The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology by Ray Kurzweil

Anybody who loves science and technology will love this book. The book is about how technology will involve during the next one hundred years, not at a constant, linear rate, but as a double exponential rate. Ray provides many data and examples of this theory, and explains how the current research done by todays scientists and engineers will change the world more quickly than most people realize.

The book focuses on three areas of science and technology: genetics, nanotechnology, and artificial intelligence. Advancements in each this century will bring major changes, including augmented our intelligence and replacing all of our organs so we could essentially live forever. Machines will become more intelligent than us, for when we create the first machine that can produce a machine smarter than itself, the cycle will iterate at an astonishing rate and machine intelligence will skyrocket past human intelligence. All of these future technologies he describes may seem bizarre, but keep in mind the progress of each one has already begun today.

This book also contains a wealth of online references which I find very interesting and useful. As with any book, it should be regarded with great skepticism. For one thing, we may discover fundamental limits that stop our progressions in a particular area of research, or Ray Kurzweil may underestimate the complexities and challenges of the technologies he wrote about. This book was entertaining. The advancements mentioned are possible but not definite. I recommend this book for every technology lover and for those who are interested in the current research areas of science and technology companies and universities.