Could the most far-sighted contemporary of Richard III have imagined the late 20th century world, five hundred years in the future? That's the grand predictive task that Adrian Berry sets for himself in this persuasive, playful, but fundamentally passionate book. With projections based on current research information technology, agriculture, economics, and other sciences, Berry gives us an imaginative and wide-ranging look at the amazing possibilities of life in the next five centuries. Considering some of the more remarkable contemporary events and developments - artificial intelligence, space exploration, global warming - Berry shapes a singular vision of the future in which progress is motivated primarily by increasing human need. He predicts that the next 500 years will see intensive farming of the seas, storage of human personalities on computer disks for retrieval after death, super-intelligent robots that may replace human beings, another Ice Age, colonization of the Moon and Mars, starships capable of traveling at speeds of millions of miles per hour, and the world's ever-increasing growth of wealth. Written with the vividness and detail of science fiction, Berry reminds us that much of what we take for granted would have been inconceivable a few generations ago. Berry is the science correspondent for the Daily Telegraph and writes a regular column for Astronomy Now magazine. This is not a Nostradamus book of predictions but an extrapolation of scientific fact. Stimulating and thought-provoking, it is divided into two sections: the future on earth and the future in space. Perhaps Berry's most unsettling prediction is the storage of human personalities on computer disk for retrieval after death. He also firmly believes that space?the Moon and Mars?will be settled by private industry and not by government-sponsored programs. Judging by the number of people who have inquired about my review copy, there is considerable interest in the future?a future that many of us will not live long enough to see. Four appendixes, a glossary, informative footnotes, and substantial notes and references round out this well-written tome. Recommended for public libraries and academic libraries that collect popular science works.?James Olson, Northeastern Illinois University Lib., Chicago Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.