The Parallel Bang

by Jack Bacon, Paul C.W. Davies (Preface)

BANG! Did you see it coming? More than six times as many college graduates are emerging this year than 100 years ago. Millions of them are coming, ready to solve today's problems. In the last decade, we've tripled our knowledge of astronomy, pinpointed the age and size of the universe, counted its galaxies, and found the theory that will link all known physics of the universe. We've found intriguing evidence that we are not alone. We've found ten times as many planets in around other star systems as we have found in our own solar system, and we know it's just the tip of the iceberg. We've decoded our genome. We've doubled our life expectancy. We've changed the workforce and the workweek. We've engineered machines a few atoms in size. From a standing start of zero percent of the US population in 1980 to 67% today, average citizens are now are wired to the internet, in communication with the rest of the world, keeping track of stocks and finding lost friends from decades past. The volume of digital data surpassed the volume of television and telephone data just a few years ago. Meanwhile, every word in every book in most of the world's libraries will be available online (and instantly searchable!) in just a few hundred more days, in every language.

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Bob Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! Dr. Bacon, scientist, NASA engineer, futurist, optimist and author, explores the underlying factors that are fueling the explosion of knowledge that has left most of reeling. The Parallel Bang refers to Jack's view that the mind, which contains and manipulates a parallel model of the physical universe, is exploding at rates comparable to the original growth of the physical universe.

He's optimistic about the future, but is realistic about the amount of change coming at us.

Fascinating, full of facts, a great 10 page synopsis of the state of our scientific knowledge.

I met Jack in 2007 - he was a keynote speaker at the APICS Conference that year. I read the book then, loved it and decided to read it again this week. Well worth a second read!

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but the presentation was a bit boring for me.

[Jon D Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

signed copy