"Earth has been around for about 45 million centuries but, according to astrophysicist and author Sir Martin Rees, the century we’re living in is different in a crucial way. For the first time, a single species – our own – carries the future of the planet in its hands. The choices we make in the next few decades could lead to dramatically different outcomes for our descendants and the rest of life on Earth.
Sir Martin is Britain’s astronomer royal, former director of the Institute of Astronomy at the University of Cambridge and an expert in phenomena related to the origin and evolution of the universe. In his latest book, On the Future, he considers a more immediate matter: the potential of science and technology to make the world a better place – or a more dangerous one. He spoke to The Globe and Mail ahead of his public talks this week at the University of Toronto and the Perimeter Institute in Waterloo, Ont."
