Will Technology Kill Humanity?

Will Technology Kill Humanity?

Species don’t hang around forever. Homo sapiens has already notched up a mind-boggling 200,000 years on Earth. Is the end nigh? The geological statistics suggest not – the average mammal species celebrates its millionth birthday long before it begins to slip towards oblivion. But we are no average species, and there has long been a niggling fear that we have put ourselves on the fast track to self-annihilation. The Fate of the Species purposefully scratches that itch. Here, Fred Guterl, executive editor of Scientific American, explores in stark detail some of the many ways in which our technological success could sow the seeds of our destruction. Guterl assumes the role of unapologetic pessimist well, walking us through a series of potential catastrophes in neat and punchy prose. It is compelling and unnerving reading.