Flash Forward

Nora Savage obtained her bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering in 1992 from Prairie View A&M University, Texas. She received two master’s degrees (in environmental engineering and environmental science) from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1995 and a doctorate in environmental science from the same institution in 2000. Nora has worked for the U.S. federal government for over 15 years. In this capacity she has served the environmental nanotechnology research community through her contributions to strategic research direction. She has authored and coauthored numerous articles on nanotechnology and emerging technologies in leading journals, including the Journal of Nanoparticle Research and Toxicological Sciences. She served as lead editor for the books Emerging Technologies: Socio-Behavioral Life Cycle Approaches and Nanotechnology for Water Applications (now in its second edition) and has contributed chapters to several other books, including The Oxford Handbook of Nanoscience and Technology, vol. 3.Anita Street is an environmental scientist by training. She began her federal career with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), where she spent 18 years working on a variety of issues, including risk assessment, voluntary compliance programs, sustainability, and environmental justice. She spent the latter part of her tenure at EPA (10 years) managing two environmental futures projects devoted to the study of human health and environmental implications of emerging and disruptive technologies. Ms. Street has coedited and coauthored several books and articles on the topics of scenario planning, nanotechnology, converging technologies, and phosphorus depletion. She holds a BS in biological sciences from the University of California at Davis and an MPH in environmental science from Columbia University. She is a native of California and lives in Washington, DC.

Synopsis: Collaboratively compiled and co-edited by environmental scientists Nora Savage and Anita Street, "Flash Forward: A Series of Futuristic Vignettes" contains ten fascinating vignettes by experts in the field that depict future societies and the implications which increasing technological change has on society and the environment. The topics discussed include nanotechnology, medicine, computational science, biotechnology, synthetic biology, and cognitive technology, among others in science. In addition, social norms, attitudes, and policy are also featured. The upshot of this combination is an entertaining, educational, and thought-provoking volume of science based extrapolations.The glimpses into future societies subsequent to the introduction and incorporation of various emerging technologies depict scenarios of how we view ourselves, how we view others, how we are viewed by others, how our surroundings are viewed, how our leaders and political structures are viewed, what our social and behavioral norms are, what our temperament/mood is, and so forth. The introduction features a focused discourse on current trends of the impacts of emerging technologies and the conclusion highlights where society should go from here. Critique: Thoroughly 'reader friendly' in tone, commentary, organization and presentation, "Flash Forward: A Series of Futuristic Vignettes" is an informative, thought-provoking, compelling read and will prove to be a critically important addition to both community and academic library collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of students and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Flash Forward: A Series of Futuristic Vignettes" is also available in a Kindle format. – Susan Bethany, Reviewer’s Bookshelf Magazine

• Introduction. Ahead of Time. Annual Meeting. California Dreamin’. Intelligence on Earth? Manipulations at the Nanoscale. Message to Earth. The Failed Life of Reverend Bayes. Arachnophobia. Are Ye Gods? The Path.