Masters of the universe - human mastery of the universe

Reason, Jan, 1998 by Kenneth Silber

Surveying the "quantum future," Kaku assesses a broad range of possibilities for manipulating matter and developing new sources of energy. Electric cars and magnetic-levitation trains are emerging as viable forms of transportation, he argues, and solar power is poised to become a leading energy source. Room-temperature superconductors and microscopic lasers may find numerous industrial applications. Nanotechnology's molecule-sized machines are of uncertain feasibility, Kaku notes, but dust-sized sensors and motors will be used widely in the coming decades. Some other staples of science fiction, such as force fields and portable ray guns, appear to be incompatible with known laws of physics, he adds.

Space technology will make steady, if unspectacular, progress in the next few decades, according to Visions. Kaku is dismissive of the notion of a manned mission to Mars in the early 21st century, basing his argument on exorbitant cost estimates now widely regarded as erroneous. Yet after 2020, he emphasizes, astronomical instruments may be sensitive enough to detect Earth-like planets in other solar systems. The century's latter half may see ambitious efforts to develop fusion-powered interstellar rocket ships. Antimatter engines loom as an intriguing prospect sometime beyond 2100.

Kaku's social and political asides are less imaginative than his technological speculations. He argues, plausibly but predictably, that the economic strength of nations in the 21st century will depend on their technological prowess. In chapters devoted to "second thoughts," he presents grim scenarios of "information ghettos" and bioengineered germ weapons; his solutions are unremarkable generalities about education and international cooperation. Some of Kaku's political pronouncements are mere cliches. Discussing the nation-state's future, he writes, "As John Lennon said in his song 'Imagine,' perhaps it's not hard to imagine a world without nations."

Might a public backlash against technology derail much of the progress forecast in this book? The history of advanced technologies in the 20th century - nuclear energy comes to mind - indicates that not everything that is technically feasible will end up receiving political and social acceptance. Certainly, the 21st century's "choreographers of matter, life, and intelligence" will face their share of protest movements and hostile regulators. Visions, however, has little to say about such matters.

That is unfortunate, since Kaku's own experience might have provided an interesting perspective. A longtime antinuclear activist, he was a leading figure in the 1997 protest campaign against the Cassini space probe, a plutonium-using scientific mission to Saturn. Critics of the anti-Cassini movement, including me, argued that the campaign relied on gross exaggerations of the mission's risks and that the broad opposition to "nukes in space" threatened to cripple space exploration. In addressing the uncertainties of technological change, Kaku the author might have taken some tips from Kaku the activist.