Kagan explores the causes of war by looking at specific examples: The
Peloponnesian War, the Second Punic War, the First and Second World Wars
and a war that didn't happen, the Cuban Missile Crisis. Includes a well-written
critique of the diplomatic strategy of appeasement.
Good near-future "hard" science fiction,with a focus on some key transhumanist
technologies: cryonics, the "hypernet", VR and nanotechnology. Nagata's main
character is a woman with believable motivations and emotional texture.
Recommended.
Canadian-born journalist Jan Wong's witty and poignant personal account of
her experiences in China, from her days as one of the first foreign students
at Beijing University during the later stages of the Cultural Revolution
to her coverage of the reforms since then as a newspaper
correspondent. This book makes me nostalgic for a China I barely knew,
but loved in a strange way.
A "techno-thriller" murder mystery based on two transhumanist technologies,
cryonics and uploading. I was impatient with James' "micro-narrative"
style and felt there was plenty enough material for a story with just one
of the two technologies he discusses. Frustrating because I've had an idea
for a story with some similar elements, but a very different line through
them.
Vinge's seminal sf novel of transhumanist technology and the Singularity.
If you read no other work of fiction from the basic Extropians bibliography,
it should be this book, as it best expresses the core concepts and values
shared by that group. While the plot gets pretty stretched in places, the
sheer scope of ideas Vinge packs into the book seems to justify the ...
elasticity.
An anthology of essays and short stories about
molecular nanotechnology ("MNT").
Contains the visionary story Blood Music by Greg Bear, which was written
in 1983 before Engines of Creation and therefore (in my opinion) earns
Bear credit as an independent "inventor" of MNT. Marc Stiegler's story, The
Gentle Seduction, is worthwhile as a step-by-step depiction of transhumanist
technology. Good book; recommended for those wishing to explore the concept
of MNT through fiction and easily-digested essays.
Friedman employs his informal and witty style to walk the reader through
"Economics 101" using, as the title suggests, examples from everyday life.
Not a "radical" book like The Machinery of Freedom, Hidden Order
defends the free market using homespun wisdom, illustrated with the basic
tools of technical economics.
A book oft-cited as a "basic text" of modern anarcho-capitalist legal thinking
and worth its reputation. It is insightful and witty. If you're wondering,
"what are all these anarchist crazies on the Web talking about?" you should
read this short book.
Another much-discussed book: Science fiction taking some of the issues and
problems of "mind uploading" head-on and hitting the mark a lot of the time.
Like Neal Stephenson's Diamond Age, though, it has a disappointingly
poorly-thought-out ending and, in addition, could have been edited better.
Kaiser Bill is a very bad boy; why monarchy is a bad idea; the first arms
race of the 20th century; very entertaining example of history as a series
of interlocking biographical sketches
More literature than science; a collection of clinical "cases" from Sacks'
practice as a neuropsychiatrist; interesting exploration of the workings
of the mind in anecdotal form.
First of three novels about the colonization and terraforming of Mars; very
good descriptions of the Martian surface as it is transformed in the terraforming
process; Robinson misses the boat on nanotech.
Excellent novel set in the period of rapid social change wrought by
first-generation nanotech; interesting characters; unfortunate tendancy (like
much science fiction) to do too much; bad deus ex machina ending;
overall very good sci-fi novel
Latest in the entertaining series of short stories and novellas set in
Larry
Niven's future-history; contains a good story about the first contact
with the "Outsdiers"
