The Shattered Self: The End of Natural Evolution

By Pierre Baldi

Book Overview

Throughout history, we have selected and manipulated the genomes of plants, animals, and even ourselves. Until now, however, such control could be exerted only at the level of the entire organism. Scientific and technological advances now allow us to manipulate genomes directly at the level of single genes and their constituents, with a speed and precision that far exceed what natural evolution has been able to achieve over the past 3.5 billion years. These advances open new possibilities for medicine, biotechnology, and society as a whole. We already have in vitro fertilization and animal cloning; in the future human cloning and the exploitation of embryonic stem cells, among other capabilities, may be routine. At the same time, we are developing machines that will surpass the human brain in raw computing power and building an interconnected world of information-processing devices that makes science fiction pale in comparison. In this book Baldi explores what it is about these phenomena that makes us so uneasy-the shattering of the human self as we know it.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0262025027
• ISBN13: 9780262025027
• Release Date: April 2001
• Publisher: MIT Press (MA)
• Length: 259 Pages
• Weight: 1.22 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.3" x 9.3"