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Age of discovery : navigating the risks and rewards of our new renaissance  Cover Image Book Book

Age of discovery : navigating the risks and rewards of our new renaissance

Goldin, Ian 1955- (author.). Kutarna, Chris, (author.).

Summary: The present is a contest between the bright and dark sides of discovery. To avoid being torn apart by its stresses, we need to recognize the fact - and gain courage and wisdom from the past. Now is the best moment in history to be alive, but we have never felt more anxious or divided. Human health, aggregate wealth and education are flourishing. Scientific discovery is racing forward. But the same global flows of trade, capital, people and ideas that make gains possible for some people deliver big losses to others - and make us all more vulnerable to one another. Business and science are working giant revolutions upon our societies, but our politics and institutions evolve at a much slower pace. In a moment when everyone ought to be celebrating giant global gains, many of us are righteously angry at being left out and stressed about where we're headed. To make sense of present shocks, we need to step back and recognize: we've been here before. The first Renaissance, the time of Columbus, Copernicus, Gutenberg and others, likewise redrew all maps of the world, democratized communication and sparked a flourishing of creative achievement. But their world also grappled with the same dark side of rapid change: social division, political extremism, insecurity, pandemics and other unintended consequences of discovery. Now is the second Renaissance. We can still flourish - if we learn from the first.

Record details

  • ISBN: 9781250085092
  • ISBN: 1250085098
  • Physical Description: print
    xiv, 304 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm
  • Edition: First edition.
  • Publisher: New York : St. Martin's Press, 2016.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Formatted Contents Note: To flounder or flourish? -- Part I. The facts of a renaissance age -- The new world -- New tangles -- Vitruvian man -- Part II. Flourishing genius -- Copernican revolutions -- Cathedrals, believers and doubt -- Part III. Flourishing risk -- The pox is spreading, Venice is sinking -- Bonfires and belonging -- Part IV. The contest for our future -- David.
Subject: Civilization, Modern -- 21st century
Civilization, Modern -- 21st century -- Forecasting
Progress -- Forecasting
Renaissance

Available copies

  • 1 of 1 copy available at BC Interlibrary Connect. (Show)
  • 1 of 1 copy available at Prince Rupert Library.

Holds

  • 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Show Only Available Copies
Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Holdable? Status Due Date
Prince Rupert Library 909.82 Gold (Text) 33294001988559 Adult Non-Fiction Volume hold Available -

Summary: The present is a contest between the bright and dark sides of discovery. To avoid being torn apart by its stresses, we need to recognize the fact - and gain courage and wisdom from the past. Now is the best moment in history to be alive, but we have never felt more anxious or divided. Human health, aggregate wealth and education are flourishing. Scientific discovery is racing forward. But the same global flows of trade, capital, people and ideas that make gains possible for some people deliver big losses to others - and make us all more vulnerable to one another. Business and science are working giant revolutions upon our societies, but our politics and institutions evolve at a much slower pace. In a moment when everyone ought to be celebrating giant global gains, many of us are righteously angry at being left out and stressed about where we're headed. To make sense of present shocks, we need to step back and recognize: we've been here before. The first Renaissance, the time of Columbus, Copernicus, Gutenberg and others, likewise redrew all maps of the world, democratized communication and sparked a flourishing of creative achievement. But their world also grappled with the same dark side of rapid change: social division, political extremism, insecurity, pandemics and other unintended consequences of discovery. Now is the second Renaissance. We can still flourish - if we learn from the first.

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