Jason Bradbury

Ray Kurzweil is a brilliant scientist and futurist. His book maps out a startling vision of the fusion of biology (namely us) and technology. It’s a dense read, but it’s not a difficult book to understand because Kurzweil is fond of graphs! His sections on Moore’s Law are fascinating and he makes it clear that, because of the exponential growth in computing power,  those of us who are around for the next fifty years will see Star-Trekian advances in technology. ‘It is reasonable to expect [the] hardware that can emulate human-brain functionality to be available for approximately one thousands dollars by around 2020.’ I just wish it was lighter, so I could carry it with me on the tube! Check out more books from My Library.

In many ways, this book is the research document for the book Max Brooks wrote next ‘World War Z’, which happens to be one of my all time favourite reads. ‘The Zombie Survival Guide’ is perfect public transport fodder. See more in My Library.

I’ve just been to Martha’s Vineyard, where the movie Jaws was filmed. You can see a video of me ’shark hunting’ filed under Dot.Robot. This book, The Swarm is a bit like Jaws, but, as the name suggests, the monsters of the deep in this oceanic thriller move in packs. The book is also a warning, a very convincing projection for a number of ways the natural world might react to what we’re all doing to it. It’s a doorstop of a novel, but it’s an easy and exhilarating read.