Armageddon Science
The Science of Mass Destruction
by Brian Clegg
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Armageddon Science
Many scientific endeavors pose a measurable and serious risk for the future of our species. In Armageddon Science, Brian Clegg assesses a range of dangers that a variety of these pursuits pose to humanity. In a series of gripping chapters, Clegg discusses:
• Nuclear devastation. More than six decades after the Manhattan Project, the threat of nuclear attack looms as largely as ever, as terrorists and rogue states seek ways to obtain weapons-grade uranium and create and detonate bombs in populated areas.
• Global warming. Despite ongoing controversy, the science behind the idea that human activity is warming the globe is compelling. Runaway climate change could melt the poles and devastate Earth’s coastlines, triggering worldwide chaos.
• Biohazards. Although the creation of biological weapons is outlawed in most countries, this doesn’t stop research on deadly bacteriological and viral agents. Research labs have the potential to release toxic and fatal agents that could encircle the globe.
• Cyberattacks. Turning the operation of much of modern life over to computers has a deadly downside. A truly killer computer virus could paralyze a great number of electronic systems, including those that store precious data and ensure our safety.
Other dangers discussed by Clegg in these pages are more speculative, but no less deadly if they ever should turn into reality. For example, nanotechnology holds the potential to build tiny machines that can perform tasks such as constructing various objects atom by atom. Yet if such machines learn to replicate themselves, there is the danger of the world being overrun by a “gray goo” consisting of trillions of tiny machines.
Armageddon Science offers an objective look at the scary side of the scientific pursuit.
Hardcover : 320 pages
Publisher: St. Martins Press, LLC ( October 07, 2010 )
Item #: 13-153987
ISBN: 9780312598945
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 8.25 inches
Product Weight: 14.0 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
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