In Pulse, Robert Frenay details the coming world of
• emotional computers
• ships that swim like fish
• hard, soft, and wet artificial life
• money that mimics the energy flows in nature
• evolution at warp speed
And these are not blue-sky dreams. By using hundreds of vivid and concrete examples of cutting-edge work, Frenay showcases the brilliant innovations and often colorful personalities now giving birth to a radical new future. Along the way, he also offers thoughtful conclusions on the promises—and dangers—of our transformation to the next great phase of “human cultural evolution.”
Customer Reviews
Futurist speculation based on the metaphors of ecosystems and the human brain:
This sprawling and fascinating book explores biology, technology, agriculture, neurology and economics, among other disciplines. It contends that systems and ways of thinking based on the machine age must and will change in light of new discoveries in biology. Robert Frenay provides prodigious research and some impressive reporting. One caveat: His discussion of economics and the monetary system seems to be based on somewhat arguable information about the workings of the Federal Reserve and the Eurodollar market. The author’s passion for the subject of biology is clear, and we find that much of what he says is interesting. The book is not so much a narrative as a catalogue of facts, experiments and initiatives in various fields, with an accompanying argument against today’s corporations and monetary systems that will challenge executives and economists.
a good tech reviewer with a zealot’s politics:
Frenay is an excellent writer when it comes to his coverage of technology and his linking of the philosophy behind complexity to other fields, but he takes a polemic view of politics devoting nearly 300 pages to far leftist rhetoric that isn’t popular even in Europe. This book would have been better marketed as a treatise on politics and also Frenay would have been better recommending the anti-wto, anti-corporate, media which he heavily qoutes from than trying to summarize and paraphrase it. The first 150 pages are nice and some of the better tech reporting I can think of, the rest is interspersed with good ideas, but depicted in skewed arguements with few accurate summaries of the opposition and often a looping repetitive prose that seems more like an attempt of the author to convince himself of the validity of his views than a proper arguement. Frenay quite rightly notes the WTO’s rules are universal and including human and environmental rights would mean everyone would be on the same playing field and the world shouldering environmental and moral costs they’d probably be more than happy to pay also seems like a good idea along with many of Frenay’s numerous political points, however he then goes on to espouse Europe as a norm to emulate and while Europe has high GDPs and Denmark is very environmental, it’s important to remember many of the problems Frenay is rallying against affect European business and society too, while most American businesses obey UN human rights charters for instance, Ikea has refuysed all human rights inspections, etc. It’s not a balanced arguement, but it catches many of the world’s major problems quite easily.
Doesn’t know what he’s talking about:
Although this book does explain some things well in basic terms there is a serious problem in that the author doesn’t know what he’s talking about. I found his basic wrap-up of AI worthwhile because it’s a subject that no one seems to be able to explain, but when he tries to do details he’s plain wrong. He spends a lot of time on parallel computers which he calls pdp and he bunches in with AI and neural nets. Most parallel computing is simply dividing up large problems into identical smaller problems which is not AI. He gives all sorts of examples of systems that use parallel computers but most of them are not AI either. Neural nets in terms of computing are math rather than biology.
inspiring & thorough, so far:
more exhaustive and more exciting read than any book on the subject of biology and complexity. esp, it can play a role of a guide for those who are seriously interested in those subjects. also, it shed an insight on what’ll be the next new tool for advancing the knowledge in a variety of academic disciplines.
A type of ‘new biology’ in which human systems and machines meld to form new possibilities:
Can genes challenge machines? Author Robert Frenay is a former contributing editor of Audubon magazine and in PULSE: THE COMING OF AGE OF SYSTEMS AND MACHINES INSPIRED BY LIVING THINGS, he charts the shift from machines to biology bolstered by computers: a type of ‘new biology’ in which human systems and machines meld to form new possibilities. From robotics to materials science he considers industrial ecosystems in which waste products from manufacturing become the new materials for another endeavor, considering the changing relationships between mechanism and biology in the process. Supporting these observations and contentions is a history of such relationships and their changes, areas in which biology can be seen at work, interviews with scientists and researchers, and observations of mechanisms actually produced which support his positive visions of future industrial endeavors. His single idea comes from a researcher’s perspective and reflects on the cultural philosophy and pressures shaping technological change.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
