Abstract

The Dark Side of Technology is aimed at a mass market of intelligent people who are concerned about human progress, interested or amused by many of the unexpected consequences of technological advance, and probably unaware of the dangers which we are accruing for ourselves. Although the book spans a very wide spectrum of ideas, no previous scientific knowledge is required. Other books have focussed on different topic areas, but none have previously presented the generality of the patterns across medicine to agriculture, electronics, communications, a global economy and a burgeoning population. Technology invariably advances faster than our understanding of side effects, or our realisation that we have become vulnerable to natural events that could eliminate advanced nations, nor that mutagenic changes may not be apparent for one or two generations. This is therefore both an alarm call and a guide to survival.