Through essays, poetry, stories, and images, writers and artists
offer their perceptions of how we fit into the world and where we
might be headed. The theory of evolution connects us to the natural
world, explaining how and why we are a part of nature. The idea of
progress, on the other hand, projects a destination. "If nature can
supply wonderfully elegant solutions to the problem of survival by
trying out test models derived solely by chance, then surely it's
possible for us to find our way forward," write David Rothenberg
and Wandee Pryor, setting the terms of the discussion. But is
society going somewhere in particular? Is nature improving? The
stories, poems, essays, and artwork in Writing the Future examine
the concepts of evolution and progress through a variety of
artistic and scientific lenses and speculate on how these ideas can
help us appreciate our place in the world. The first section of the
book, "Science, Mustard, Moths," looks at evolution's founding
concepts and personalities, and includes Theodore Roszak's
challenge to a Darwinian orthodoxy, which he traces back to another
pioneering theorist, Alfred Russel Wallace. The second section,
"Steps from the Cave," focuses on human change, and features Ellen
Dissanayake's unusual look at prehistoric cave paintings in France,
poetry by John Canaday, and a richly layered short story by Floyd
Skloot. The third section, "Places in Time," moves outward to
examine the world evolving and includes a reminiscence by Leslie
Van Gelder of growing up "in the church of Darwin" and Eva
Salzman's account of an infinitely reverberating walk through a
Long Island neighborhood. In the fourth section, "Getting to the
Future," the writers consider different manifestations of progress:
Katherine Creed Page examines a "future perfect" through
reproductive technology, Kevin Warwick reports on linking his
nervous system to a computer by means of a small electronic circuit
implanted under his skin, and Joan Maloof meditates on our possible
future "de-evolution"-an abdication of our dominating role and
gradual return to nature-which brings the book full circle.
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