100 YEARS TO EXTINCTION: The Tyranny of Technology and the Fight for a Better Future – Peter Solomon

BOOK REVIEW by Nancy Pearlman

Peter Solomon is a scientist, author, and entrepreneur who is devoted to passing on his love for wonderful science stories to the younger generation and older audiences as well through the media they like best. Thus, he has written the novel: One Hundred Years to Extinction which comes after his previous books that include The Stardust Mystery and The Race to the Big Bang. The characters in the stories, games and videos were inspired by his grandchildren. The author and I both believe that astrophysicist Stephen Hawking’s dire prediction of human extinction on Planet Earth by 2117 may be right. As he states: “The rapid pace of science and technology has far outrun our civilization’s social and political capabilities to control them, making for an uncertain future. The 18th and 19th centuries’ ingenious fossil fuel technology produced today’s global warming crisis. The 20th century’s nuclear technology created atomic weapons. The 21st century’s dangers are from AI, genetic engineering, social media, and plastic pollution.” As a Pantheist I am committed to confront these technological threats. Normally I read non-fiction but it was fun to read a fiction account of what is happening and what might be done. As he states: “It is time to Make Earth Great Again.” Remember, the Doomsday Clock which has moved from seven minutes to midnight in 1947 is just 90 seconds today. My radio interview with him, show number 2471, can be heard on YouTube: Environmental Directions with Nancy Pearlman: https://youtu.be/C7UYXttaYgo?si=IAD6Qn_vlU9-ePKx