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The contributing authors to this book speak very well of progress in science and technology, however, there is a gap between the technical progress and the legislative and economic application of this new knowledge. For example, for about a decade now the basic science of cooling the Arctic with sulfate aerosols has been published, debated, and still the facts on the ground (or on the water) bear out the sad effects of rapid industrial growth -- glaciers and sea ice continue to decline ("Save the Arctic - Now" by Gregory Benford, p. 125).
On the other hand, where legislatures have been slow, new social movements that rely on a free and open internet and knowledge sharing, including the one now occurring in Europe reveal that optimism about information technology and social media was well-founded (see "Humanity's Coming Enlightenment" by Larry Sanger, p. 222). Yet, in our complex world even this high-spirited movement hasn't adequately grappled with how to develop and fund sustainable energy (see "Techno-Optimism and the Energy Challenge" by Martin Rees, p. 16). Hopefully, their voice and votes will be listened to by legislatures and departmental advisors who are, of course, much more capable of making the fine and difficult decisions about which energy initiatives to pursue, which conservation measures are important, and how widespread energy efficiency should be. Being optimistic here, one could hope that the legislatures will see connections between scientific and engineering disciplines as well as these scientists and provide an integrated and long-term approach to civilizational challenges (see "The Increasing Coalescence of Scientific Disciplines" by Gerald Holton, p. 330, and "Consilience" by Edward O. Wilson).
The authors of this book provide excellent and intriguing examples of why they have reason to be optimistic about science, technology, medicine, and engineering. Some write that they are naturally optimistic, or that it is a basic tenet of science to believe in the value of experimentation and incremental advances (see "The Optimism of Scientists" by Karl Sabbagh, p. 70). The perennial question may be: is the rate of progress and the depth of new scientific knowledge going to be sufficient to offset and then counter the increasingly serious regional and global challenges of this era, and in future eras?
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- Publisher: Perennial
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