Review of Soonish

Zach Weinersmith and Kelly Weinersmith

Looking for the book?
We have the summary! Get the key insights in just 10 minutes.

Rating

8 Overall

8 Importance

8 Innovation

8 Style

Review

Biosciences professor Kelly Weinersmith explains a common observation – that most people who predict the future get it wrong – and challenges it cheerfully. Supported by cartoonist Zach Weinersmith’s gleeful illustrations, she predicts major advances in 10 areas. She establishes their geek cred with cartoons, references to science fiction and almost giddy asides on Canadian ballistic experts, scientific authorities named Elvis and gophers who thwart scientific experiments. getAbstract recommends their illustrated opus to anyone interested in space, technology, biology, the future or simply in having fun learning.

About the Authors

Kelly Weinersmith is an adjunct faculty member in Rice University’s biosciences department. Zach Weinersmith writes and draws the web comic Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal.

Predicting the future is easy. Everybody does it. Most people get the future wrong, and professional experts should know better than to try. Scientific and technological advances don’t proceed in a linear fashion. Discoveries in one area enable advances in other, apparently unrelated areas, driving progress in unexpected directions. Nonetheless, in the relatively near future you can expect advances in space, science and technology, biology and medicine.

The authors offer these predictions and observations: