The Coming Convergence

Imagine direct communication links between the human brain and machines, or tailored materials capable of adapting by themselves to changing environmental conditions, or computer chips and environmental sensors embedded into everyday clothing, or medical technologies that eliminate currently untreatable conditions such as blindness and paralysis. Now imagine all of these developments occurring at the same time. The stuff of science fiction? Not So. These are actually the reasonable predictions of scientists attempting to forecast a few decades into the future based on the rapid pace of innovation. Author Stanley Schmidt-a physicist, a writer, and the editor of Analog: Science Fiction and Fact -- explores these and many more amazing yet probable scenarios in this fascinating guide to the near future. He shows how past convergences have led to today's world, then considers tomorrow's main currents in biotechnology, cognitive science, information technology, and nanotechnology. Looking even further downstream he foresees both exciting and potentially dangerous developments: Longer, healthier lives; Cheap, generally available food, energy, and technology; Reduced pollution and environmental stress; Economic disruption during transitional periods; Excessive power in too few hands; Increased vulnerability from over-dependence on technology. Schmidt notes that even a routine technology such as the CAT scan is the result of three wholly separate innovations started many decades ago which recently converged: the X-ray, the computer, and advances in medicine. On a more ominous note, he also observes that the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center was made possible by the malicious convergence of two separate trends in modern engineering and technology: the concentration of people in high rises within cities and the success of the passenger airline industry. The message is clear: the choices we make now will converge to create a near and distant future that will be almost unbelievably wonderful or unimaginably catastrophic, or both. This knowledgeable, fascinating glimpse into the future is a must read for everyone interested in technology, upcoming innovations in business, science fiction, and the future.

Why we are on the cusp of a new economic era that will make the changes and challenges of the Information Era seem like child’s play From the bestselling authors of Blur—a defining book of the Information Age—comes a startling glimpse into the near future and the emerging economy that awaits us. It’s Alive foretells the jolt the world is about to receive as the science of molecular evolution races out of the laboratories and into the business world. Think back to the early 1970s. Imagine the opportunities for your business, career choice, and investments had you received an advance report on the ways in which computer and information technology would revolutionize the world. It’s Alive provides that opportunity today: a realistic and persuasive look into the future—the molecular economy—and how it is starting to overtake and reshape the Information Age. Today’s gene mapping and molecular engineering are equivalent to the introduction of transistor radios at the advent of the information economy. Solid-state technology moved from the labs into the business arena, providing in turn the transistor, the microprocessor, and the modem—and the information business. During the next ten years, molecular technology will follow the same pattern, moving from the lab and into the basic operation of the corporation itself. Chris Meyer and Stan Davis are our guides in understanding this new future. They show that not only biological systems evolve. The rules of evolution help explain the process of change in biology, business, and the economy, thereby providing a management guide to the business world around the corner. It’s Alive is not science fiction or futurism. It bases its insights and predictions on the impact the molecular economy is already having in such diverse business environments as manufacturing, financial services, and energy. Through in-depth case studies of Capital One Financial, the U.S. Marine Corps, British Petroleum, and the biotech firm Maxygen, Meyer and Davis show how adaptive behavior works in the real world. As the rules of evolution combine with the connected economy, our business world will become unpredictable, volatile, and continually adaptive—in other words, alive. Also available as an eBook.

A Washington Post Notable Nonfiction Book for 2011 With the British Industrial Revolution, part of the world's population started to experience extraordinary economic growth—leading to enormous gaps in wealth and living standards between the industrialized West and the rest of the world. This pattern of divergence reversed after World War II, and now we are midway through a century of high and accelerating growth in the developing world and a new convergence with the advanced countries—a trend that is set to reshape the world. Michael Spence, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, explains what happened to cause this dramatic shift in the prospects of the five billion people who live in developing countries. The growth rates are extraordinary, and continuing them presents unprecedented challenges in governance, international coordination, and ecological sustainability. The implications for those living in the advanced countries are great but little understood. Spence clearly and boldly describes what's at stake for all of us as he looks ahead to how the global economy will develop over the next fifty years. The Next Convergence is certain to spark a heated debate how best to move forward in the post-crisis period and reset the balance between national and international economic interests, and short-term fixes and long-term sustainability.

The conventional wisdom on how technology will change the future is wrong. Mark Mills lays out a radically different and optimistic vision for what’s really coming. The mainstream forecasts fall into three camps. One considers today as the “new normal,” where ordering a ride or food on a smartphone or trading in bitcoins is as good as it’s going to get. Another foresees a dystopian era of widespread, digitally driven job- and business-destruction. A third believes that the only technological revolution that matters will be found with renewable energy and electric cars. But according to Mills, a convergence of technologies will instead drive an economic boom over the coming decade, one that historians will characterize as the “Roaring 2020s.” It will come not from any single big invention, but from the confluence of radical advances in three primary technology domains: microprocessors, materials, and machines. Microprocessors are increasingly embedded in everything. Materials, from which everything is built, are emerging with novel, almost magical capabilities. And machines, which make and move all manner of stuff, are undergoing a complementary transformation. Accelerating and enabling all of this is the Cloud, history’s biggest infrastructure, which is itself based on the building blocks of next-generation microprocessors and artificial intelligence. We’ve seen this pattern before. The technological revolution that drove the great economic expansion of the twentieth century can be traced to a similar confluence, one that was first visible in the 1920s: a new information infrastructure (telephony), new machines (cars and power plants), and new materials (plastics and pharmaceuticals). Single inventions don’t drive great, long-cycle booms. It always takes convergent revolutions in technology’s three core spheres—information, materials, and machines. Over history, that’s only happened a few times. We have wrung much magic from the technologies that fueled the last long boom. But the great convergence now underway will ignite the 2020s. And this time, unlike any previous historical epoch, we have the Cloud amplifying everything. The next long boom starts now.

Provides a critical exploration of Mircea Eliade's notion of the sacred by referencing the work of Bernard Lonergan.

Set during one of the richest, most vibrant eras in American history, this Jazz Age novel of illusion, suspense, and forgotten pasts is perfect for fans of The Magician’s Lie. Wren Lockhart, apprentice to master illusionist Harry Houdini, uses life on a vaudeville stage to escape the pain of her past. She continues her career of illusion after her mentor’s death, intent on burying her true identity. But when a rival performer’s act goes tragically wrong, the newly formed FBI calls on Wren to speak the truth—and reveal her real name to the world. She transfers her skills for misdirection from the stage to the back halls of vaudeville, as she finds herself the unlikely partner in the FBI’s investigation. All the while Houdini’s words echo in her mind: Whatever occurs, the crowd must believe it’s what you meant to happen. She knows that if anyone digs too deep, secrets long kept hidden may find their way to the surface—and shatter her carefully controlled world. “Prepare to be amazed by The Illusionist's Apprentice. Wren Lockhart, the talented magician at the heart of Kristy Cambron’s spellbinding tale of Jazz Age Boston, is the fierce, brilliant, guarded headliner you’ve been waiting for. This novel will have your pulse pounding and your mind racing to keep up with reversals, betrayals, and surprises from the first page to the last. Like her characters, Cambron works magic so compelling and persuasive, she deserves a standing ovation.” —Greer Macallister, USA TODAY bestselling author Historical fiction with a dash of suspense Stand-alone novel Book length: 99,000 words Includes discussion questions for book clubs

What in the world happened in 1844? Followers of William Miller and the Millerite movement expected the Advent, the Second Coming of Jesus, in 1844. When the Advent did not happen as expected, the Great Disappointment ensued. Miller was wrong. But was he? Did the spirit of Christ return in 1844 in the Middle East? The dawn of God’s Prophets of today’s major religions had all arisen in the East. After the Great Disappointment, the Millerite movement splintered into many Adventist sects, and the history of the three remaining today––the Advent Christian Church, the Church of God (Seventh-day), and the Seventh-day Adventist Church––is given. In the East, the year 1844 saw the emergence of the Báb, the Herald of Bahá’u’lláh, and the Bábí movement, and then the emergence of Bahá’u’lláh, the Prophet of the Baha'i Faith. These events are likewise presented. Miller followed biblical guidance as best he could, and he may well have been part of God’s plan in the nineteenth century. Miller and other Adventist Bible scholars did accurately pinpoint the year 1844, but events unfolded a world away in Persia and they had no inkling of them. Today the world suffers increasingly from the divisive forces of strife and intolerance, armed with strident ideologies and weapons that could kill countless millions of people. What is the destiny of our global civilization? Has divine light once again risen from the East for our day? Explore the prophecies of Daniel and follow the events in nineteenth century East and West to an amazing conclusion that will affect everyone.