THE FUTURE PROSPECTS FOR HUMANITY | Beshara Magazine
Professor Martin Rees, the Astronomer Royal, talks about the threats to our survival in the 21st century, and the need for a cosmic perspective. Lord Martin Rees has had a long and distinguished career in the field of astrophysics. Known for his work on cosmic microwave background radiation and galaxy formation, he was Director of the Institute of Astronomy at Cambridge University, and from 2005–10 President of the Royal Society. He has written several books for the general public on the extraordinary new view of the universe which has emerged in the last fifty years, including Our Cosmic Habitat (2001). He has also been vociferous in his concern for wider social and political issues, particularly climate change, and is a founder member of the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk at Cambridge University, which studies possible extinction-level threats stemming from technology. His latest book, On the Future Prospects for Humanity (2018), lays out his hopes and fears for us in the twenty-first century. Jane Clark and David Hornsby talked to him at his house in Cambridge via Zoom.
