The co-op bookstore for avid readers
Book Cover for: The World, the Flesh and the Devil: An Enquiry Into the Future of the Three Enemies of the Rational Soul, J. D. Bernal

The World, the Flesh and the Devil: An Enquiry Into the Future of the Three Enemies of the Rational Soul

J. D. Bernal

Written by the pioneering scientist, theorist and activist J. D. Bernal, this futuristic essay explores the radical changes to human bodies and intelligence that science may bring about, and suggests the impact of these developments on society. Bernal presents a far-reaching vision of the future that encompasses space research and colonization, material sciences, genetic engineering, and the technological hive mind. In his view, it will be possible for the conditions of civilization to reach a state of materialist utopia. For all three realms--the world, the flesh, and the devil--Bernal attempted to map out the utmost limit of technoscientific progress, and found that there are almost no limits.

With a new introduction by McKenzie Wark.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Verso
  • Publish Date: Jan 23rd, 2018
  • Pages: 112
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 7.60in - 5.00in - 0.40in - 0.30lb
  • EAN: 9781786630926
  • Categories: PoliticalHistory & Theory - GeneralHistory

More books to explore

Book Cover for: Power, Pleasure, and Profit: Insatiable Appetites from Machiavelli to Madison, David Wootton
Book Cover for: Political Order and Political Decay: From the Industrial Revolution to the Globalization of Democracy, Francis Fukuyama
Book Cover for: The Last Brahmin: Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. and the Making of the Cold War, Luke a. Nichter
Book Cover for: Demagogue: The Life and Long Shadow of Senator Joe McCarthy, Larry Tye
Book Cover for: Bobby Kennedy: A Raging Spirit, Chris Matthews
Book Cover for: A Political Economy of Justice, Danielle Allen
Book Cover for: Governing the Commons, Elinor Ostrom
Book Cover for: Private Government: How Employers Rule Our Lives (and Why We Don't Talk about It), Elizabeth Anderson
Book Cover for: Justice by Means of Democracy, Danielle Allen
Book Cover for: Solidarity: The Past, Present, and Future of a World-Changing Idea, Leah Hunt-Hendrix
Book Cover for: The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution, Francis Fukuyama
Book Cover for: Recognition, Axel Honneth
Book Cover for: The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America, Timothy Snyder
Book Cover for: Our Great Purpose: Adam Smith on Living a Better Life, Ryan Hanley
Book Cover for: Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism, Anne Applebaum

About the Author

John Desmond Bernal (1901-1971) was one of the United Kingdom's best-known and most controversial scientists. He published extensively on the history of science.

McKenzie Wark is the author of The Hacker Manifesto and other books and teaches at the New School in New York.

More books by J. D. Bernal

Book Cover for: Science In History, Volume 2: The Scientific and Industrial Revolution, J. D. Bernal
Book Cover for: The Extension of Man: A History of Physics before the Quantum, J. D. Bernal
Book Cover for: Selected Works, J. D. Bernal
Book Cover for: World Without War, J. D. Bernal
Book Cover for: Science In History, Volume 3: The Natural Sciences in Our Time, J. D. Bernal
Book Cover for: Science and Industry in the Nineteenth Century, J. D. Bernal

Praise for this book

"It is perhaps the most remarkable attempt to predict the future of scientific possibility ever made, and certainly the most stimulating. On reading it again, I am astonished to see how many of my own concepts and ideas I really owe to Bernal!"
--Arthur C. Clarke

"I think this book is perhaps the best short essay about the future of science ever written. It has a gem-like quality."
--Derek J. de Solla Price

"A stellar masterpiece of cosmic speculation."
--Bruce Sterling