Rough Guide to the Future
My biggest recent effort went into The Rough Guide to the Future, published in 2010. I still maintain a blog tied to that project, where you can find speaking dates and occasional thoughts about futures work which didn't find their way intothe bookThe book has had a few gratifying responses. It was shortlisted for the Winton Royal Society science book prize last year. It was also chosen by Professor Rod Smith, President of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, as his "book of the year" for 2011. And - one I'd never have thought of - it was selected by my old university department at UCL as their "one book", which all incomng undergraduates were urged to read for the start of the current session. Others are encouraged to follow suit!
Here are few reviewers' comments:
“A thought-provoking and refreshingly optimistic view of the future across the whole range of the sciences, with a highly original style of brief and multi-focused presentations, that sets it apart from conventional scientific writing.“ Judges’ comment, Royal Society Book Prize shortlist.
“Reading this book will definitely make you feel smarter and give you a good basic grounding on the issues that will confront humanity in the decades ahead.” (from Library Thing)
“Turney has clearly done his homework and deftly uses quotes, facts and asides to enliven the text” New Scientist
“as comprehensive an analysis of forecast data and topical opinion that you’re likely to find, and one I heartily recommend.” Communicatescience.com/
“really very good”. Alex Evans, www.globaldashboard.org/
“Erudite, pithy, and frequently funny. A tour de force.” Five star review on Amazon UK
“Jon Turney’s writing … is great, wonderfully readable and well crafted” www.popularscience.co.uk/
“As a general introduction to thinking about the future—one which treats the domain of inquiry as a series of specific dimensions of the future, such as energy, population, food supply, water, health, and ecology/biodiversity—Turneyʼs book is the best I have ever encountered.” Centerforfutureconsciousness.com/
“an excellent, compelling, accessible overview of futurology that rewards both skimming and deeper reading. Gathering together ideas from many disciplines and opinions from diverse perspectives, he offers a moderate, believable, but still thrilling exploration of what lies ahead.” Mike Treder, Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies.
"This is a wide-ranging and thoroughly researched book, reviewing not just possible futures for the environment, but also medicine, ageing, social changes, warfare and information technology. At times it reads more like the work of a UN committee than a lone science writer". The Guardian
(just to clarify, there was no committee, although I occasionally wished there was...)