My Review of "Age of Discovery"

5 out of 5 stars.....

A must read! The authors, Ian Goldin and Chris Kutarna, brilliantly describe in detail how we are in a new Renaissance, starting in 1990, much like the original one of 1450-1550, initially centered around Florence and Venice, Italy.

A Renaissance, because it affects things worldwide, even seeing parallels with Gutenberg and Zuckerberg, both the printing press and digitization freeing speech. And Columbus discovering the new world with the falling of the Berlin Wall, spreading culture.

This is the most prosperous time in history (% above poverty), literate (estimated more alive today with college degrees than all before 1980), longest average life expectancy, most peaceful (% dying from war), due mostly from spreading of democracy and trade, etc.

And with both come great income inequality and great resistance from established thoughts, seeing parallels between Copernicus' heliocentric proof and today's scientists' proof of climate change. And back then, the Inquisition, now al Qaeda and ISIS, also here in the US, religion based resistance to same sex marriage, transgender civil rights and Planned Parenthood.

So, with all these advancements, come massive job losses and other distresses. The book even uses the Renaissance's Michelangelo's sculpture of David as both an example and metaphor for the advanced skills of a Renaissance versus the dullard brutish Golliath, culminating in our choices now, which will we choose.

The book goes into how there has been a paradigm shift from cause and effect to quantum superposition. Also, nanotechnology and its future are mentioned. Complexity is covered, how it advanced finance, yet also brought new risks.

Etc,etc.

I strongly recommend the book.