Pulse: The Coming Age of Systems and Machines Inspired by Living Things

Pulse provides a startling glimpse into a new science that has emerged from technology and been perfected by nature, a science destined to reshape every aspect of our lives. Poised to have as great an impact on our world as the machine age once did on the feudal world, this change is all the more surprising in that it is not the future we've been led to expect. Pulse charts the growing power of this “new biology” of human systems and machines based on the ingenious design of living things. Written in simple, lively prose, Pulse describes emotional computers; ships that swim like fish; hard, soft, and wet artificial life; farms that grow like prairies; technological ecosystems; money that mimics the energy flows in nature; evolution at warp speed; and a great deal more. Using vivid, concrete examples, Robert Frenay takes us on a world tour of cutting-edge developments and the often colorful personalities behind them. He also shows how, as the machine age morphs into a culture linking seamlessly with nature, the old clash between those who revere nature and those who laud technology is coming to an end. This shift will produce not only systems and machines inspired by living things but also a human “feedback” culture. Pulse offers thoughtful and original conclusions about the promise—and danger—of our transformation as we move into the next phase of human cultural evolution.