a cautionary vision of where
science and technology are taking us in the next century...Dyson's
book is a fascinating romp through possible futures.--Steven J.
Dick "Natural History "
One of the books I enjoyed most last year...was Freeman Dyson's
"Imagined Worlds", in which the famed Princeton scientist
speculated on the likely evolution of humanity over the next 10,
100, 1,000 10,000, 100,000 and 1 million years..."Imagined
Worlds"...deserves to be read for its elegance and
sagacity.--Michael Thompson-Noel "Financial Times [UK] "
One of the more daring theories in today's cosmology is that at the
creation of our universe an infinite number of others were also
brought into being, but that none can communicate with any other.
Be that as it may, whenever I am in the presence of Freeman Dyson,
a physicist and professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced
Studies in Princeton, I have the uncanny feeling that he is able,
after all, to look around the corner into some of those other
worlds from which we are cut off. Dyson claims to be a mathematical
physicist interested in anatomy. But from his many writings, we
know better. He is interested in any question whatever that might
have a scientific solution, and in any imaginative idea that may
help to anticipate the future...[E]ven while readers will disagree
with this or that point, they will also most likely be swept up by
the ambitious scope of the book, and Dyson's unwavering belief that
our benighted species can improve.--Gerald Holton "Boston Sunday
Globe "
The world needs the kind of wisdom that Freeman Dyson has
accumulated after a lifetime of theoretical physics at Cambridge
and Princeton, and his contributions to the nuclear test ban
treaty.--Colin Tudge "New Statesman "
[A] marvellous little book. -- Tim Radford "The Guardian
(Manchester, England)"
[A] remarkable book. -- John Leslie "London Review of Books"
[A]n engaging work that combines science (my territory') and
science fiction ('the landscape of my dreams'). Dyson ponders the
triumphs and failures of scientists, using real and imagined
stories--from the ill-fated Comet jetliner of 1952 to the
technological nightmares of H.G. Wells and Huxley--to illustrate
the dangers that surface when political ideology and science
mix...Mostly this is a reminder that human consequences and human
scale must be considered in the application of science and
technology...Dyson's use of science fiction to illustrate and
evaluate scientific fact is a refreshing and illuminating tool.
Freeman Dyson is an expert rambler. Four or five digressions into
an essay, just as you think he's lost his trail, he finds it again
around the next bend...[He] describes himself as a 'problem solver,
' drawn butterfly-like to nuclear energy, rocket propulsion,
quantum electrodynamics, and astronomy, among other fields. This
propensity serves his readers well. Dyson is not merely a scientist
who can write but a scientist who thinks like a writer. In
"Imagined Worlds," he trains his thoughts on the world that science
and technology are creating, showing how 'Tolstoyan science' (small
and cheap) is preferable to 'Napoleonic science' (big and
expensive).
ÝA¨ marvellous little book. -- Tim Radford "The Guardian
(Manchester, England)"
ÝA¨ remarkable book. -- John Leslie "London Review of Books"
ÝA¨n engaging work that combines science (my territory') and
science fiction ('the landscape of my dreams'). Dyson ponders the
triumphs and failures of scientists, using real and imagined
stories--from the ill-fated Comet jetliner of 1952 to the
technological nightmares of H.G. Wells and Huxley--to illustrate
the dangers that surface when political ideology and science
mix...Mostly this is a reminder that human consequences and human
scale must be considered in the application of science and
technology...Dyson's use of science fiction to illustrate and
evaluate scientific fact is a refreshing and illuminating tool.
ÝDyson¨ constantly surprises and challenges us with his
views...ÝHis¨ independence of mind and his learning make his views
on the future well worth reading. At first sight, "Imagined Worlds"
may seem thin and insubstantial, but it actually contains more
rewarding insights than most books 10 times its length. -- Graham
Farmelo "Sunday Telegraph"
A leading scientist speculates on far-future scientific
developments and their possible impact on the human condition.
Dyson points out that our culture has apparently lost its
long-range vision. Drawing on a fascinating cross-section of
scientific and technological history, the professor emeritus at
Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study lays the groundwork for a
longer view...At every turn, he illustrates his subject with
reference to a wide range of writers and philosophers, making the
book a delight to read. Essential reading for anyone who looks
beyond the coming millennium.
As well as mind-boggling speculations Ýon our future¨, "Imagined
Worlds" includes some good discussions of how science and
technology relate to politics and ethics...The future? Freeman
Dyson has it figured out. -- Rudy Rucker "Washington Post Book
World"
Dyson, not just a distinguished scientist, but a fine writer about
science...has produced a fascinating speculative work about future
scientific developments--near- and far-future--and their likely
impact on us.
Freeman Dyson...Ýis¨ brilliant and admirable: a physicist (now
retired) of considerable accomplishment and a storyteller of
delightful humanity and skill. -- Philip Gold "Washington
Times"
In his new volume, "Imagined Worlds," Freeman Dyson, following in
the tradition of two of his heroes, novelist H. G. Wells and
biologist J. B. S. Haldane, gives us a cautionary vision of where
science and technology are taking us in the next century...Dyson's
book is a fascinating romp through possible futures. -- Steven J.
Dick "Natural History"
Thanks to new technologies, researchers can see much farther into
the galaxies, much deeper into the genetic structure of life, and
more clearly into the heart of the atom than ever before. But
envisioning our cultural future still requires the kind of probing,
reflective human imagination we see at work in these pages. As this
distinguished scientist contemplates a world in which genetic
engineers create superbabies and pet dinosaurs, in which space
colonies raise potatoes on Mars, in which radiotelepathy allows
humans to communicate with dolphins and eagles, he weighs fear
against hope...With a rare breadth of literary and historical
knowledge and with a wonderful lucidity of style, Dyson converts
science from the intellectual property of specialists into a
meaningful concern for everyone with a stake in our cultural
future.
This is an extraordinary book, written in the wisdom of old age but
with the hopeful courage of a man whose commitment to science, if
not necessarily to its products, has kept him young.
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