Engineering Tomorrow: Today's Technology Experts Envision the Next Century [Hardcover]

Dave Dooling (Author), Trudy E. Bell (Author), Janie Fouke (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0780353625 | ISBN-13: 978-0780353626 | Publication Date: December 31, 1999

The rush of technology in the 20th century brought more advances than the 11th through 19th centuries combined. Automobiles and aircraft, television and radio, computers and global communications, medical imaging and the leap of humans beyond Earth's atmosphere -- all these were born from the creative spark and labor of scientists and engineers.

How can we ensure that technology is humane and not inane? Can nations mount an effective defense without having to shoot? When computer intelligence exceeds human intelligence, what will it mean to be human? If you could "uninvent" one technology, which would you choose -- and why? How can we prevent ourselves from drowning in high-tech waste? Why should engineers take the long view?

These questions and many others are explored in Engineering Tomorrow: Today's Technology Experts Envision the Next Century by 50 world-renowned experts in all disciplines of science and technology.

Nobel laureates Arno Penzias and Charles H. Townes, Internet co-inventor Vinton G. Cerf, environmentalist Stewart Brand, physicist Freeman J. Dyson, record-holding oceanographer Sylvia A. Earle, arms experts Norman R. Augustine and Richard L. Garwin, and microchip pioneers Jack S. Kilby and Gordon E. Moore are among the 50 featured scientists and engineers who envision technology's potential for the 21st century -- as well as the social responsibility borne by all who are engineering today and planning for tomorrow.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

"How will the next century change us?" is commonly asked as the 20th century comes to a close. Engineering Tomorrow not only explores the answers to this question but also asks: "How will we change the next century?" Bell, former editor of Scientific American and Omni, and Dooling, principal writer, Science@NASA, Marshall Space Flight Center, mix a history of recent technological advances with an analysis of where engineering seems to be headed. Sidebars containing insights from 50 of today's leading technology experts (including Nobel laureates, inventors, and engineering fellows) are interspersed in the narrative. Many of these experts raise ethical and societal concerns dealing with how these advances will be used. Myriad technologies are reviewed including electric vehicles, artificial organs, space exploration, and the Internet. An entire chapter is dedicated to our responsibility to the environment. Recommended for both public and academic libraries.AWilliam Baer, Harold B. Lee Lib., Brigham Young Univ., Provo, UT
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

A truly inspiring book that should be in college libraries and career counseling offices. -- Choice Magazine, June 2000

Brave New World? the 20th century witnessed more technological advances than the 11th through the 19th combined, and the 21st will see even more. That's the message to be gleaned from ENGINEERING TOMORROW (IEEE Press, $49.95), a kaleidoscopic illustrated survey of some of the changes that may lie ahead. Janie Fouke, editor, and the writers Trudy E. Bell and Dave Dooling have called upon some 50 experts to examine such matters as Mars missions, climate changes, safer nuclear power, a more efficient INternet, better television (including improved program content) and even "boosting the collective IQ." It all sounds very promising, but there's still room for an occasional qualm, as whe the question is asked: "Who needs art museums when you can have the virtual statue in your office?" Answer: me. -- Herbert Kupferberg -- Parade Magazine, January 16, 2000

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 324 pages
• Publisher: Wiley-IEEE Press (December 31, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0780353625
• ISBN-13: 978-0780353626
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,640,838 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice Overview, March 22, 2002

By 

Michelle Entezari "mentezar" (Carlsbad, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Engineering Tomorrow: Today's Technology Experts Envision the Next Century (Hardcover)

This book has a nice, light intro into the areas engineers are working on, and current problems that need to be resolved in the future (how we may use nanotechnology, etc.). Engaging and a good way to get the brain moving, and keep you aware of where the field is going.

3.0 out of 5 stars book was in textbook form, March 26, 2001

By 

Lori Kaminsky (AZ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Engineering Tomorrow: Today's Technology Experts Envision the Next Century (Hardcover)

This book was made like a textbook- which actually made it easier to use. And the cover was hardcover- without paper over it (its really nice). Not as much information as I expected. I think the better chapters are: communications, medicine and biology, transportaton, exploration, and war and peace. These chapters are either more interesting and/or have more things in it that have a greater impact on our indiviual lives in the future. Also, there are alot of sections within each chapter that are written by people other than the authors of the book (Janie Fouke, editor, Trudy E. Bell and Dave Dooling, writers) about the future. There are 50 technology experts. Some of them and the titles of what they've written are: Donald R. Scifres: How will information technolgy transform global culture?, Stephen B. Weinstein: How will the Internet affect social relationships?, George S. Moschytz: How can we ensure that technology is humane and not inane? and Sylvia A. Earle: What does it take for people to realize that technology -induced climate change is jeopardizing our very lives? Some are in the chapters they should be in and some really don't have to do with that chapter at all.

4.0 out of 5 stars Must have coffee table book for the scientific minded..., September 7, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Engineering Tomorrow: Today's Technology Experts Envision the Next Century (Hardcover)

Great book! They've taken the worlds leading engineers and ask them specific questions about what the future will hold. Informative and interesting.