The Age of Living Machines

How the Convergence of Biology and Engineering Will Build the Next Technology Revolution

By: Susan Hockfield

Narrated by: Andrea Gallo

Length: 6 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

From the former president of MIT, the story of the next technology revolution and how it will change our lives.

A century ago, discoveries in physics came together with engineering to produce an array of astonishing new technologies: radios, telephones, televisions, aircraft, radar, nuclear power, computers, the internet, and a host of still-evolving digital tools. These technologies so radically reshaped our world that we can no longer conceive of life without them.

Today, the world's population is projected to rise to well over 9.5 billion by 2050, and we are currently faced with the consequences of producing the energy that fuels, heats, and cools us. With temperatures and sea levels rising and large portions of the globe plagued with drought, famine, and drug-resistant diseases, we need new technologies to tackle these problems. But we are on the cusp of a new convergence, argues world-renowned neuroscientist Susan Hockfield, with discoveries in biology coming together with engineering to produce another array of almost inconceivable technologies - next-generation products that have the potential to be every bit as paradigm-shifting as the 20th century's digital wonders.

The Age of Living Machines describes some of the most exciting new developments and the scientists and engineers who helped create them. Virus-built batteries. Protein-based water filters. Cancer-detecting nanoparticles. Mind-reading bionic limbs. Computer-engineered crops. Together they highlight the promise of the technology revolution of the 21st century to overcome some of the greatest humanitarian, medical, and environmental challenges of our time.

©2019 Susan Hockfield (P)2019 Recorded Books

fascinating

a great insight into how some techniques and products have come about and what else is coming.

A long MIT Advertisement with interesting stories

You'll enjoy the stories and the novel work they are doing at MIT, but it's clearly a president who lauds her college without any of the conflicts or challenges that make a great story.

Rambling and subtly elitist

After getting through the whole thing, I have to report that about 1/3 of this book is digression or marginally useful background that feels either like the author needed to hit a certain number of pages or had no real outline for writing the book. The last chapter almost feels like your reading a different book, it's so disconnected with what was talked about in the previous chapters.

My other issue is that the author goes through great effort to highlight Stanford or MIT alumnus but curiously does not mention the academic background of nearly every other person in the book regardless of spending the better part of chapters discussing what they've achieved. By about half way through the book, the lack of background annotation for non elite schools is deafening.

I would have expected better from someone of prominence from an elite university... or maybe I shouldn't going forward.

Awesome

Fascinating account by MIT president Dr Hockfield, I just wish it was longer! the narrator did a great job.

Interesting content, but...

While I found Dr. Hockfield’s points and examples very important and agreed with virtually all her conclusions, the book’s narrative seemed weak. Possibly a stronger editorial hand would have added structure to her thesis. The use of “I” and “my” was distracting.
The narration was stiff at points, with the narrator pausing before names and scientific terms.

Good information. Poor delivery.

The information in this audiobook has a potential to be rich and insightful, but the reader felt clippy, abrupt, and seemed to pause and break in such strange places in a sentence, it was hard to keep focus.

I am sure the reader is a fine actress, but it felt like she knew nothing about this topic and therefore came across as insincere - for lack of better words - and just seemed to be reading words rather than delivering an interesting story to the listeners.

Good Overview

I had been aware of all the innovations discussed in the book but liked that author presented the process of each, past present and potential future. Especially liked her summary for the future - hope that solutions to problems that effect us all can be solved, caution about lack of government funding and the current strangle hold on immigration which are already having a negative impact on our future as a nation of leaders and innovators.

I disliked the narration, slow and annoying, I almost quit the book until I increased the speed to 1.25 (which I have never done before). Despite loss of normal intonation it allowed me to bear through the audio.

the perfect read right now!

This book was a fantastic layman's terms read about the sciences getting together and creating our future.

MIT advertisement/ book

had a good bit of information. but a lot of MIT advertising and tooting of own horns. luckily not too lengthy

lnsightful and inspirational

Amazing stories, and didn't go as much into bragging/promoting MIT as other reviews say. I liked how not only she talks about the technologies but also the backgrounds of the scientists that originated them.