Scanning the Future

The first in a series, this is a selection of 20 articles from the work of distinguished writers and thinkers, including four Nobel Prize-winners. The pieces comprise an anthology of thoughts towards the building of a bright future, and provides a starting point for a wide-ranging series on that topic. In his introduction, Blumenfeld gives a brief history of future studies, and explains the various schools and methodologies, placing in context each essay in this collection. This first volume in the series aims to present challenging perspectives and to stir the imagination with ideas on social, political and economic systems, on scientific knowledge, and on broad ethical, humanitarian and environmental issues. The series "Prospects for Tomorrow" is by distinguished specialists for non-specialists. Each book sets out to inform, provoke discussion and stimulate thinking about an important concern for the future. Each is a distillation of today's knowledge and theory in a specific area, and a discussion of where this might lead tomorrow.
Topics include: art; astronomy; design; economics; environmental science; ethics; genetics; medicine; moral philosophy; physics; political systems; social organizations; and technology.