The Next Fifty Years cover art

The Next Fifty Years

Science in the First Half of the Twenty-First Century

 Preview
Subscribe now Free with 30-day trial
Offer ends on 14 April, 2026 at 23:59.
Prime logo
Pay ₹5/month for 2 months and ₹199/month after 2 months, Cancel anytime. Offer ends on 14 April 2026 at 23:59. Take this offer!
1 credit a month to use on any title to download and keep.
Listen to anything from the Plus Catalogue—thousands of Audible Originals, podcasts and audiobooks.
Download titles to your library and listen offline.
1 credit a month to use on any title to download and keep
Listen to anything from the Plus Catalogue—thousands of Audible Originals, podcasts and audiobooks
Download titles to your library and listen offline
₹199 per month after 30-day trial. Cancel anytime.

The Next Fifty Years

Written by: John Brockman, Editor
Narrated by: Henry Leyva, Jennifer Wiltsie
Subscribe now Free with 30-day trial

Pay ₹5/month for 2 months and ₹199/month after 2 months, Cancel anytime. Offer ends on 14 April 2026 at 23:59.

₹199 per month after 30-day trial. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for ₹649.64

Buy Now for ₹649.64

LIMITED TIME OFFER | Get 2 Months for ₹5/month

About this listen

 A brilliant ensemble of the world's most visionary scientists provides 25 original never-before-published essays about the advances in science and technology that we may see within our lifetimes.
  • Theoretical physicist and best selling author Paul Davies examines the likelihood that by the year 2050 we will be able to establish a continuing human presence on Mars.
  • Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi investigates the ramifications of engineering high-IQ, genetically happy babies.
  • Psychiatrist Nancy Etcoff explains current research into the creation of emotion-sensing jewelry that could gauge our moods and tell us when to take an anti-depressant pill.
  • Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins explores the probability that we will soon be able to obtain a genome printout that predicts our natural end for the same cost as a chest x-ray. (Will we want to read it? And will insurance companies and governments have access to it?)

    This fascinating and unprecedented book explores not only the practical possibilities of the near future, but also the social and political ramifications of the developments of the strange new world to come.

    Includes original essays by: Lee Smolin, Martin Rees, Ian Stewart, Brian Goodwin, Marc D. Hauser, Alison Gopnik, Paul Bloom, Geoffrey Miller, Robert M. Sapolsky, Steven Strogatz, Stuart Kauffman, John H. Holland, Rodney Brooks, Peter Atkins, Roger C. Schank, Jaron Lanier, David Gelernter, Joseph LeDoux, Judith Rich Harris, Samuel Barondes, and Paul W. Ewald.

    The Next Fifty Years is also available in print from Vintage.

Executive Producer: Laura Wilson
Producer: Paul Ruben
Original jacket design: Mark Melnick
Original jacket photograph: ©NASA/Stone/Getty Images
©2002 Vintage Books
(P)2002 Random House, Inc. Biological Sciences Science

Critic Reviews

"The intellectual adventures collected here point to a future that is dazzlingly bright." (Publishers Weekly)
"These science-authors, many premiere in their field, are clear, provocative, and sure to interest science readers." (Booklist)
No reviews yet