The Age of Spiritual Machines by Ray Kurzweil

Disturbing the Universe by Freeman Dyson

Freeman Dyson is one of the foremost thinkers of our time. Freeman Dyson brought togther the diverse theories of Quantum Chromodynamics, which had been developed by Richard Feynmann, Julian Schwinger, and Shinichiro Tomonaga.

In this book, Dyson writes of his friendship with Robert Oppenheimer and Richard Feynmann.

Read the chapter entitled Of Clones and Clades for a most provocative essay.

Engines of Creation by Eric Drexler

Engines of Creation is Eric Drexler's popular exposition of the nascent area of nano-technology.

Drexler posits that instead of manufacturing things by the conventional means we know such as drilling, milling, depositing, and so on, we will be able to construct things atom by atom, at the molecular level.

Engines of Creation explores the technological—and more importantly—the sociological impacts of this new way of manufacturing.

Eric Drexler founded the Foresight Institute to act as a clearing house for investigations into nanotechnology, molecular manufacturing, and the social and economic impacts of these new technologies..

From Eros To Gaia by Freeman Dyson

Great Mambo Chicken And the Transhuman Condition by Ed Regis

Ed Regis paints a fascinating picture of what he calls Fin de Siecle Hubristic Mania. Despite its odd title, this book is a collection of ideas from far-out thinkers of where the human race could end up in the quite near future.

You'll read ideas from Robert Forward on issues such as laser light sails and antigravity; Carolyn and Keith Henson question how they'll organise the Party at the Edge; Hans Moravec discusses downloading your consciousness into computers; Eric Drexler discusses nanotechnology; and many more.

Infinite In All Directions by Freeman Dyson

The Millennial Project by Marshall T. Savage

Subtitled How to Colonise the Galaxy in Eight Easy Stages, The Millennial Project describes how to go from floating islands in the oceans (Aquarius) via horizontal takeoff laser powered shuttles (the Bifrost Bridge) to set up space stations (Asgard), and eventually to colonise the entire galaxy.

Nanotechnology by Crandall and Lewis

Where Eric Drexler's Engines of Creation is a more popular exposition of the concepts of nano-technology, this book is more scientific and serious, with essays by many practitioners in the field.

One of the essays in this book is the now famous Richard Feynman lecture titled Plenty of Room at the Bottom.

The Quest for Immortality by S. Jay Olshansky and Bruce Carnes

Professors Olshansky and Carnes state that science is making enormous strides in research into aging and the treatment of diseases that once were incurable. But they argue that “Much of the news that reaches us is hype”. The Quest for Immortality clears up the differences between science and pseudo-science. This book is one of a number of skeptical views of borderland science.

The last four pages of The Quest for Immortality contain a delightful concluding essay entitled Our Personal Recipe for Health and Longevity. Push the link button to read the essay.

Unbounding the Future: The Nanotechnology Revolution by Eric Drexler, Chris Peterson, and Gayle Pergamit

The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins

Engines of Tomorrow: How the World's Best Companies Are Using Their Research Labs to Win the Future by Robert Buderi

In Engines of Tomorrow, Robert Buderi writes a wonderful narrative, very much in the style of James Burke in Connections. Buderi makes a good case, re-inforced by Nobel Prize winner Robert Solow, that Research and Development activities are what actually drive the increase in capital wealth over long periods.

Voodoo Science: The Road from Foolishness to Fraud by Robert Park

The Simple Science of Flight by Henk Tennekes

Understanding Flight by David F. Anderson, and Scott Eberhardt

The authors provide one cogent item of advice very early in the book: Forget Bernoulli! They go on to explain that traditional ideas of how air moving over surfaces generates lift, and go on to demonstrate that the Coanda Effect—not the Bernoulli Effect—is what actually generates lift, by diverting air downwards.

Nano: The Emerging Science of Nanotechnology: Remaking the World—Molecule by Molecule by Ed Regis