Soonish

Soonish is a good overview of cutting-edge technologies, most of which are still in the near future, some of which have made dramatic progress in the last few years (as noted in my comment from earlier!) It's full of the authors' trademark irreverent humor, with cartoons scattered throughout, it's still very much worth reading even if, like me, you get to it late!

(Cross-posted from my website)

I loved this book and all of the comics.

The Weinersmiths have more than a funny name. They are thoughtful, intelligent, AND funny! I literally laughed out loud several times.

Each chapter is divided into three sections: an introduction to the topic; “Where are we now,” which is consistently the meaty section of the chapter; concerns; “How it could change the world;” and a Nota Bene, which is sort of a connected side note narrated by Zach.

My favorite chapters are those dedicated to space, programmable matter, and precision medicine, but I learned from all of them. I really like the idea of having a bucket of nano-particle goo that will shape itself into any object I request. Sort of a T-1000 without the murdery intent. (Yes, “murdery,” not “murderous.” Stupid spell check trying to tell me what to do.)

The conclusion is also loaded with jokes. For example, I learned that scientists most fear the in-word. Included in the conclusion is the graveyard of topics that didn’t make it into the book. Each of those entries is a few pages introducing the topic and an explanation for cutting it. The Nota Bene of the conclusion on mirror organisms is my favorite. Any section that includes this combination of sentences has to be a favorite: “However, one downside was that some eaters of Olestra products experienced an increased rate of (squeamish readers beware) ‘anal oil leakage.’ This being one of the less good leakages, Olestra has largely been shelved.”