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Business

According to Kotler: The World's Foremost Authority on Marketing Answers Your Questions
by Philip Kotler. American Management Association. 2005. 168 pages. Paperback. Philip Kotler's marketing genius has been distilled here in an easily accessible format that addresses such questions as what the marketing department of the future will look like, and what marketing strategies make sense during a recession. According to Kotler is a must-have guide for anyone with something to sell. Check price/buy book.

The Accountable Organization: Reclaiming Integrity, Restoring Trust
by John Marchica. Davies-Black Publishing. 2004. 199 pages.
Without legislation or litigation, what will it take to drive an organization to be both principled and profitable? Entrepreneur Marchica profiles dozens of companies that combine integrity, accountability, and trust with successful results. Topics covered include leadership, communication, conflict resolution, and risk; includes a futuring exercise. Check price/buy book.

Business and Economic Forecasting for the Information Age: A Critical Approach
by A. Reza Hoshmand. Quorum Books. 2002. 321 pages.
A textbook on forecasting for business and economics students and professors. Informative and scholarly, this book details techniques of business forecasting with an emphasis on information technology, including data collection, analysis, and modeling. Includes review questions, references, suggested readings, and Web resources. Check price/buy book.

Business 2010: Trends and Technologies to Shape Our World
by Ian Pearson and Michael Lyons. Spiro Press. 2003. 232 pages.
Long-time British Telecommunications futurist-in-residence Pearson offers uniquely insightful forecasts on new opportunities emerging from a range of technological breakthroughs. Covers pervasive computing, electronic cash, artificial intelligence, network communities, and much more. Check price/buy book.

Chaotics: An Agenda for Business and Society in the 21st Century
by Georges Anderla, Anthony Dunning, and Simon Forge. Praeger. 1997. 224 pages. Paperback. The real world cannot be understood in terms of conventional deterministic philosophies; a new discipline is needed that recognizes the implications of complexity for everyday living, from the concept of employment to our relationship with the environment. This book applies the concept of chaotics to business and wealth creation. Check price/buy book.

The Chinese Century: The Rising Chinese Economy and Its Impact on the Global Economy, the Balance of Power, and Your Job
by Oded Shenkar. Wharton School Publishing. 2004. 191 pages.
China is the twenty-first century's new economic superpower. China's rise will transform global politics, the global economy, and societies worldwide. Business professor Shenkar reveals how China is coming to dominance, what it means to you, and what you must do to position yourself for tomorrow's new realities. Check price/buy book.

The Clean Tech Revolution: The Next Big Growth and Investment Opportunity
by Ron Pernick and Clint Wilder. Collins. 2007. 308 pages.
The Clean Tech Revolution, authors Ron Pernick and Clint Wilder of the firm Clean Edge identify the major forces that have pushed clean tech from back-to-the-earth utopian dream to its current revolution among the inner circles of corporate boardrooms, on Wall Street trading floors, and in government offices around the globe. By highlighting eight major clean-tech sectors--solar energy, wind power, biofuels and biomaterials, green buildings, personal transportation, the smart grid, mobile applications, and water filtration--they show how investors, entrepreneurs, and individuals can profit from this next wave of technological innovation. Pernick and Wilder discuss the winners among technologies, companies, and regions that are likely to reap the greatest benefits from clean tech. Check price/buy book.

Competitive Intelligence: Scanning the Global Environment
by Robert Salmon and Yolaine de Linares. Economica. 1999. 196 pages. Paperback.
Authors Robert Salmon, former vice president of L'Oreal, and researcher Yolaine de Linares show how to decipher the signals we receive that foreshadow risks and opportunities ahead. Check price/buy book.

Corporate Radar: Tracking the Forces That Are Shaping Your Future
by Karl Albrecht. AMACOM. 2000. 258 pages.
Successful businesses must know what's going on in the worlds of their customers, suppliers, and competitors, as well as more general trends in technology, the economy, and society. This pragmatic book offers business leaders the tools used by professional futurists, such as environmental scanning, and analyzes such trends as changing customer values, the rise of "intangible" economies, Internet myths, and much more. Check price/buy book.

Cyberunion: Empowering Labor Through Computer Technology
by Arthur B. Shostak. M.E. Sharpe. 1999. 262 pages. Paperback.
Organized labor unions are building a new model of organization based on increasingly creative and effective use of computers. Labor educator and sociologist Arthur Shostak examines this new model, the "cyberunion," drawing on essays by rank-and-file union members who are using computers to help the labor movement renew its voice—and its ears. Check price/buy book.

Democratizing Innovation
by Eric Von Hippel. MIT Press. 2005. 204 pages.
We see it more and more every day: customers, consumers, users, are getting smarter and more restless. They're inserting themselves into the production process; they're conspiring in open-source chat rooms; they're designing the products they themselves want to buy. Managers in the new, user-centric environment have two options, run and hide, or embrace this new trend for what it isa revolution. "Von Hippel has written the essential twenty-first century handbook on innovation. Business leaders who rely on organic growth will find his concepts and techniques extremely valuable," writes Roger Lacey, staff vice president of eBusiness and Corporate Planning and Strategy, 3M. Check price/buy book.

The Disposable American: Layoffs and Their Consequences
by Louis Uchitelle. Knopf. 2006. 283 pages.
Two decades ago, layoffs were seen as a sign of corporate failure and a violation of acceptable business behavior. Over the years, the permanent separation of people from their jobs, abruptly and against their wishes, has become standard management practice. Award-winning New York Times writer Uchitelle sees this as a festering crisis. In The Disposable American, he examines the myths that have allowed for the situation to perpetuate itself and suggests solutions to this worsening situation. Check price/buy book.

Doing Nothing Is Not an Option! Facing the Imminent Labor Crisis
by Robert K. Critchley. Thomson. 2004. 208 pages. 
As the workforce ages and the number of people older than 65 surpasses the number of children, a labor shortage is inevitable. Workplace consultant Critchley presents the facts and statistics of the aging workforce and their implications for employers. This book helps companies strategize on how to attract the best future leaders in a shrinking labor supply by pointing out the value of older workers. The author offers tips and tactics for phased retirement and rehiring, as well as how to effectively leverage the strengths of older workers. Check price/buy book.

The Dream Society:How the Coming Shift from Information to Imagination Will Transform Your Business
by Rolf Jensen. McGraw-Hill. 1999. 230 pages. Paperback
The Information Age has dramatically transformed the world's economy, but an even more radical shift is under way: the "dream" society, built on imagination and storytelling. Businesses will increasingly focus on touching the emotional side of customers for their future products and services, and marketing will increasingly become a process of engaging people through stories, myths, and legends. This book by a leading Danish futurist offers a clear blueprint for positioning your business for this new era. Check price/buy book.

Driving Growth Through Innovation
by Robert B. Tucker. Berrett-Koehler. 2002. 240 pages.
Today's leading firms are transforming their futures through innovation. This book contains many success stories, including Citigroup, Royal/Dutch Shell, and Tyson Foods, and offers insight on what a strong innovation strategy can do for your organization. Check price/buy book.

Early Warning: Using Competitive Intelligence to Anticipate Market Shifts, Control Risk, and Create Powerful Strategies
by Ben Gilad. AMACOM. 2004. 268 pages.
Business disaster can strike when market realities outpace a company's strategy. Intelligence expert Gilad offers a way to avoid disaster: a three-part competitive early-warning system that combines strategic planning, competitive intelligence, and management action. Using myriad examples of successes and failures, Gilad reveals how a powerful strategy can make any company dominant, while failure to heed early warning signs can shake any market Goliath to its foundation. Check price/buy book

Ethical Markets: Growing the Green Economy
by Hazel Henderson. Chelsea Green Publishing Company. 2007. 300 pages. Paperback.
In this companion to the PBS television series of the same name, renowned futurist Henderson delivers an overview of the emerging green economy. Topics include fair trade, community investing, shareholder activism, and global corporate citizenship. Ethical Markets also contains in-depth interviews with some of the forward-looking CEOs who are leading the green revolution in business. Check Price/Buy Book

Experimentation Matters: Unlocking the Potential of New Technologies for Innovation
by Stefan H. Thomke. Harvard Business School Press. 2003. 307 pages.
Harvard Business School professor Thomke examines technological innovations making an impact on the business world. His book explores why experimentation matters, new technologies for experimentation, how those technologies function in the workplace, and how to unlock their secrets for future business potential. Thomke introduces six principles for managing experimentation and offers ways for managers and entrepreneurs to extend experimentation capabilities beyond their organization. Check price/buy book.

The 50-Plus Market: Why the Future Is Age-Neutral When It Comes to Marketing & Branding Strategies
by Dick Stroud. Kogan Page. 2006. 320 pages.
Marketing strategist Dick Stroud attempts to answer numerous questions on marketing effectively to consumers over the age of 50, such as what new marketing rules may apply to them, wether the willingness to try new brands changes with age, how interactive media could play a role in marketing to this group, and, most importantly, whether the future is really age-neutral. Check price/buy book.

Five Minds for the Future
by Howard Gardner. Harvard Business School Press. 2007. 204 pages. Paperback. 
Drawing from a wealth of diverse examples to illuminate his ideas, Harvard University psychologist Gardner attempts to define the cognitive abilities that will command a premium in the years ahead: the disciplinary mind, the synthesizing mind, the creating mind, the respectful mind, and the ethical mind. The book is intended for anyone charged with training and developing organizational leaders-both today and tomorrow. Check Price/Buy Book

Future, Inc. : How Businesses Can Anticipate and Profit from What's Next
by Eric Garland. AMACOM. 2006. 256 pages.
Eric Garland a professional futurist and adviser to executives at top corporations and government agencies, here provides many practical techniques for a wide range of businesses and industries in order for them to foresee their futures. He offers specific methodologies to assess how the business environment is changing, and which changes are relevant. "How can we overcome the systemic indifference to the mid and long-term future? Garland’s book can be a giant step in that direction," writes consulting futurist Joseph F. Coates. Check price/buy book.

Get Back in the Box: Innovation from the Inside Out
by Douglas Rushkoff. HarperCollins. 2005. 336 pages. 
In this wide-ranging new book, best-selling author and futurist Douglas Rushkoff argues that the era of all out-of-the-box thinking is distracting too many businesses from their core competencies. The result is too many businesses relying too much on consultants, market research, and competitive bluster. The real promise of our networked era is realized not by perpetually adopting new themes and processes, but by tackling a more fundamental challenge: reinvigorating the work itself. Check price/buy book.

Getting To The Better Future: A Matter of Conscious Choosing: How Business Can Lead the Way to New Possibilities
by John E. Renesch. New Business Books. 2000. 133 pages. Paperback.
Futurist John Renesch contends that business possesses more power—and more responsibility—than ever before and has the unprecedented opportunity to create a better future for the world. This book presents a vision of a win-win world created by leaders of conscience. Check price/buy book.

The Globalization of Nothing
by George Ritzer. Pine Forge Press. 2003. 259 pages.
Globalization has led to a world of nullities: non-people, non-places, non-commodities, non-services—generic things (or nothings) devoid of distinctive substantive content. The systems that led to this culture of nothingness and that keep it in place are the subjects of this compelling volume. Sociologist Ritzer explores corporations imposing their standards on vast geographic areas (grobalization); dehumanization, disenchantment, and consumption; and such institutions as McDonalds, WalMart, Walt Disney World, and the American mall. Check price/buy book.

The Halo Effect: And The Eight Other Business Delusions That Deceive Managers
by Phil Rosenzweig. The Free Press. 2007. 232 pages. 
The "halo effect," according to Rosenzweig, is the popular delusion that, when its sales and profits are up, a company has a sound strategy and a visionary leader, and vice versa. Drawing on examples from leading companies including Cisco Systems, IBM, Nokia, and ABB, Rosenzweig discusses how the halo effect along with eight other delusions and offers ways to replace mistaken thinking with a sharper understanding of what drives business success and failure. Check Price/Buy Book

Hospitality 2010: The Future of Hospitality and Travel
by Marvin Cetron, Fred DeMicco, and Owen Davies. Prentice Hall. 2005. 352 pages. Paperback. Booming economies could boost profits for the world's leisure-industry enterprises such as hotels and restaurantsunless the threat of terrorism continues to discourage tourism and business travel. This important new look at the major trends shows how to identify those that will have the greatest impacts on business. Check price/buy book.

India Arriving: How This Economic Powerhouse Is Redefining Global Business
by Rafiq Dossani. AMACOM. 2007. 304 pages.
After gaining independence in 1947, India enjoyed a new sense of freedom, and, along with it, faced enormous burdens and challenges. A rich and powerful country, India has become a global power, a center of outsourcing, and a potential partner with the United States. From the country's thriving film industry to its burgeoning high-tech industry as well as its attempts to stabilize its economy, India Arriving offers a glimpse into the "real India," with all of its assets and all of its faults. Author Rafiq Dossani explores India's reemergence onto the world stage, its birth as an independent nation, and how political shifts, social reform, and education have helped to shape a new India. Check price/buy book

The Insider's Guide to The Future: A Preview of What Life Will Be Like over the Next 20 Years
by Edith Weiner and Arnold Brown. Boardroom Books. 1997. Approx. 120 pages.
The authors of Supermanaging, Office Biology, and other books on the impacts of future trends on business here offer their insights on the emergence of a new society, called the "Emotile Society"—blending emotions and mobility. In this new economy, knowledge will be the greatest economic asset, but it will be limited by time: Information that is incredibly valuable one moment will be worthless the next. Check price/buy book.

Invisible Advantage: How Intangibles are Driving Business Performance
by Jonathan Low and Pam Cohen Kalafut. Perseus Publishing. 2002. 259 pages.
Fully one-third of an organization's value is based on elements that cannot be seen—"intangibles." Business management researchers Low and Kalafut identify 12 intangibles for managing your business and selling your products, including brand equity, reputation, intellectual capacity, and adaptability. They also offer strategies for developing intangibles and succeeding in a business world where their importance is increasing. Check price/buy book.

Is the American Dream Killing You: How "The Market" Rules Our Lives
by Paul Stiles. Harper Collins. 2005. 305 pages.
The free-market system, for all the good it has done, has taken a turn for the worse over the past 20 years, according to Stiles. For those who struggle to hold a job, raise a family, or find a decent standard of living, the free market has become a predatory institution. Market values have replaced cherished American morals. Leisure has been sacrificed to productivity, quality time to extra hours. It turns out that strong markets, such as those in the United States, may be as dehumanizing and spiritually detrimental as the weak markets of the former Soviet Union. According to Stiles, the promise of the American Dream has created misery for many of its greatest beneficiaries. The challenge for the future, he says, is to find better balance in our lives and in our economy. Check price/buy book.

Lean And Meaningful: A New Culture for Corporate America
by Roger E. Herman and Joyce L. Gioia. Oak Hill Press. 1998. 388 pages.
Workers have new expectations, and employers who don't meet those expectations may be doomed to extinction. This book explores a wide range of trends and shows managers how to prepare their organizations for future success. Check price/buy book.

Leisure and Leisure Services in the 21st Century: Toward Mid Century
by Geoffrey Godbey. Venture Publishing. 2006. 273 pages.
According to leisure studies expert Geoffrey Godbey, recreation is being reinvented across the globe. It would follow that the organizations that provide a broad array of recreation, park, sport, cultural, therapeutic, tourism, hospitality, hotel, restaurant, and other "leisure services" are also in a period of change. This book presents 66 discussion topics to prompt readers to investigate trends that could influence leisure and leisure services. Check price/buy book.

Making it Personal: How to Profit from Personalization without Invading Privacy
by Bruce Kasanoff. Perseus Publishing. 2005. 240 pages.
Although the idea frightens privacy advocates, personalizationacquiring information about consumers to better market to themis revolutionizing business and will continue to do so for years to come, says Kasanoff. The choice is clear: Swim with the current or go against and drown. In Making it Personal, marketing consultant Kasanoff offers an insider's view into the business practices of data collection firms, spotlights pioneers who are inventing new personalization technologies, showcases the myriad possibilities for personalization, and explores the legal boundaries that protect privacy but that allow for better customer service through personalization. Check price/buy book.

Megatrends 2010: The Rise of Conscious Capitalism: Seven New trends That Will Transform How You Work, Live and Invest
by Patricia Aburdene. Hampton Roads. 218 pages.
In Megatrends 2010, Aburdene (co-author with John Naisbitt of various bestsellers under the Megatrends title) strikes out on her own to explain the major changes taking place in the business world. She describes a growing movement within the corporate community to increased responsibilitytoward shareholders, the public, and the future. According to Aburdene, managers are already reaping rewards from the 63 million "conscious consumers" who buy from companies that reflect their values. Megatrends 2010 celebrates the demise of business as usual and celebrates the birth of conscious capitalism. Check price/buy book.

Must-Win Battles: How to Win Them, Again and Again
by Peter Killing and Thomas Malnight, with Tracey Keys. Wharton School Publishing. 2006. 252 pages.
The authors, business strategy consultants, argue that, while setting goals and new initiatives are good for organizations, far too many organizations have too many initiatives. The result is organizations that lack focus. In Must-Win Battles, the authors attempt to show readers how to create agreement on critical challenges and how to mobilize and achieve those by combining strategic focus with emotional commitmenta process for learning to do fewer things, and doing them better. Check price/buy book.

Navigating the Badlands: Thriving in the Decade of Radical Transformation
by Mary O'Hara-Devereaux. Jossey-Bass. 2004. 332 pages.
Business forecaster O'Hara-Devereaux shows how organizations can hone their competitive edge in the age of turbulent stock markets, worker migration, and the overhaul of traditional strategic-planning methods. This how-to for business survival and success uses illustrative stories from a wide variety of industries, geographic areas, and organizations as models for moving forward in today's unforgiving business climate. Check price/buy book.

The New Rules of Corporate Conduct: Rewriting the Social Charter
by Ian Wilson. Quorum. 2000. 213 pages.
Corporate social responsibility can no longer be relegated to public relations, but must be an integral part of the corporate strategy, argues Ian Wilson, an international management consultant and authority on strategic management. This book provides a detailed analysis of the new rules of corporate conduct—covering legitimacy, equity, ethics, and other key issues—and outlines an agenda of workable corporate responses to these new rules. Comment: An eye-opener for those who believe that a corporation exists only to make a profit for its shareholders." —Edward Cornish, president, World Future Society. Check price/buy book.

The Past and Future of America's Economy: Long Waves of Innovation That Power Cycles of Growth
by Robert Atkinson. Edward Elgar. 2005. 357 pages. Paperback.
Throughout American history, cycles of economic and technological change have fundamentally altered the way people work, the scope of U.S. policy, and the way we lives. Robert D. Atkinson, vice president and director of the Technology and New Economy Project at the Progressive Policy Institute, examines this process of change over the past 150 years and explores the responses of people and institutions. He then examines the New Economy's effects on workers, governance, technology, and markets. Check price/buy book.

Peripheral Vision: Detecting Weak Signals That Will Make or Break Your Company
by George S. Day and Paul J.H. Schoemaker. Harvard Business School Press. 2006. 256 pages.
What happens when a company ignores the events unfolding at the edges of its business? These "signals on the periphery" can grow into a major problems, or they could signal lost opportunities. In this volume, Day and Schoemaker, affiliated with the Mack Center for Technological Innovation, offer steps for improving peripheral vision in business. Check price/buy book.

Predictable Surprises: The Disasters You Should Have Seen Coming and How to Prevent Them
by Max H. Bazerman and Michael D. Watkins. Harvard Business School Press. 2004. 317 pages.  
Many personal, professional, and global surprises can be predicted and avoided. Using lessons learned from Enron and the disasters of September 11, 2001, the authors identify some of the characteristics of surprise, explore the techniques that can help managers and business people recognize and mitigate them, and ultimately result in prosperity and success in an organization. Topics include bias, special interests, identifiable threats, and preventable actions. Check price/buy book.

The Resilient Enterprise: Overcoming Vulnerability for Competitive Advantage
by Yossi Sheffi. MIT Press. 2005. 368 pages.
The Resilient Enterprise shows companies how to reduce their vulnerabilities. Sheffi asserts that companies can assess their vulnerabilities by answering three basic questions: What can go wrong? What is the likelihood of that happening? What are the consequences if that does happen? Readers will learn how companies from Toyota to Chiquita planned for (or failed to plan for) disruptions. Check price/buy book.

The Restoration Economy: The Greatest New Growth Frontier
by Storm Cunningham. Berrett-Koehler Publishers. 2002. 434 pages.
Restorative development will soon account for most development on the planet, says analyst Storm Cunningham. This intriguing volume explores restoring the natural and the built environments and the potential for business and government that goes hand in hand with renewal. Check price/buy book.

Revolt in the Boardroom: The New Rules of Power in Corporate America
by Alan Murray. Collins. 2007. 247 pages.
In 2004, the leaders of 600 companies were asked to leave. That number more than doubled in 2005 and reached 1,400 companies in 2006. Murray, the assistant managing editor of the Wall Street Journal, looks at three seminal board revolts--the now-famous Hewlett-Packard drama, the ousting of Boeing's Harry Stonecipher, and the end of the reign of one of the world's most autocratic executives, Hank Greenberg at AIG--to show how the role of the CEO is rapidly changing. Check price/buy book.

Revolutionary Wealth: How It Will Be Created and How it Will Change Our Lives
by Alvin and Heidi Toffler. Knopf. 2006. Approx. 512 pages. 
Future Shock authors Alvin and Heidi Toffler tackle everything from family life, jobs, time pressures, and the mounting complexity of everyday life to cast light on the future of wealth, visible and invisible, that will redesign our lives, companies, and the world in the years ahead. Chapters include "Capitalism's Future," "Poverty," "China's Next Surprise?" "The 'Prosumer' Economy," and "Tomorrow's Oil." Check price/buy book.

Smart World: Breakthrough Creativity and the New Science of Ideas
by Richard Ogle. Harvard Business School Press. 2007. 303 pages.
Harnessing creativity means more than hiring quirky geniuses, argues Ogle. Rather, creativity lies in the connections between people, and harnessing it means understanding that networks give rise to creativity. In Smart World, Ogle outlines "a new science of ideas." The key resides in what he calls "idea-spaces," a set of nodes in a network of people (and their ideas) that cohere and take on a distinctive set of characteristics leading to the generation of breakthrough ideas. Ogle's theories are illuminated with stories of dramatic breakthroughs in science, business, and art. Check price/buy book.

Social Intelligence: The New Science of Success
by Karl Albrecht. Pfeiffer. 304 pages.
Management consultant and futurist Karl Albrecht defines social intelligence (SI) as a combination of sensitivity to the needs and interests of others, sometimes called "social radar," an attitude of generosity and consideration, and a set of practical skills for interacting successfully with people in any setting. In this book, Albrecht provides a comprehensive model for describing, assessing, and developing social intelligence at a personal level. This book is filled with concepts, examples, and strategies designed to help readers navigate social situations more successfully. Check price/buy book.

A Spiritual Audit of Corporate America: A Hard Look at Spirituality, Religion, and Values in the Workplace
by Ian I. Mitroff and Elizabeth A. Denton. Jossey-Bass. 1999. 320 pages.
Survey of spiritual beliefs and practices among managers and executives, examining strengths and weaknesses of five different models of workplace spirituality. Check price/buy book.

Sustained Innovation: Converging Business and Technology to Achieve Enduring Performance 
by Faisal Hoque and Terry A. Kirkpatrick. BTM Press. 2007. 160 pages.
Sustained innovation requires a seamless, structured management approach that begins with board and CEO-level issues and connects all the way through technology investment and implementation. Using case studies from large companies, social enterprises, and the government sector, the authors show how enterprises can innovate to survive and even thrive in the knowledge-based global community. In search of innovation, the book takes readers from the doorsteps of American corporate giants to the home of the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, from R&D centers in Israel to India's new economy, from the enterprising government of Algeria to the inspiring operations of Grameen in remote villages of Bangladesh. Check price/buy book.

Synthetic Worlds: The Business and Culture of Online Games
by Edward Castronova. University of Chicago Press. 2005. 332 pages.
The world of online video games has evolved from the exclusive domain of computer geeks into a lucrative staple of the entertainment industry. Synthetic Worlds offers a comprehensive look at the big business of online gaming and explores the potential ramifications for business and culture. Check price/buy book.

Technology’s Promise: Expert Knowledge on the Transformation of Business and Society
by William E. Halal. Palgrave MacMillan. 2008. 183 pages.  Read Review

A technological revolution is changing business, society, and what it means to be human in today’s world, says technology consultant Halal. He forecasts where this revolution is headed, citing his own studies and those of 100 other experts, on what the next three decades will see in biogenetics, e-commerce, the environment, robotics, and many other fields. Check price/buy book.

Treasure Hunt: Inside the Mind of the New Consumer
by Michael J. Silverstein. Portfolio Books. 2006. 272 pages.
Silverstein, co-author of the book Trading Up, explores how middle-income consumers have gotten better than ever at finding cheap products in some categoriesincluding basics like razorsto free up cash to buy more expensive goods in other categories–such as chocolate or apparel.  Some companies, according to Silverstein, get caught trying play to either the low end or the high end, while others, like General Motors, get trapped in the middle. In this book, Silverstein endeavors to tell them how they all take advantage of the treasure hunt consumer phenomenon. Check price/buy book.

Turning the Future into Revenue: What Businesses and Individuals Need to Know to Shape Their Futures
by Glen Hiemstra. John Wiley & Sons. 2006. 226 pages.  Read Review
Glen Hiemstra is the founder of Futurist.com and a noted expert on emerging business opportunities. This book covers a wide range of what businesses and individuals need to know to shape their futures. Key topics discussed include long-term trends to prepare for such as global warming, profiting from technology and energy trends, hedging your bets on future business, key practices of the future-oriented enterprise, tactics for forecasting the future, and shaping your career for future success. Check price/buy book.

Visionaries: People and Ideas to Change Your Life
edited by Jay Walljasper, John Spayde, and the editors of Utne Reader. New Society. 2001. 307 pages. Paperback.
Profiles of future-minded activists around the globe, including scientists, business leaders, physicians, poets, and other catalysts for change. Check price/buy book.

What's Next? Exploring the New Terrain for Business
by Eamonn Kelly, Peter Leyden, and members of Global Business Network. Perseus Publishing. 2002. 368 pages.
An inspiring and thought-provoking guide to ideas, concepts, and forces influencing business in the next decade—an era of increasing uncertainty and opportunity. Explores a range of fields through interviews with many of the Global Business Network's key thinkers, offering multiple perspectives on the future that go beyond prescriptions and predictions to possibilities. Check price/buy book.

What We Learned in the Rainforest: Business Lessons from Nature
by Tachi Kiuchi and Bill Shireman. Berrett-Koehler. 2002. 256 pages.
The authors, a CEO of a major corporation and an environmentalist, use real-life examples to illustrate a powerful business model for driving innovation, increasing profit, spurring growth, and ensuring sustainability based on nature. Check price/buy book.

Where the Action Is: Today and Tomorrow 
by McKinley Conway. Conway Data. 2007. 336 pages. Paperback. 
The world business community today consists of truly global firms, somewhat global firms, and non-global firms. In the first group there are several thousand corporations, mostly large ones, that have been globalized for some time. The tens of thousands of mid-size and small firms in the second group are already planning foreign ventures. For every one of these globally active groups there are probably 10 good firms interested in operating globally that have not yet begun to do so, according to development expert Conway. The purpose of this book is to help medium-sized companies plan their foray into the expanding international market. Check price/buy book.

A Whole New Mind: Moving From the Information Age to the Conceptual Age
by Daniel H. Pink. Riverhead Books. 2005. 260 pages. 
Former White House speechwriter Pink offers a look at the changing faceand brainof success in the twenty-first century. "A highly original, well-researched, and thoughtful effort to offer practical help for people caught in the career-wrecking upheavals in today's workplace," writes World Future Society founder, Edward Cornish. Check price/buy book.

Why Some Companies Emerge Stronger and Better from a Crisis: 7 Essential Lessons for Surviving Disaster
by Ian Mitroff. AMACOM. 2005. 256 pages.
Crisis management expert Mitroff presents seven competencies that companies must develop in order to deal with crises. He outlines how to foster emotional resiliency, creative problem solving, and crucial political and socials skills, and provides a blueprint for integrating these goals into daily practice. Subjects include harnessing spirituality, how to be a responsible troublemaker, and right thinking, integration, and technical skills. Check price/buy book.

Wireless Horizon: Strategy and Competition in the Worldwide Mobile Marketplace
by Dan Steinbock. AMACOM. 2003. 494 pages.
Market researcher Steinbock plumbs the depths of the wireless world of mobile communications, chronicling its rise from the pre-cellular era to third-generation innovations in Japan’s service industries. National monopolies, market liberalization, geographic competition, and digital convergence are among the topics he examines. He also takes a close look at leading equipment manufacturers Nokia, Qualcomm, Ericsson, and Motorola, plus other enablers and service providers such as Microsoft and Intel. Check price/buy book.

Creative Thinking

Cracking Creativity: The Secrets of Creative Genius
by Michael Michalko. Ten Speed Press. 1998. 352 pages. Paperback.
Geniuses have a way of thinking that is very different from the rest of us. Creativity expert Michael Michalko, author of Thinkertoys, here provides a critical examination of how geniuses think and how their techniques may be emulated to lead us to new insights and solutions. Check price/buy book.

The Creative Problem Solver's Toolbox A Complete Course in the Art of Creating Solutions to Problems of Any Kind
by Richard Fobes. Solutions Through Innovation. 1993. 345 pages. Paperback.
More than 65 powerful creative-problem-solving skills are demonstrated in real-life examples found in marketing, business management, childrearing, inventing, education, and more. Check price/buy book.

Creativity and Innovation For Managers
by Brian Clegg. Butterworth-Heinemann. 1999. 113 pages. Paperback.
Generating creative new ideas and solving problems are essential business drivers. This book provides managers a practical resource for understanding creativity in a business context and for putting it to use in the real world. Check price/buy book.

The Creativity Force In Education, Business, And Beyond: An Urgent Message
by Bernice Bleedorn. Glade Press. 1998. 229 Pages. Paperback.
Practical exploration of how to foster creativity in education, business, the sciences, and other areas requiring the best that the human mind can offer. Check price/buy book.

Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention
by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. HarperCollins. 1996. 456 pages. Paperback.
Many humans aspire to an ideal creative fulfillment like that experienced by many artists and scientists. Psychologist Csikszentmihalyi, author of Flow and The Evolving Self, profiles many of the world's most interesting and creative people in the arts, sciences, and public leadership and offers insights into what makes them tick. Check price/buy book.

De Bono's Thinking Course (Revised Edition)
by Edward de Bono. Facts On File. 1994. 196 pages. Paperback.
Good thinking skills are critical to our ability to assess future scenarios, such as a change of government. This unique book offers a host of practical exercises for improving thinking skills. Check price/buy book.

Escape From The Maze: Nine Steps to Personal Creativity
by James M. Higgins. New Management. 1997. 252 pages. Illustrated. Paperback.
Business leaders increasingly emphasize innovation as a key ingredient in achieving future success. The first step is for individuals to acquire creativity skills. This book tells you how. Check price/buy book.

The Gifted Adult: A Revolutionary Guide for Identifying and Mastering Your Exceptional Gifts
by Mary-Elaine Jacobsen. Ballantine. 1999. 416 pages. Paperback.
You're curious and creative. You're unafraid of rocking the boat in order to get things done. You push toward perfection and are driven by a personal mission. If this describes you, you may be a genius, says psychologist Mary-Elaine Jacobsen, whose clinical experience has convinced her that as many as 20 million American gifted adults possess enormous untapped potential. This book offers a practical tool for measuring your "evolutionary intelligence" and putting your everyday genius into full gear. Ed. note: originally published in cloth under the title Liberating Everyday Genius.   Check price/buy book.

The Hidden Intelligence: Innovation Through Intuition
by Sandra Weintraub. Butterworth-Heinemann. 1998. 348 pages. Paperback.
This practical book gathers the insights of leading executives and entrepreneurs to show what intuition is and what it is not. Intuition is an increasingly significant critical skill for running a successful business, the author maintains. Check price/buy book.

The Hothouse Effect: Intensify Creativity in Your Organization Using Secrets from History's Most Innovative Communities
by Barton Kunstler. AMACOM. 2004. 261 pages.
Creativity expert Kunstler uses the dynamics of diverse communities which have flourished throughout history, pinpointing the factors that drive their exceptional fervor and accomplishments, to show how to assess creativity in your organization. This book provides guidelines for generating high-performance creative individuals through study of eras of intense creativity, including classical Greece and the Renaissance. Check price/buy book.

The Manager's Pocket Guide To Creativity
by Alexander Hiam. HRD Press. 1998. 180 pages. 
True innovation starts with how you think, not with what you think. This book offers practical tools and suggestions for creative thinking, including a checklist of common workplace behaviors that block creativity and a useful model of the creative thought process that will help you "do" creative thinking. Check price/buy book.

The Medici Effect: Breakthrough Insights at the Intersection of Ideas, Concepts, and Cultures
by Frans Johansson. Harvard Business School Press. 2004. 207 pages.
An exploration of what business scholar Johansson calls the "Intersection," a place where ideas from different fields and cultures meet and collide, ultimately leading to exciting new discoveries equivalent to the burst of ideas in Renaissance Italy. Subjects include innovation, idea generation, risk-taking, and overcoming fear. Check price/buy book.

New Ideas About New Ideas:Insights on Creativity from the World's Leading Innovators
by Shira P. White with G. Patton Wright. Perseus Publishing. 2002. 317 pages. Illustrated.
Innovation and creativity are essential to business success. Among the more than 100 creative leaders interviewed for the book are architect Frank Gehry, violin virtuoso Joshua Bell, glass artist Dale Chihuly, and business visionaries Paul Allen of Microsoft and John Loose of Corning. Check price/buy book.

101 Creative Problem Solving Techniques The Handbook of New Ideas for Business
by James M. Higgins. The New Management Publishing Company. 1994. 223 pages. Illustrated. Paperback.
Among the alternative idea-generation techniques described are brainstorming, mind mapping, storyboarding, "lotus blossom," morphological analysis, and the "Mitsubishi method." Check price/buy book.

Rousing Creativity: Think New Now!
by Floyd Hurt. Crisp Publications. 1999. 163 pages. Paperback.
Effective creativity requires more than corporate cheerleading and participating in games and exercises. It requires us to move from ideas to plans and actions. This book presents such techniques as Sniper Trap, Attribute Listing, Opportunity Exploratory Sessions, and Mindmapping, and offers guidelines for conducting group sessions. Check price/buy book

The Seeds of Innovation: Cultivating the Synergy That Fosters New Ideas
by Elaine Dundon. AMACOM. 2002. 241 pages.
Keeping business ideas fresh and creative is often difficult or impossible. Innovation guru Dundon explores the seeds of creative, strategic, and transformational thinking and offers a nine-step process to innovation designed to invigorate any organization. Check price/buy book

Think Like A Genius: Use Your Creativity in Ways That Will Enrich Your Life
by Todd Siler. Bantam Books. 1996. 304 pages. Paperback.
"You don't have to be a genius to think like one," proclaims creativity consultant Todd Siler. Through the process of "metaphorming"—changing something from one state of matter and meaning to another—you can foster your own ability to discover, invent, connect unrelated things, solve problems, depict solutions, enrich the learning experience, and enhance communication. This book offers a series of metaphorming exercises to help you lose your fear, avoid cynicism, get unstuck, and more. Check price/buy book.

Think Out Of The Box
by Mike Vance and Diane Deacon. Career Press. 1995. 216 pages. Paperback.
Companies need people who aren't "boxed in" by traditional modes of thinking. Here are techniques to nurture a creative corporate culture. Check price/buy book.

Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Business Creativity for the '90s
by Michael Michalko. Ten Speed Press. 1991. 335 pages. Paperback.
This unique and practical guide shows business people—and anyone else who can use great ideas—how to dream up new products, new business endeavors, new markets, and new sales techniques. Check price/buy book.

Thinkpak: A Brainstorming Card Deck
by Michael Michalko. Ten Speed Press. 1994.
56 cards with 61-page instruction booklet.
These idea-stimulating cards promise to help you find new ways to make money, improve products and services, turn negatives into positives, and become an indispensable idea-generator for your organization. Check price/buy book.

What If? Thought Experimentation in Philosophy
by Nicholas Rescher. Transaction Publishers. 2005. 189 pages.
The question "what if" expresses the core philosophy of prospective thinking. The author, a professor of philosophy at the University of Pittsburg, provides a complete overview of the principles of philosophical inquiry, the Socratic method, and the importance of thought experimentation not only to the field of philosophy, but also to science and history. What If? will be of interest to philosophers, students of philosophy, theorists of logic and reasoning, and anyone who has ever thought of the future as a frontier of possibility. Check price/buy book.

Economics

Beyond Globalization: Shaping a Sustainable Global Economy
by Hazel Henderson. Kumarian Press. 1999. 88 pages. Paperback.
Independent futurist Hazel Henderson offers a critique of globalization—a trend that is creating a bubble economy at the cost of livelihoods at the local level. This valuable reference includes lists of periodicals and organizations dealing with global issues, with complete contact information. Check price/buy book.

Building A Win-Win World: Life Beyond Global Economic Warfare
by Hazel Henderson. Paperback. Berrett-Koehler. 1996. 398 pages. Paperback.
World-renowned futurist Hazel Henderson examines the havoc that the current economic system is creating globally. Even as new markets emerge worldwide, they are running on old textbook models that ignore social and environmental costs and that will inevitably lead to global economic warfare. Henderson shows how win-win strategies can bring stability and peace to our future. Check price/buy book.

The Challenge of Affluence: Self-Control and Well-Being in the United States and Britain since 1950
by Avner Offer. Oxford University Press. 2006. 454 pages.
Economic historian Avner Offer argues that an era of unprecedented material abundance has been accompanied by a range of social and personal disorders: family breakdown, addiction, mental instability, crime, obesity, inequality, economic insecurity, and declining trust. Offer's approach draws on economics and social science, makes use of the latest cognitive research, and provides a detailed and reasoned critique of the modern consumer society. He investigates social and personal relations in the United States and Britain, including the social and psychological costs of inequality. Check price/buy book.

A Civil Economy: Transforming the Marketplace in the Twenty-First Century (Evolving Values for a Capitalist World)
by Severyn Bruyn. University of Michigan Press. 2000. 328 pages.
An interdisciplinary examination of how people in three sectors—government, business, and civil society—can develop a more accountable, self-regulating, and humane competitive market system. This "civil economy," Bruyn argues, would reduce costs while minimizing exploitation of resources.  Check price/buy book.

The Coming Generational Storm: What You Need to Know about America's Economic Future
by Laurence J. Kotlikoff and Scott Burns. The MIT Press. 2004. 274 pages. 
This is a thorough look at the future generational imbalancemore seniors than babies by 2030. Personal-finance experts Kotlikoff and Burns look at the financial consequences of this demographic disparity, including the potential impacts on Social Security, Medicare, taxes, inflation, unemployment, and political instability. They also offer some simple, straightforward solutions to protect individual financial health and retirement. Check price/buy book.

Crisis Prevention and Prosperity Management for the World Economy
by Ralph C. Bryant. The Brookings Institution Press. 2004. 171 pages. Paperback. 
A companion volume to Bryant's innovative book Turbulent Waters: Cross-Border Finance and International Governance, this well-researched text focuses on reforming the international financial system and the importance of mediation in all international lending transactions. Bryant makes the case that the time has come for nation-states to reexamine how, and why, they lend and borrow money.  Check price/buy book.

Development in Hindsight: The Economics of Common Sense
by Peter de Haan. KIT Publishers. 2006. 183 pages. Paperback.
In Development in Hindsight, economist Peter de Haan explores the contribution of aid to the economic growth of developing countries and the effect of globalization on the fight against poverty. He also considers the role of the state and the market in development and the institutional dimension of economic growth. Topics include economic development in Latin America and prospects for reducing world poverty by 2015. Check price/buy book.

Digital Economics: How Information Technology Has Transformed Business Thinking
by Richard B. McKenzie. Praeger. 2003. 331 pages.
Economics professor McKenzie examines digital media—books, movies, and music produced electronically and other innovations in computer and telecommunications—and their impact on economics. Topics include intellectual property rights, Web surfing in the workplace, piracy, privacy, and antitrust issues. A management and policy manual for the new economic era. Check price/buy book.

Eco-Economy: Building a New Economy for the Environmental Age
by Lester R. Brown. W.W. Norton. 2001. 224 pages. Paperback.
The fossil-fuel-based economy is fast destroying its own environmental underpinnings and threatening future generations. The founder and chairman of the Worldwatch Institute here outlines his vision of a new economy powered by renewable resources and human-centered systems, an economy that recognizes that a throwaway mentality throws away the future. Check price/buy book.

The Elephant and the Flea: Reflections of a Reluctant Capitalist
by Charles Handy. Harvard Business School Press. 2002. 256 pages.
Former oil executive, professor, philosopher, and business guru Charles Handy explores the business and economic trends of the twentieth century and examines where those trends are heading. Both a poignant personal memoir and a deep reflection on the past and the future of world capitalism. Check price/buy book.

The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists' Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics
by William Easterly. MIT Press. 2001. 342 pages. Paperback.
How can poor countries attain the standards of living achieved in Europe and North America? Most attempted remedies, such as foreign aid, have failed. The solution is to apply the fundamental economic principle of incentives in these efforts. Check price/buy book.

The Future European Model: Economic Internationalization and Cultural Decentralization
by J. Ørstrøm Møller. Praeger. 1995. 136 pages. Paperback.
A well-known Danish futurist and diplomat concludes that culture is the driving force behind the integration of all European enterprises and will lead to a new postindustrial age that deemphasizes material things. Check price/buy book.

The Future of Money
by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development. 2002. 176 pages. Paperback.
As cash and coins disappear, the emerging future of money is virtual and digital. How it will work and what the economic future holds are among this book's explorations. Check price/buy book.

The Future of U.S. Capitalism
by Frederic L. Pryor. Cambridge University Press. 2002. 447 pages.
An in-depth look at the long-term economic, social, cultural, and political forces shaping the United States. Writing in nontechnical language, renowned economist Pryor approaches the future of the U.S. economic system by examining trends of the last half century and those forces that will continue to be influential, including the impacts of an aging population and globalization. A series of appendices focusing on more technical issues will be of particular interest to specialists. Check price/buy book.

Future Wealth
by Stan Davis and Christopher Meyer. Harvard Business School Press. 2000. 201 pages.
Wealth creation in the Information Age has shifted from earned income (salaries) to unearned income (investments), and much of the control of that wealth is shifting from institutions to individuals. The authors of Blur follow up here with a compelling vision of the new economy and how individuals and organizations can benefit from it. Check price/buy book.

Global Inc.: An Atlas of Multinational Corporations
by Medard Gabel and Henry Bruner. The New Press. 2003. 165 pages. Paperback.
Do you know where BP, Microsoft, Wal-Mart, or United Parcel Service have holdings? Despite the fact that a handful of corporate giants control most of the world's energy, technology, food, money, and media, most people don't know where they are located—or how much they control. This book, a visual exploration of the history, scale, scope, and impacts of multinational corporations, maps the statistics of the world's major companies, including employee numbers, revenue, investments, subsidiaries, and assets. An essential volume for seeing globalization at a glance. Check price/buy book

Greed and Good: Understanding and Overcoming the Inequality That Limits Our Lives
by Sam Pizzigati. Apex Press. 2004. 659 pages. 
Labor journalist Pizzigati investigates the disparity of wealth in the United States and the economic, social, environmental, and political consequences of the growing gap between the very rich and the very poor. This book looks at the reasons for inequality, the high price we all pay for it, and some alternatives, including a maximum wage. Check price/buy book

Growing Public: Social Spending and Economic Growth Since the Eighteenth Century, Vol. 1
by Peter H. Lindert. Cambridge University Press. 2004. 377 pages. 
Economics professor Lindert inquires as to whether social policies that redistribute income impose constraints on economic growth. Although taxes and transfers have been debated for centuries, only recently have we been able to obtain a clear view of the evolution of social spending. Lindert argues that, contrary to the intuition of many economists and the ideology of many politicians, social spending has contributed to, rather than inhibited, economic growth. Check price/buy book.

It's Alive: The Coming Convergence of Information, Biology, and Business
by Christopher Meyer and Stan Davis. Crown Publishing Group. 2003. 288 pages.
A startling glimpse into the near future and the emerging economy awaiting us, this book explores the implications of the science of molecular evolution as it races out of the laboratory and into the business world. The authors illustrate how gene mapping and molecular engineering are overtaking and reshaping the Information Age, making the business world unpredictable, volatile, and continually adaptive—in a word, alive. Check price/buy book.

The Limits of Market Organization
edited by Richard R. Nelson. The Russell Sage Foundation. 2005. 386 Pages.
Economists and policy theorists have long been at odds on questions vital to our economic future: Does the privatization of public institutions do more harm than good? Can free market ideology, left unchecked, result in an environment as oppressive as one of over-regulation? This remarkable collection of essays offers a fresh perspective and makes the case for moderation.  Check price/buy book.

A Little Knowledge Is A Dangerous Thing: Understanding Our Global Knowledge Economy
by Dale Neef. Butterworth-Heinemann. 1999. 228 pages. Paperback.
In the growing knowledge-based economy, having only a little knowledge has become dangerous to your future. Economist Dale Neef predicts that the end of well-paying blue-collar jobs is near in all postindustrial societies and calls for new policies to reverse the trends leading toward a growing underclass of underskilled, undereducated citizens. Check price/buy book.

The Long Boom: A Vision for the Coming Age of Prosperity
by Peter Schwartz, Peter Leyden, and Joel Hyatt. Perseus Books. 1999. 330 pages.
The next century promises a long period of prosperity that will bring unprecedented freedom and opportunity. Analyzing trends in technology, economics, politics, and society, Global Business Network chairman Peter Schwartz and co-authors show how to reorient yourself and your business to take advantage of the larger forces driving us forward. Check price/buy book.

Mind Over Technology: Coming Out on Top as a Wired World Starts to Run on Automatic
by Richard W. Samson. Global Book Publisher. 2004. 268 pages. Paperback.
Technology is moving into every area of our jobs and lives. It can do our boring work and let us live like kings, or leave us destitute and dominated. Samson shows how we can come out on top by outlining techniques to cope with offshoring, automation, technogreed, media control, social backlash, and other problems that are affecting people's jobs and lives. Check price/buy book.

The New Financial Order: Risk in the Twenty-First Century
by Robert J. Shiller. Princeton University Press. 2003. 366 pages.
The author of Irrational Exuberance here argues for a new understanding of risk assessment as applied to the future value of our jobs, homes, communities, and national economies—and not just to risks in the stock market. Among the innovations he proposes are global markets for trading risk, inequality insurance, and intergenerational social security. Check price/buy book.

The New Geography of Global Income Inequality
by Glenn Firebraugh. Harvard University Press. 2003. 257 pages.
Demographer Firebaugh shows how income inequality is declining across nations while rising within nations, a transition creating a new geography of global income inequality in the twenty-first century. This book documents the causes of this trend while exploring how other analysts have overlooked how this inequality transition is reducing the importance of where a person is born in determining his or her future well-being. Check price/buy book

Seizing The Future: The Dawn of the Macroindustrial Era
(Second Edition) by Michael G. Zey. Transaction. 1998. 486 pages. Paperback.
This provocative, optimistic look at the impacts of technological breakthroughs argues that we have all the tools we need to end social problems such as poverty and hunger. But this will only come about by thinking big: turning our society into a Macroindustrial Culture emphasizing large-scale production. Check price/buy book.

Trade Threats, Trade Wars: Bargaining, Retaliation, and American Coercive Diplomacy
by Ka Zeng. University of Michigan Press. 2004. 312 pages.
This study of American trade policy looks at puzzles associated with using aggressive bargaining tactics to open foreign markets. Political science professor Zeng explores the domestic repercussions of the structure of trade between the United States and its trading partners and whether the United States has a competitive or complementary trade relationship with its trading partners. This book offers practical policy prescriptions that promise to be of interest to trade policy makers and students of international trade policy. Check price/buy book.

Understanding Economic Forecasts
edited by David F. Hendry and Neil R. Ericsson. MIT Press. 2001. 226 pages.
New developments, theories, and methods in economic forecasting over the last decade have acknowledged that the economy is dynamic and prone to sudden shifts. This book of essays by leading specialists and practitioners discusses how forecasting is conducted, evaluated, reported, and applied by academic, private, and governmental bodies. The essays also describe how econometric models for forecasting are constructed, how properties of forecasting methods can be analyzed, and what the future of economic forecasting may bring. Check price/buy book.

Education

The Creation of the Future: The Role of the American University
by Frank H.T. Rhodes. Cornell University Press. 2001. 265 pages.
As the information technology revolution transforms all our institutions, what is the fate of the research university? In order to survive, research-oriented universities must successfully meet a number of challenges, including reexamining tenure policies, improving institutional governance, and maintaining a sense of commitment to the university ideal in an age of increasing specialization. Check price/buy book.

Cyberschools: An Education Renaissance
by Glenn R. Jones. Foreword by Alvin and Heidi Toffler. Jones Digital Century. 1997. 180 pages.
People need more education than ever before, and distance learning—connecting cable and classroom—offers a way to meet that need. Cable-TV industry leader Glenn Jones outlines how we can provide higher education to all those who want it. Check price/buy book.

The Disciplined Mind: What All Students Should Understand
by Howard Gardner. Simon & Schuster. 1999. 287 pages.
School should not be just about learning facts—it should include understanding truth, beauty, and goodness (and falsity, ugliness, and evil), believes author Howard Gardner, developer of the concept of multiple intelligences. He envisions an education system that will help younger generations rise to the challenges of the future while preserving the traditional goals of a humane education. Check price/buy book.

Education for the Twenty-First Century
by William H. Boyer. Caddo Gap Press. 2002. 264 pages. Paperback.
Essays on the transformative power of education and its continuing importance to the future. Subjects include education’s goals and education about war, including ideologies and antiterrorism. Education philosopher Boyer has compiled a compelling volume stressing critical thinking over intellectual conformity. Check price/buy book

An Education Track for Creativity and Other Quality Thinking Processes
by Berenice Bleedorn. Scarecrow Press Books. 2003. 196 pages. Paperback.
Educator and futurist Bleedorn explores education techniques for teachers to help students think critically and deal more effectively with crisis and future uncertainty. An important book for educators, this volume covers creative problem solving, conflict resolution, and global and futuristic thinking. Check price/buy book

Edutopia: Success Stories for Learning in the Digital Age
by the George Lucas Educational Foundation. Foreword by George Lucas. Jossey-Bass. 2002. 294 pages. Paperback and CD-ROM.
A collection of stories touting the success of various educational institutions that incorporate innovative teaching techniques and new technologies into the classroom. Examines parent involvement, business and community partnerships, teacher skills, professional development, and unsung heroes. A useful volume for the educator of the future, as well as parents, administrators, students, and the entire breadth of the education community. An accompanying CD-ROM features 11 short documentaries on project-based learning, assessment, emotional intelligence, and teacher preparation. Check price/buy book.

Einstein Never Used Flash Cards: How Our Children REALLY Learnand Why They Need to Play More and Memorize Less
by Kathy Hirsh-Pasek and Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, with Diane Eyer. Rodale. 2003. 302 pages.
The authors hold that playful environments and spontaneous learning opportunities are key for happy, emotionally healthy, and intelligent children, as well as for fulfilled parents. This book offers usable and practical suggestions, such as games and experiments to do with children. Subjects include discovering hidden skills, developing social intelligence, and becoming an exceptional parent. Check price/buy book.

55 Trends: Looking at the Future of Education
by Marvin Cetron and Owen Davies. Educational Research Service. 2008.
A thought-provoking and far-reaching analysis of the social, political, and economic trends that will affect education in the United States in the coming years. Cetron and Davies utilized an expert panel of educational practitioners, administrators, policy makers, researchers, and others to review key trends in the world today and rate their expected effects on the school systems – and students – of tomorrow. Available May 2008. Order from Educational Research Service, 1001 N. Fairfax St., Suite 500, Alexandria, VA 22314-1587. Telephone 800-791-9308; fax 800-791-9309; e-mail ers@ers.org; Web site www.ers.org. Add the greater of $4.50 or 10% of total purchase price for postage and handling. Downloadable PDF available for purchase on ERS E-Knowledge Portal, http://portal.ers.org.

The Future of the American School System
by Irving H. Buchen. ScarecrowEducation. 2004. 333 pages. Paperback.
Futurist educator Buchen projects the direction of public education for the next 25 years. He identifies and examines the major drivers of change, profiles all the critical educational constituencies, and offers a number of commonsense solutions to current and future problems. He also provides scenarios of solutions to prove that new approaches are both doable and viable. Check price/buy book.

The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn
by Diane Ravitch. Knopf. 2003. 255 pages.
Censorship in the form of pressure from the political right and left has placed education in jeopardy by bowdlerizing words and concepts for students and test-takers. Ravitch explores how textbook companies and school districts react when pressure groups dictate what subjects, words, and ideas can be used in textbooks and tests, and the impact on student learning. Check price/buy book.

Leadership And Futuring: Making Visions Happen
by John R. Hoyle. Corwin Press. 1995. 68 pages. Paperback.
Educators need to enhance three key leadership abilities: to care deeply for others, to communicate a clear message simply and persuasively, and to persist under difficult circumstances. Check price/buy book.

Leaving School: Finding Education
by Jon Wiles and John Lundt. Matanzas Press. 2004. 232 pages. Paperback.
Veteran educators Wiles and Lundt call for the abandonment of schools in the United States in this age of new technologies and explore Internet learning portals as a promising replacement. Identifying schools as the final monopoly, the authors call for busting the education trust and offer 12 steps to overhauling what they see as an outdated, antiquated system. Check price/buy book.

The Power to Transform: Leadership that Brings Learning and Schooling to Life
by Stephanie Pace Marshall. Wiley and Sons. 2006. 243 pages.
Marshall, president of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, argues that by focusing on reforming the contents of schooling and not transforming the context and conditions of learning, we have created a false proxy for learning and eroded the potentially vibrant intellectual life of our schools. This book invites a new conversation and offers a new language and new design principles for recreating the learning environment. Check price/buy book.

Preparing Schools And School Systems For The 21st Century
by Frank Withrow with Harvey Long and Gary Marx. American Association of School Administrators. 1999. 106 pages. Paperback.
What characteristics will schools need to prepare children for success in the Information Age? This companion to the best-selling study Preparing Students for the 21st Century collects the insights of 21 leaders in education, business, and government on what the future will be like for today's students and what schools must do to prepare them for global competition in the knowledge-based economy. Check price/buy book.

Preparing Students For The 21st Century
by Donna Uchida with Marvin Cetron and Floretta McKenzie.  American Association of School Administrators. 1996. 74 pages. Paperback.
What MUST students learn to assure themselves a prosperous future? Compare your answers with those of more than 50 leaders in education, business, and government in this enlightening report on a Delphi study. Check price/buy book.

Restoring Free Speech and Liberty on Campus
by Donald Alexander Downs. The Independent Institute. 2005. 318 pages.
This book focuses on the threats to free speech and civil liberty that have sprung up on American campuses following the wave of so-called progressive reforms, including speech codes and broad anti-harassment codes, instituted in the late 1980s and the 1990s. Downs reveals how the deprivation of free speech, due process, and other basic civil liberties in higher education harms the truth-seeking mission of universities. Check price/buy book.

To Build a Better Teacher: The Emergence of a Competitive Education Industry
by Robert Gray Holland. Greenwood Publishing. 2003. 147 pages.
Education reformer Holland proposes breaking up the teacher-preparation monopoly dictating that teachers be accredited by a single national agency and replacing it with a market-based approach. He suggests setting up alternative tracks for bright liberal arts graduates or persons with valuable real-world experience to be hired as teachers, and using a value system for principals to judge how much each teacher has helped each child progress academically from school year to school year. Check price/buy book.

The University In Transformation: Global Perspectives on the Futures of the University
edited by Sohail Inayatullah and Jennifer Gidley. Bergin & Garvey/Greenwood Publishing Group. 2000. 270 pages.
This anthology of essays from scholars and futurists around the world describes how the forces of technology and economic globalization may alter what we think of as higher education. Topics include the virtual university, paying for college, feminist alternative universities, the role of corporations in higher education, and the rise of "multiversities." Check price/buy book.

What Next? Futuristic Scenarios for Creative Problem Solving
by Robert E. Myers and E. Paul Torrance. Zephyr Press. 1994. 286 pages. Paperback.
This workbook gives secondary-school teachers more than 50 exciting units that nourish creative thinking about the future. Check price/buy book.

Environment and Resources

Agroecology in Action: Extending Alternative Agriculture through Social Networks
by Keith Douglass Warner. MIT Press. 2007. 287 pages. Paperback. 
American agriculture has doubled its use of pesticides since the publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring in 1962. Agriculture is the nation's leading cause of non-point-source water pollution—runoffs of pesticides, nutrients, and sediments into streams, rivers, lakes and oceans. Keith Douglass Warner of Santa Clara University Environmental Studies Institute describes agroecology, an emerging scientific response to agriculture's environmental crises, and offers detailed case studies of ways in which growers, scientists, agricultural organizations, and public agencies have developed innovative, ecologically based techniques to reduce reliance on agrochemicals. Check Price/Buy Book

Ark of the Broken Covenant: Protecting the World's Biodiversity Hotspots
by John Charles Kunich. Praeger. 2003. 208 pages.
This book explores the world's vanishing regions of enormous biodiversity, what they mean for humanity, and what we can do to stop their disappearance. Arguing from a legal point of view, law professor Kunich believes that we have vastly more to gain than lose by legally protecting these fragile regions, and that forgoing them in favor of relatively minor and immediate returns is both foolish and dangerous. Check price/buy book.

Assessments of Regional and Global Environmental Risks: Designing Processes for the Effective Use of Science and Decisionmaking
edited by Alexander E. Farrell and Jill Jäger. RTF Press. 2006. 316 pages. Paperback.
This book, the result of an international, interdisciplinary research project, looks at past environmental assessments to reveal how their design influenced their effectiveness in bringing scientific evidence and insight into the decision-making process. The case studies feature a wide range of regional and global risks, including ozone depletion, crossborder air pollution, and climate change. Check price/buy book.

Beyond Malthus: Nineteen Dimensions of the Population Challenge
by Lester R. Brown, Gary Gardner, and Brian Halweil. W.W. Norton. 1999. 167 pages. Paperback.
In developing nations where populations have exploded in recent decades, a dangerous slowdown may soon begin: not because of smaller families, but because of increasing death rates. The population problem is an enormous burden to governments, which must educate children, create jobs, protect the environment, eradicate diseases, and meet many other needs. This insightful report from the Worldwatch Institute examines the major impacts of the population problem and calls for an immediate expansion of family-planning programs around the world. Check price/buy book.

Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America's Energy Future
by Jeff Goodell. Houghton Mifflin. 2006. 336 pages.
Few people realize the major role that coal plays in supplying the world with energy, despite a century-long legacy that has claimed millions of lives and ravaged the environment. In Big Coal, veteran journalist Jeff Goodell exposes the environmental, political, and economic forces behind the reemergence of this highly polluting fuel and shatters the myth of coal as a cheap and harmless source of power. Check price/buy book.

Birds, Scythes, and Combines: A History of Birds and Agricultural Change
by Michael Shrubb. Cambridge University Press. 2003. 371 pages.
The historical and future effects of farming on bird populations in Great Britain is the subject of this treatise by retired farmer and noted bird enthusiast Shrubb, who argues that modern farming methods are severely imperiling natural diversity. The result has been fewer bird species—game birds, songbirds, waterfowl, raptors—seen in fewer numbers. Check price/buy book.

Capitalism as if the World Matters (Revised Edition)
by Jonathon Porritt. Earthscan. 2007. 384 pages. Paperback.
Jonathon Porritt, a co-founder and program director at the Forum for the Future, elaborates on the argument he made in the book's first edition (2005) and answers his critics. New material includes coverage of the United States and the politics of climate change, the state of the global environmental debate and the massive upsurge in religious engagement with climate and the environment. Case studies explore the potential role of U.S. corporations such as Wal-Mart and General Electric in a sustainable capitalist future. Porritt also looks at China and the global impact that this economic giant may have as it grows into the most environmentally damaging—or perhaps the first sustainable superpower—of the twenty-first century. Check price/buy book

The Carbon Buster's Home Energy Handbook 
by Godo Stoyke. New Society Publishers. 2006. 170 pages. Paperback. 
Stoyke, president of Carbon Busters Inc., systematically analyzes energy costs and evaluates which measures yield the highest returns for the environment and the pocketbook. The book provides answers to questions such as: Which measure is more effective, putting solar panels on your roof or buying a hybrid car? Where do I need to invest first: in high-efficiency shower heads or solar tubes? Is a $500 fridge that uses 800 kWh of power per year a good buy? The goal of the handbook is to enable readers to dramatically reduce their carbon emissions. Check price/buy book.

Carbon Trading: A Critical Conversation on Climate Change, Privatisation and Power (Development Dialogue No. 48)
edited by Larry Lohmann. The Corner House. 2006. 359 pages. Available in PDF:
The main cause of global warming is rapidly increasing carbon-dioxide emissions—primarily the result of burning fossil fuels. Some responses to the crisis, however, are causing new and severe problems—and may even increase global warming. This seems to be the case with carbon trading—the main current international response to climate change and the centerpiece of the Kyoto Protocol. This exhaustively documented book takes a broad look at the social, political and environmental dimensions of carbon trading and concludes that this approach to the problem of rapid climate change is both ineffective and unjust. The bulk of fossil fuels must be left in the ground if climate chaos is to be avoided, argues author Lohmann of the Corner House, a U.K. environmental advocacy and research group.

The Cohousing Handbook: Building a Place for Community
by Chris Scotthanson and Kelly Scotthanson. New Society Publishers. 2005. 291 pages.
Cohousing, a movement begun in Denmark in the late 1960s, is steadily gaining popularity in the United States as more and more potential home buyers search not just for real estate, but for a sense of community. The Cohousing Handbook offers a step-by-step manual for designing, constructing, populating, and managing a fully functional cohousing site. Bret Gregory of Mithun Architects+Designers+Planners has said of the book, "Cohousing is an important example of the global solutions we all must embrace in order to use land efficiently, and resources wisely, while creating healthy and vibrant communities for our future."  Check price/buy book.

The Coming Storm: Extreme Weather and Our Terrifying Future
by Bob Reiss. Hyperion. 2001. 323 pages.
Journalist Reiss takes us to the front lines of some of the decade's most destructive storms and describes global warming through the eyes of those most involved—researchers, meteorologists, and the families that have been affected. A frightening, enlightening, and fascinating portrait of climate changes and its impacts. Check price/buy book.

Constant Battles: The Myth of the Peaceful, Noble Savage
by Steven A. LeBlanc with Katherine E. Register. St. Martin's Press. 2003. 269 pages.
The battle over resources is what has motivated human beings from time immemorial, says Harvard archaeologist LeBlanc. Debunking the theory that our ancestors were more "in touch" with nature—never overgrazing or overfishing but only taking what they needed from the land—LeBlanc uses a historical approach to show how people have always warred when resources were scarce, often with devastating results. As our finite resources dwindle, LeBlanc foresees an apocalyptic future unless steps are taken now. Check price/buy book.

Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things
by William McDonough and Michael Braungart. North Point Press. 2002. 208 pages. Paperback.
Waste, pollution, and the throwaway society in which we live is the subject of this book, a critique of traditional manufacturing and environmental practices. The authors redefine recycling as "downcycling"—making bad products worse—and describe successful business practices for producing an environmentally healthier future. Form follows content in this book: It's printed on synthetic paper, making it completely recyclable and waterproof. Check price/buy book.

The Earth Charter in Action: Toward a Sustainable World 
edited by Peter Blaze Corcoran. Stylus. 2007. 192 pages. 
The Earth Charter in Action is a collection of more than 70 essays by such Well-known contributors as Mikhail Gorbachev, Maurice F. Strong, Wangari Maathai, Jane Goodall, and Princess Basma Bint Talal. The book points toward the many possibilities of future utilization of the Charter, including its ability to bridge the Islamic and Christian worlds and to work across the divide between the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Includes 75 full-color illustrations. Check price/buy book.

The Earth Policy Reader
by Lester R. Brown, Janet Larsen, and Bernie Fischlowitz-Roberts. W.W. Norton. 2002. 303 pages. Paperback.
Today's economic prosperity has come from overplowing land, overfishing oceans, overgrazing rangelands, overcutting forests, and overpumping aquifers, according to Lester Brown and colleagues at the Earth Policy Institute. This volume examines trends and prospects for achieving a more ecologically sound economy. Topics: climate change, food insecurity, population growth, disappearing species, and ways to solve these problems and others. Check price/buy book.

Earth Report 2000: Revisiting the True State of the Planet
edited by Ronald Bailey.McGraw-Hill. 2000. 362 pages. Paperback.
This collection of essays by various experts argues against environmental concerns about global warming, overpopulation, and such new threats as endocrine disruptors. Concludes with some 70 pages of statistics presenting evidence of positive trends shaping the environmental future. The book can be contrasted with the Worldwatch Institute's State of the World reports. Check price/buy book.

The Earth’s Biosphere: Education, Dynamics, and Change
by Vaclav Smil. MIT Press. 2002. 346 pages.
An in-depth, scientific look at the earth’s biosphere from its origins to its long-term future. University of Manitoba professor Smil discusses life in the universe, diversity and resilience, heat and energy, biospheric cycles, dynamics and organization, and the effects of civilization on the global environment. Illustrated with photographs and charts, this book shows the amazing attributes of the earth’s realm of life while emphasizing the need to minimize potentially destructive impacts on the environment. Check price/buy book

Eat Here: Reclaiming Homegrown Pleasures in a Global Supermarket
by Brian Halweil. W.W. Norton and Company. 2004. 236 pages. Paperback. 
Worldwatch Institute researcher Halweil shows why eating local foods from nearby farms and shops is better for your health, for farmers, and for the planet. Drawing on case studies from such diverse places as Nebraska, Kenya, Italy, and Norway, Halweil reveals how eating locally grown foods can help to improve diet, sustain the environment, and strengthen local communities. Check price/buy book.

Ecological Security: An Evolutionary Perspective on Globalization
by Dennis Clark Pirages and Theresa Manley DeGeest. Rowman and Littlefield. 2004. 286 pages. Paperback.
The dynamics of globalization have dramatically changed the environment, and understanding these changes is crucial to future human well-being. The authors (specialists in international environmental politics and governance) analyze past, present, and likely future trajectories of techno-ecological drivers of change and anticipate their impact on evolutionary processes and ecological security. The book discusses globalization, biosecurity, technology, governance, global energy politics, and demographic changes, and concludes with 10 steps to enhanced ecological security. Check price/buy book

Economics for Collaborative Environmental Management: Renegotiating the Commons
by Graham R. Marshall. Earthscan. 2005. 184 pages.
Critics charge that mainstream economics is a poor tool for managing environmental resource commons. In this provocative book, Marshall examines how collaborative or decentralized environmental management might benefit from employing management techniques that are not based on traditional economics. Topics discussed include "Developments in Collective Action Theory for Commons Management," "An Economics for Collaborative Environmental Management," and "From Antagonism to Trust: Collaborative Salinity Management in Australia's Murray Darling Basin." Check price/buy book.

Electric Water: The Emerging Revolution in Water and Energy
by Christopher C. Swan. New Society Publishers. 2007. 223 pages. Paperback.
A San Francisco-based designer, Christopher Swan maintains that most cities have enough rain and sun to meet their water and energy needs and that readily-available technologies could create entirely new sources of energy. Building on current mainstream trends in solar energy and wind power, Electric Water offers a vision of how the world's energy and water infrastructure could be transformed. The book provides an outline of the major issues that need addressing, including global warming; an explanation of key technologies in "plain water"; a vision of business and job opportunities in restoration; real-life examples, including the post-Katrina Louisiana Coastal Restoration program; and Web sites for further information. Check price/buy book

Energy in Nature and Society: General Energetics of Complex Systems
by Vaclav Smil. The MIT Press. 2008. 512 pages. Paperback.
Energy in Nature and Society is an analysis of all the major energy sources, storages, flows, and conversions that have shaped the evolution of the biosphere and civilization. Smil uses fundamental unifying metrics (most notably for power density and energy intensity) to provide an integrated framework for analyzing all segments of energetics (the study of energy flows and their transformations). The book concludes with an examination of general patterns, trends, and socioeconomic considerations of energy use today, looking at correlations between energy and value, energy and the economy, energy and quality of life, and energy futures. Check price/buy book

The End of Oil: On the Edge of a Perilous New World
by Paul Roberts. Houghton Mifflin. 2004. 360 pages.
Within 30 years, we will have used up most of the world's oil that is easily accessible. Environmental writer Roberts explores options for breaking Western addiction to oil and what we will use in its place to maintain a global economy and political system that are entirely reliant on cheap, readily available energy. Among his topics: oil economics and politics, promises and pitfalls of oil alternatives, and threatening disruption and violence. Check price/buy book.

Environmentalism and the Technologies of Tomorrow: Shaping the Next Industrial Revolution
edited by Robert Olson and David Rejeski. Island Press. 2005. 208 pages.
Robert Olson, senior fellow at the Institute for Alternative Futures, and David Rejeski of the Woodrow Wilson International Center have put together a collection of essays by such leading scientists, technologists, and environmentalists as Lester Brown, Hazel Henderson, and James Gustave Speth. This engaging and informative text examines the impacts of the coming revolutions in robotics, genetics, and information communications. Check price/buy book.

Farming and the Fate of Wild Nature: Essays in Conservation-Based Agriculture
edited by Daniel Imhoff and Jo Ann Baumgartner. University of California Press. 2006. 264 pages. Paperback. 
Farming and the Fate of Wild Nature addresses the need for heightened land stewardship and conservation in an era of diminishing natural resources. Agricultural lands in rural areas are being purchased for development. Water scarcities are pitting urban and development expansion against agriculture and conservation needs. The modern diet, driven by a grain-fed-livestock industry, is no longer connected with the ecosystems that support it. This book features a wide range of essays, articles, and other materials by such authors as Aldo Leopold, Wendell Berry, and Michael Pollan. This book argues that farm and ranch operations which coexist with wild nature are necessary to sustain biodiversity and beauty on the landscape and are essential in the challenge of building sane, healthy, and hopeful human societies. Check Price/Buy Book

Feeding People Is Easy
by Colin Tudge. Pari Publishing. 2007. 159 pages. Paperback.
The world could be fed forever, with one major change in our thinking: to wit, not leaving the problems of the world in the hands of the "powers that be." Hunger is a world problem not because of lack of food but because of the hunger for power among the world's elite, argues acclaimed science writer Colin Tudge. One key is for individuals to become more directly active in the food chain, such as through local and global food clubs. Check Price/Buy Book

Freedom from Mid-East Oil
by Jerry Brown, Rinaldo Brutoco, James Cusumano. 
World Business Academy. 2007. 595 pages. 
This book puts forward a set of policy recommendations and a step-by-step plan for dealing with climate change and freeing the United States from Middle-Eastern oil. The authors contend that their plan, implementable in 10 years, would cost half of the current price of the Iraq War and would be achievable without raising U.S. taxes. Available after October 15, 2007 from www.worldbusiness.org. 

Grave Matters: A Journey Through the Modern Funeral Industry to a Natural Way of Burial
by Mark Harris. Scribner. 2007. 208 pages.
Grave Matters details the embalming process and the environmental aftermath of the standard funeral. Harris traces the history of burial in America from frontier cemeteries to the billion-dollar business it is today, reporting on real families who opted for more simple and natural returns. Most importantly, he examines the new green burial underground, from natural cemeteries and domestic graveyards to boats from which ashes and memorial "reef balls" are cast into the sea. He follows a family that conducts a home funeral, one that delivers a loved one to the crematory, and another that hires a carpenter to build a pine coffinall for the purpose of showing how we might reinvent burial for the twenty-first century. Check price/buy book.

Green Remodeling: Changing the World One Room at a Time
by David Johnston and Kim Master. New Society Publishers. 2004. 379 pages. Paperback.  
A comprehensive guide to all you need to know to make your home environmentally friendly. The authors take the reader through a recent renovation in detail, stressing the energy, cost, and health advantages of green remodeling. The book deals with general building principles as well as room-by-room specifics, covering foundations, finishing, plumbing, ventilation, appliances, and solar energy. A detailed appendix also lists common sources of indoor air pollutants.  Check price/buy book.

Harnessing Farms and Forests in the Low-Carbon Economy: How to Create, Measure, and Verify Greenhouse Gas Offsets
from the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions. Duke University Press. 2007. 227 pages. Paperback.
As the United States moves to a low-carbon economy in order to combat global warming, credits for reducing carbon-dioxide emissions will increasingly become a commodity that is bought and sold on the open market. Farmers and other landowners can benefit from this new economy by conducting land management practices that help sequester carbon dioxide, creating credits they can sell to industry to "offset" industrial emissions of greenhouse gases. This guide is a comprehensive technical publication providing direction to landowners for sequestering carbon and information for traders and others who will need to verify the sequestration gas offsets as a tradable commodity in the United States. Check Price/Buy Book

Heat: How to Stop the Planet From Burning
by George Monbiot. South End Press. 2007. 277 pages. 
George Monbiot, best-selling author of The Age of Consent, offers an ambitious and far-reaching program to cut our carbon dioxide emissions to the point where the environmental scales start tipping away from catastrophe. The only way to avoid further devastation, Monbiot argues, is a 90% cut in CO₂ emissions by the rich nations of the world by 2030. In other words, our response will have to be immediate, and it will have to be decisive. Check price/buy book.

Hubbert's Peak: The Impending World Oil Shortage
by Kenneth S. Deffeyes. Princeton University Press. 2001. 208 pages.
Predictions of the end of oil have met deaf ears for the past half century, but the geophysical reality is that we have less than a decade to prepare ourselves for a post-petroleum world, warns geologist and former Shell Oil researcher Kenneth Deffeyes. This book offers practical strategies for meeting the energy challenges in our very-near future. Check price/buy book.

The Hydrogen Age: Empowering a Clean-Energy Future
by Geoffrey B. Holland and James J. Provenzano. Gibbs Smith. 2007. 370 pages.
Clean, safe, inexhaustibly renewable energy is not only possible, it exists now, say Holland and Provenzano. Hydrogen stands out as one of the best alternatives to traditional polluting fossil fuels because it is clean with no polluting emissions, nontoxic, renewable; it is at least as safe as the fuels we currently use, universally available, and easily adaptable to a broad range of applications, the authors argue. The Hydrogen Age details how this energy carrier has been vital to the workings of the universe since the beginning of time, and why it is now ready to play a central part in healing our Earth, our atmosphere, and the world's economies as a clean-energy commodity. Check Price/Buy Book

Liquid Assets: An Economic Approach for Water Management and Conflict Resolution in the Middle East and Beyond
by Franklin M. Fisher, Annette Huber-Lee, et al. Resources For the Future Press. 2005. 256 pages. Paperback. 
Liquid Assets challenges the popular notion that future water wars are unavoidable. The book presents an allocation model that can be used to assist water managers, inform future cost-benefit analyses of water infrastructure, and enable resolution of disputes. Contributors to the volume, including Israeli, Jordanian, Palestinian, American, and Dutch experts, show how to apply this methodology to a region where water is already scarce and political relations are as tense as ever. Check price/buy book.

Marine Conservation Biology: The Science of Maintaining the Sea's Biodiversity
edited by Elliot A. Norse and Larry B. Crowder. Island Press. 2006. 470 pages. Paperback
This up-to-the-moment overview of the science of marine conservation also covers the political, economic, scientific and technological issues associated with securing one of the world's most precious resources, water. A useful guide for water resource professionals in government agencies and nongovernmental organizations, researchers, students, and anyone concerned with water and its use. Check price/buy book.

No Vacancy: Global Responses to the Human Population Explosion
edited by Michael Tobias. Hope Publishing House. 2006. 230 pages. Paperback.
If current world population trends continue, human numbers could more than double to 13 billion, which could spell disaster for the Earth's ecosystems. This collection of 16 essays focuses successful strategies that have been employed around the world in the fight against overpopulation. The authors, including such experts as Lester R. Brown of the Earth Policy Institute and Christopher Flavin of the Worldwatch Institute, describe a global transformation and a fertility transition that may well prove to be essential to humanity's survival and the continuation of life on Earth. Check price/buy book.

Oceans 2020: Science, Trends, and the Challenge of Sustainability
edited by John G. Field, Gotthilf Hempel, and Colin P. Summerhayes. 2002. 365 pages. Paperback.
A collection of essays assessing the most important science and societal issues likely to arise in marine science and ocean management in the next 20 years. Topics include climate, coastal ecosystems, fisheries, technologies, and social challenges. Check price/buy book.

The Oil Depletion Protocol: A Plan to Avert Oil Wars, Terrorism and Economic Collapse
by Richard Heinberg. New Society Publishers. 2006. 256 pages. Paperback.
The Oil Depletion Protocol describes a unique accord whereby nations would voluntarily reduce their oil production and oil imports according to a consistent, sensible formula. This would enable an energy transition to be planned and supported over the long term and provide a context for stable energy prices and peaceful cooperation. The book gives an overview of the data concerning peak oil and its timing, briefly explains the protocol and its implications for the reader and for decision makers in government and industry around the world, deals with frequently asked questions and objections, and looks forward to how the protocol can be adopted and how municipalities and ordinary citizens can facilitate the process. Check price/buy book.

Oil, Profits, and Peace: Does Business Have a Role in Peacemaking?
by Jill Shankleman. United States Institute of Peace Press. 2007. 235 pages. Paperback. 
Drawing on years of field experience and new data from corporations, NGOs, and hundreds of personal interviews, Shankleman, a former senior fellow at the United States Institute of Peace, explores the links between oil and conflict, and changing notions and forms of corporate responsibility. Oil, Profits, and Peace spotlights three oil-dependent countries—Angola, Azerbaijan, and Sudan—that have had very different experiences with conflict and the oil industry. The author concludes with recommendations for government and corporate policy makers. As a matter of enlightened self-interest, more and more companies are collaborating in novel ways with governments, international organizations, and NGOs to limit environmental damage, provide local jobs, increase transparency, and enhance the chances of sustaining both profits and peace. Check Price/Buy Book

One Planet, Many People: Atlas of Our Changing Environment
by the United Nations Environment Programme. 2005. 332 pages.
This unique atlas, using vibrant and colorful satellite images, provides clear and compelling illustration of all the ways in which humans are changing our environment. One Planet, Many People will prove to be an invaluable resource for anyone curious about humanity's continual effect on the world in which we live. Check price/buy book

One with Nineveh: Politics, Consumption, and the Human Future
by Paul R. Ehrlich and Anne H. Ehrlich. Shearwater Books. 2004. 447 pages.
Rising consumption, increasing world population, and unchecked political and economic inequity are increasingly shaping today's politics, undermining the planet's sustainability, and determining humankind's future, according to the Ehrlichs, both members of Stanford's biological sciences department. Drawing on ecological, demographic, economic, climatological, and political research, the authors discuss media control, immigration, energy, and other important topics shaping the future. Check price/buy book.

Outgrowing the Earth: The Food Security Challenge in an Age of Falling Water Tables and Rising Temperatures
by Lester R. Brown. W.W. Norton. 2005. 239 pages. Paperback. 
Environmental analyst Brown documents the ways in which human demands are outstripping the earth's natural capacities and how the resulting environmental damage is undermining food production. Citing the high stakes inherent in producing enough food for the future, Brown advocates policies that stabilize climate, raise water production, make transport systems more efficient, and seek a balance between population and food. Outgrowing the Earth investigates these issues and outlines steps needed to secure future food supplies. Check price/buy book.

Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization, Third Edition
by Lester R. Brown. Norton. 2008. 384 pages. Paperback.
In this updated edition of Plan B, Lester Brown, president of the Earth Policy Institute, outlines a survival strategy for twenty-first-century civilization. The world faces many environmental trends of disruption and decline, including rising temperatures and spreading water shortage. In addition to these looming threats, we face the peaking of oil, annual population growth of 70 million, a widening global economic divide, and a growing list of failing states. The scale and complexity of issues facing our fast-forward world have no precedent. With Plan A, (business as usual), we have neglected these issues for too long. In Plan B 3.0, Lester R. Brown warns that the only effective response now is a World War II-type mobilization such as the United States undertook after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Check price/buy book

Planet Earth Home: The Ultimate Self-Sufficient Home for Any Location in the World
by Mel Moench. Osprey Press, 2004. 538 pages.
A comprehensive tome on the history and future of the self-sufficient homea specially constructed and equipped dwelling that generates its own power and includes systems to provide food for a family. Futurist visionary Moench covers functionality, efficiency, durability, and energy-saving aspects of the self-sufficient home. Includes instructions on how to build one. Order from www.planetearthhome.com. Check price/buy book

Playing Safe: Science and the Environment
by Jonathon Porritt. Thames & Hudson. 2000. 143 pages. Paperback.
Using new technologies before we know their potential environmental impacts can have deadly, irreversible consequences. Explaining current problems in easy-to-understand language, environmentalist Jonathon Porritt, founder and director of Britain's Forum for the Future, advises a more cautious and skeptical approach to applying scientific knowledge to improve the world around us. (Part of the Prospects for Tomorrow series.) Check price/buy book.

Plows, Plagues and Petroleum: How Humans Took Control of the Climate
by William F. Ruddiman. Princeton University Press. 2005. 272 pages.
Human beings are not only influencing climate change today, they've been doing so for perhaps 8,000 years, says author Ruddiman, an environmental scientist. Farming, irrigation, and industrial technological advancements, according to Ruddiman, have all affected weather patterns. The author details how humans helped the Earth avert a new ice age; how special-interest groups, lobbyists, and environmental organizations have molded research for their own agendas; why plagues and disease actually helped cool the planet; and the future of the Earth's climate. Check price/buy book.

Powerdown: Options and Actions for a Post-Carbon World
by Richard Heinberg. New Society Publishers. 2004. 208 pages. Paperback. 
Severe resource depletions and ensuing energy shortages will beleaguer industrial nations in the twenty-first century, according to energy journalist Heinberg. "Powerdown" is his scenario for the processes that will enable humanity to survive, including reducing per capita resource usage, developing alternative energy sources, distributing resources more equitably, and reducing populations over time. Check price/buy book.

Recovering America: A More Gentle Way to Build
by Malcolm Wells. Published by the author. 1999. 143 pages. Illustrated.
Colorfully illustrated and handwritten, this deeply personal volume offers nature-revering and soul-cheering solutions to overdevelopment. Describing what he has seen happening to America—the obliteration of the landscape by developers—architect Malcolm Wells envisions earth-covered living environments as an alternative to paving over nature to make it fit for human habitation. Check price/buy book.

Restoring America's Neighborhoods: How Local People Make a Difference
by Michael R. Greenberg. Rutgers University Press. 1999. 176 pages.
Neighborhoods are deteriorating in thousands of poor urban and rural areas. This book profiles effective "street fighters"—local leaders making a difference. Check price/buy book.

Riparian Areas: Functions and Strategies for Management
by the National Research Council. National Academies Press. 2002. 428 pages.
The importance of riparian ecosystems to the future of national policy objectives is the subject of this in-depth, scientific report by specialists of the National Academies. Topics include structure and function of riparian areas across the United States, human impacts and alterations, existing legal strategies for riparian area protection, and management of riparian areas. Issue areas covered include water quality, threatened and endangered species, reduction of flood damage, and beneficial management of federal public lands. Check price/buy book

Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet
by Mark Lynas. National Geographic. Available January 22, 2008. 336 pages.
In 2001, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a landmark report projecting average global surface temperatures to rise between 1.4 degrees and 5.8 degrees Celsius (roughly 2 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit) by the end of this century. Based on this forecast, Lynas outlines what to expect from a warming world, degree by degree. Check Price/Buy Book

The Solar Living Source Book: Your Complete Guide to Renewable Energy, Technologies and Sustainable Living, 12th Edition
by John Schaeffer. Gaiam Real Goods. 2005. 564 pages. Paperback. 
The Solar Living Source Book is a complete guide to buying, building, and living green. Providing valuable information on everything from water heating to electric cars, this source book will prepare and inspire you for a greener future. Check price/buy book.

Solar Revolution: The Economic Transformation of the Global Energy Industry
by Travis Bradford. The MIT Press. 2006. 248 pages.
As today's energy crisis escalatesand gas prices along with itSolar Revolution predicts that in the next few decades solar will become the cheapest energy source for most applications and will be widely accessible to consumers in both the developing and undeveloped world. He argues that several converging trends that are building the momentum for tomorrow's solar boom. The shift to solar energy is inevitable, Bradford describes, and will be as transformative as the last century's revolutions in information and communications technologies. Check price/buy book.

State of the World 2006: Special Focus: China and India
by The Worldwatch Institute. W. W. Norton & Company. 2006. 243 pages. Paperback.
As China and India become world-class economies, they are set to join existing industrialized nations as major consumers of resources and polluters of local and global ecosystems. These and other issues are tackled in the latest edition of this annual report on planetary well-being. State of the World is a comprehensive resource on sustainability issues, used by policy makers, corporate planners, development specialists, journalists, students, and concerned citizens around the world. Check price/buy book.

State of the World 2005: Redefining Global Security
by The Worldwatch Institute. W.W. Norton. 2005. 237 pages. Paperback. 
The focus of this annual edition is on international security concerns: acts of terror born out of poverty, inequality, international crime, the spread of deadly weapons, mass population movements, natural disasters, ecosystem breakdown, new and resurgent communicable diseases, and bitter competition over land and resources. In-depth sections look at the environmental impacts of war, toxic chemicals, nuclear proliferation, nuclear energy, and environmental refugees. Foreward by Mikhail S. Gorbachev, former Soviet Union premier and chairman of Green Cross International. Check price/buy book.

Stormy Weather: 101 Solutions to Global Climate Change
by Guy Dauncey with Patrick Mazza. New Society Publishers. 2001. 271 pages. Paperback.
The challenges presented by global warming are becoming more urgent. The authors offer practical suggestions for individuals, organizations, and governments to alleviate the "stormy weather" ahead. Check price/buy book.

Sustainable Energy: Choosing Among Options
by Jefferson W. Tester, et al. MIT Press. 2005. 846 pages.
Human survival depends on a continuing energy supply, but our ever-increasing need for energy has presented us with a dilemma: how can we provide the benefits of electric power to the Earth's population without causing further damage to our environment, eroding social stability, or threatening the well-being of future generations? The solution will lie in finding sustainable energy sources and more efficient means of converting and utilizing power. This textbook addresses the challenges of integrating diverse factors and the importance for future generations of the energy choices we make today. According to Jack Gibbons, former presidential science advisor and former director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, this book "provides the intellectual tools and perspectives needed to devise a sound strategy for ensuring sustainability." Check price/buy book.

Switching to Renewable Power: A Framework for the 21st Century
edited by Volkmar Lauber. Earthscan. 2006. 256 pages.
This book seeks to offer strategies for promoting renewable energy within the context of a rapid energy transition. It endeavors to describe the global context in detail, covering oil and gas depletion, as well as climate change, third world development and renewable energy. The authors evaluate support mechanisms at national and international levels and offer readers a clear understanding of the regulatory framework and the opportunities to promote renewable energy effectively. Check price/buy book.

Taming the Sahara: Tunisia Shows a Way While Others Falter
by Andrew Borowiec. Praeger. 2003. 145 pages.
Tunisia is the only North African country actively resisting encroachment of the Sahara Desert. Veteran observer Borowiec examines Tunisia's bold approach to the problem by erecting barriers against sandstorms, controlling urbanization, experimenting with farming, settling nomads, and successfully exploiting the desert as a major tourist attraction. Tunisia's story serves as an example to nations worldwide coping with desert encroachment, agricultural change, and climate issues, and offers solutions for survival against the "sea of sand." Check price/buy book

Together at the Table: Sustainability and Sustenance in the American Agrifood System
by Patricia Allen. Pennsylvania State University Press. 2004. 260 pages. 
This book is about people throughout the United States who are building successful alternatives to the contemporary agrifood system and their prospects for the future. Subjects include alternative agrifood movements, sustainability, and sustenance. Check price/buy book.

Tomorrow's Energy
by Peter Hoffmann. MIT Press. 2001. 289 pages. Paperback.
The future economy will be driven by hydrogen, the most abundant element in the universe. Hydrogen derived from water and solar energy could replace fossil fuels and offer the world a nonpolluting renewable source of power. Hoffmann demonstrates how hydrogen sources can be adapted by different countries and economies.Check price/buy book.

Vital Signs 2005: The Trends That Are Shaping Our Future
edited by Linda Starke, the Worldwatch Institute. W.W. Norton & Company. 2005. 139 pages. Paperback.
Part of the Worldwatch Institute's Vital Signs series, this book is a compendium of the various food, energy, economic, environmental, and societal trends sweeping the globe. The articles contained here provide a picture of our changing world that is both complete and full of nuance. "The world is in the midst of a period of unprecedented and disruptive change, offering enormous opportunities and even greater risks. . . . Understanding the dynamic present is a first step, we believe, to crating a better future," writes Worldwatch Institute President Christopher Flavin. Check price/buy book.

The Water Atlas
by Robin Clarke and Jannet King. The New Press. 2004. 127 pages. Paperback.
Subtitled "a unique visual analysis of the world's most critical resource," The Water Atlas is a colorfully illustrated guide to water use, reuse, and control. Clarke and King examine worldwide water distribution, the real cost of water use in water-rich countries, and the dangers of a future where privatization and profit dictate availability. Topics include consumption, scarcity, areas of political tension, and looming catastrophes. Detailed maps, charts, graphs, and statistics are included. Check price/buy book.

Where We Stand: A Surprising Look at the Real State of Our Planet
by Seymour Garte. AMACOM. 2007. 290 pages.
Where We Stand serves as a reality check for a debate surrounded by controversy. Garte presents evidence that the state of the environment and human welfare has been improving steadily for the past two decades and that our efforts to "save the planet" are working. Contrary to popular opinion, the air and water are getting cleaner, cancer rates are decreasing, and forestation is improving. Where We Stand seeks to energize future efforts with the knowledge that we can make a difference. There is still work to be done, says Garte, but with a clearer picture of where we stand today, we will have a better chance for tomorrow. Check Price/Buy Book

Wildfire and Americans: How to Save Lives, Property, and Your Tax Dollars
by Roger G. Kennedy. Hill and Wang. 2006. 332 pages.
Natural disasters cannot be stopped, but their high costto us and to the earthcan be mitigated and controlled. Unfortunately, as long as the government adheres to an outdated model of urban dispersion, people will continue to move into areas where wildfire will strike, argues former National Park Service director. Check price/buy book.

The Winds of Change: Climate, Weather, and the Destruction of Civilizations
by Eugene Linden. Simon & Schuster. 302 pages.
The science of climate change is still young but climate, historically, has been a killer of civilizations. The tragedy of New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina provides but one more example of what happens when nature's wrath becomes particularly brutal. Journalist Linden examines what an unpredictable climate may do to our own unprepared civilization in the years ahead. Check price/buy book.

World Water and Food to 2025: Dealing with Scarcity
by Mark W. Rosegrant, Ximing Cai, and Sarah A. Cline. International Food Policy Research Institute. 2002. 322 pages. Paperback or pdf file.
The knowledgeable authors examine food production and global food security as water becomes increasingly scarce, and offer steps to avert threats to food supplies, the environment, and human livelihoods. A highly technical look at how water availability and demand are likely to evolve, and the policies and actions necessary to prevent crisis. Order from the publisher at www.ifpri.org (free download).

Futures Studies

Advancing Futures: Futures Studies in Higher Education
edited by James A. Dator. Praeger Publishers. 2002. 416 pages. Paperback.
Twenty-eight essays by distinguished scholars in political science, history, sociology, anthropology, and economics on the future of futures studies as an academic discipline. Written by academics for academics, Advancing Futures explores theories, methods, and concepts of futures studies; its relation to other fields; and the reasons behind its lack of wider acceptance as a serious course of study. Check price/buy book.

Anticipate the World You Want: Learning for Alternative Futures
by Marsha Lynne Rhea. Scarecrow Education. 2005. 126 pages. Paperback.
A senior futurist with the Institute for Alternative Futures, Marsha Lynne Rhea has written an important introduction to future thinking and methodologies in a learning environment. Anticipate the World You Want will help both students and teachers at the forefront of foresight. Check price/buy book.

The Art Of The Long View: Planning for the Future in an Uncertain World
by Peter Schwartz. Doubleday/Currency. 1991. 258 pages. Paperback.
Charting the course of your future or that of your company requires intuition and creativity. Schwartz shows how composing and using scenarios can help you visualize and prepare for a better future. Check price/buy book.

A Brief History of the Future: How Visionary Thinkers Changed the World and Tomorrow's Trends Are "Made" and Marketed
by Oona Strathern. Carroll & Graf. 2007. 320 pages. Paperback.
Strathern, a writer and consultant with the Zukunftsinstitut (future institute) consultancy firm, chronicles the most influential futurists over the years, from Delphi's virgin visionaries to pop futurists, science-fiction writers, trend gurus, and evolutionary experts. "This book is wise and witty with great stories about the characters who would see the future and their sometimes outrageous ideas. Best of all it illuminates the past of the future," says John Naisbitt, WFS board member and author of Megatrends. Check price/buy book.

Buckminster Fuller: Anthology for the New Millennium
edited by Thomas T.K. Zung. St. Martin's Press. 2001. 388 pages. Illustrated. Paperback
This elegantly presented anthology of writings by and about inventor Buckminster Fuller brings together the ideas that stimulated futurists throughout the twentieth century and serves as an inspiring introduction for future generations. One of the founders of modern futures studies, Bucky devoted his life and creative energy to making the world work for everyone on Spaceship Earth. Black-and-white photographs, line drawings, and reproductions of Bucky's manuscripts are a highlight. Check price/buy book.

Building Cosmopolis: The Political Thought of H.G. Wells
by John S. Partington. Ashgate. 2003. 196 pages.
Partington provides a detailed look at the provocative, inspired, and controversial political views of H.G. Wells. Wells’s remarkable intellectual evolution—from his origins as an internationalist to his fruition as a functionalist—has been rendered here with great depth and eloquence. Check price/buy book.

Contemporary Futurist Thought: Science Fiction, Future Studies, and Theories and Visions of the Future in the Last Century
by Thomas Lombardo. Author-House. 2006. 444 pages. Paperback.
Psychologist and futurist Lombardo explores the origins of futures studies and the rise of future consciousness during the twentieth century. Topics for discussion include, "Cyberpunk and 'How Science Fiction Conquered the World,'" "The Subject Matter, Goals, and Methods of Future Studies," "Theories and Paradigms of the Future," and many more. This book, along with companion volume The Evolution of Future Consciousness, provides a comprehensive resource on the past, present, and future of futurism. Check price/buy book.

Creating Better Futures: Scenario Planning as a Tool for a Better Tomorrow
by James A. Ogilvy. Oxford University Press. 2002. 238 pages.
How is the world changing, and how can it be changed for the better? The key is scenario planning, a process for making better decisions by examining possible futures. Creating Better Futures frames the issue in a philosophical context and shows how to apply scenario planning creatively to guide our shared future. An unabashedly hopeful book for anyone interested in steering humankind toward future success. Check price/buy book.

Creating Futures: Scenario Planning as a Strategic Management Tool
by Michel Godet. Economica. 2001. 269 pages. Paperback. Preface by Joseph F. Coates.
A leading French futurist outlines the scenario planning process for managers who wish to anticipate change, avoid forecasting errors, transcend conventional thinking, and make sense of the various concepts and techniques used by futurists and strategic planners. Case studies are provided in industry, defense, services, and agricultural sectors. Check price/buy book.

The Evolution of Future Consciousness: The Nature And Historical Development of the Human Capacity to Think About the Future
by Thomas Lombardo. Author-House. 2006. 452 pages. Paperback.
Psychologist and futurist Thomas Lombardo examines the unique human ability to create ideas, images, goals, and plans related to both the immediate and distant future. Lombardo explores how future consciousness emerged in prehistoric times and describes how our evolving relationship to the future has helped humankind form essential bonds to survive. He goes on to examine future consciousness through the Renaissance, the Scientific Revolution, the Western Enlightenment, and the age of Darwin to show how the theory of evolution revolutionized our understanding of the future and our place in it. Check price/buy book.

Expectations for the Millennium: American Socialist Visions of the Future
edited by Peter H. Buckingham. Greenwood Press. 2002. 208 pages.
The American Socialist movement in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries envisioned futures built on cooperation rather than competition. This book of essays examines the influential writings of such daring thinkers as Edward Bellamy, Jack London, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Check price/buy book.

Exploring and Shaping International Futures
by Barry B. Hughes and Evan E. Hillebrand. Paradigm Publishers. 2006. 256 pages. (Access to a free online IF computer model available with purchase).
Exploring and Shaping International Futures seeks to help readers understand global trends in demographic, economic, energy, food, and environmental and socio-political systems. The book empowers readers to develop their own alternative scenarios using a cutting-edge computer simulation. "This is truly a book for a new millennium. It allows the reader to explore future global issues and to investigate the impact of possible policy changes," says Dennis Pirages, Harrison Professor of International Environmental Politics at the University of Maryland and board member of the World Future Society. Check price/buy book.

Follies of Science: 20th Century Visions of Our Fantastic Future
by Eric Dregni and Jonathan Dregni. Speck Press. 2006. 128 pages. Paperback.
Two science writers offer glimpses into some of the most outlandish, absurd, brilliant, and dangerous ideas about the future to come out of the twentieth century, such as personal jet packs, flying cars, cocktail serving robots, and "the home-building miracle, asbestos!" Vividly illustrated with full-color and black-and-white imagery, Follies of Science will be much appreciated by any futurist with a sense of humor. Check price/buy book

Foresight Principle: Cultural Recovery in the 21st Century
by Richard A. Slaughter.  Praeger. 1995. 232 pages. Annotated Bibliography. Paperback.
Why is foresight useful? How much does it really cost, and who should support it? What are the real megatrends?  Check price/buy book.

Now in Paperback with New Preface by the Author!
Foundations of Futures Studies: Human Science for a New Era: History, Purposes, and Knowledge (Volume 1)
by Wendell Bell. Transaction Publishers. 2003. 368 pages. Paperback.
The aim of futures studies is to demystify the future, make possibilities for the future more widely known, and increase our control over the future. This comprehensive overview of the most important facets of futures studies—its history, methods, theories, and principal practitioners—brings together the intellectual tools for thinking about the future. Check price/buy book.

Foundations of Futures Studies: Human Science for a New Era. Values, Objectivity, and the Good Society (Volume 2)
by Wendell Bell. Transaction Publishers. 1996. 370 pages.
A concern with ethics, morality, and values is a natural outgrowth of the quest for preferable futures. In the second volume of his comprehensive examination of futures studies, Wendell Bell focuses on the development of the field's ethical foundations. Moving beyond cultural relativism, he explains how universal human values came to exist and how they ought to be changed to permit all people to live good, long lives in the coming global society. Check price/buy book.

Future Files: A History of the Next 50 Years
by Richard Watson. Scribe. 2007. 278 pages. Paperback. 
Future Files seeks to examine emerging patterns and developments in society, politics, science and technology, media and entertainment, money and financial services, transport, food and drink, retail and shopping, health care and medicine, travel and tourism, as well as work and business. According to author Watson, publisher of the global trend report What's Next, "The future is never a straight linear extrapolation from present to past. Totally unexpected ideas and events usually conspire to trip up future plans and predictions, but it's usually better than not thinking about the future at all." Available from Scribe Publications. 

Future Frequencies
by Derek Woodgate with Wayne R. Pethrick. Fringecore. 2004. 337 pages. Paperback. 
Future Frequencies offers unique insight into how innovative approaches in the realm of progressive culture can stimulate revolutionary thinking for futurists. Case studies drawn from some of the most provocative modern thinkers are a highlight of this book and illustrate how a fusion of creative elements can deliver profitable outcomes for businesses and clients. Check price/buy book.

The Future Is Ours: Foreseeing, Managing and Creating the Future
by Graham H. May. Praeger. 1996. 253 pages. Paperback.
Why do we attempt to forecast the future despite believing we'll probably be wrong? What does the future mean and how do we relate to it? These and other fundamental questions are explored by a professional futurist and lecturer at Leeds Metropolitan University in this college-level text for use in future-oriented courses in business, management, urban planning, environmental politics, and other areas. Check price/buy book.

Futures Research Methodology, Version 2.0
edited by Jerome C. Glenn and Theodore J. Gordon. American Council for the United Nations University. 2003. 700 pages on CD-ROM.
Some 25 methods and tools for forecasting and analyzing global change are provided in the latest version of this comprehensive and internationally peer-reviewed handbook. Chapters cover each method's history, primary and secondary uses, strengths and weaknesses, applications, and potential uses. The chapters are presented in both MS Word and PDF formats. Order from the publisher. Order from publisher: www.acunu.org/millennium/issues.html

Futures Studies: Methods, Emerging Issues, And Civilisational Visions
by Sohail Inayatullah and Paul Wildman. Prosperity Press. CD-ROM, Version 1.0.
What is the long-term future of humanity? Will civilizations violently clash, or are we on the verge of planetary governance? These and other critical questions about the future are addressed in this unique, multimedia CD-ROM. The presentation includes a Reader of methods, emerging issues, and visions; a Gallery of fractal images; a participatory Future Forum, and the Future Coffee Shoppe—an e-mail discussion group and hyper-archiving bulletin board through which you can e-mail authors, converse with other readers, and even initiate a collaboration for future editions. Completing the CD may also help you earn a diploma in futures studies. Details: http://members.optushome.com.au/pwildman/cd/indexfly.htm. Or contact the authors, Paul wildman pwildman@powerup.com.au or Sohail Inayatullah s.inayatullah@qut.edu.au.

The Future of Futures Studies: A Delphi Study with a German Perspective
by Jan Oliver Schwarz. Shaker Verlag. 2006. 124 pages.
According to Schwarz, a growing number of German corporations are making use of foresight techniques and futures studies methodologies. The Future of Futures Studies uses the Delphi technique to find answers to key questions about the prospects for forecasting and futures research within German corporations. Order from the publisher, www.shaker-online.com/catalogue.

FutureThink: How to Think Clearly in a Time of Change
Edie Weiner and Arnold Brown Pearson Prentice Hall. 2006. 234 pages. Paperback.
Futurists Edie Weiner and Arnold Brown have helped hundreds of leading enterprises such as 3M and Merck anticipate and respond to change. In FutureThink they share their foresight strategies and trend analysis techniques with you. FutureThink will help you not just prepare for the future, but claim it. Check price/buy book.

Futures Thinking, Learning, and Leading: Applying Multiple Intelligences to Success and Innovation
by Irving H. Buchen. Rowman & Littlefield Education. 2006. 252 pages. paperback
Buchen, a director of International Programs for IMPAC University, shows how our thinking, learning, and leading are influenced and shaped by the future. His book identifies innovation strategies and new thinking systems and explores various aspects of transition training. Futures Thinking, Learning, and Leading is geared toward managers, human resource professionals, personnel recruiters, professional trainers and coaches, and colleges and professors of business. Check price/buy book.

Deep Futures: Our Prospects for Survival
by Doug Cocks. McGill-Queen's University Press. 2003. 332 pages. Paperback. 
Ecologist Cocks tackles important questions about future human history and its chances for survival into the twenty-second century. Topics include extinction, human evolution, environmental resources, and perennial issues such as governance, production and distribution, and social relations. Deep Futures identifies strategies for maximizing humanity's chances for survival. Check price/buy book.

Get There Early: Sensing the Future to Compete in the Present
by Bob Johansen. Berrett-Koehler. 2007. 258 pages. 
Former Institute for the Future CEO Bob Johansen shares techniques accumulated over 40 years of professional futurism. He details real-world examples of how organizations like Procter & Gamble, Disney, Reuters, and UPS Control have successfully implemented foresight practices to find new markets and better serve their customers. Check price/buy book.

The History of Utopian Thought
by Joyce Oramel Hertzler. University Press of the Pacific. 2002. 336 pages. Paperback
This textbook examines social idealism and utopian thinking and the exceptional authors of those ideals—Jesus, Bacon, and More, as well as the Utopian Socialists. Check price/buy book.

Impossible Worlds: The Architecture of Perfection
edited by Stephen Coates and Alex Stetter. Birkhauser/Princeton Architectural Press. 2000. 192 pages.
Coffee-table book of visionary dreams and the architecture of perfection, both realized and unrealized. Check price/buy book.

Knowledge Base of Futures Studies: Professional Edition
by Richard A. Slaughter. Foresight International. CD-ROM. $66.
This CD-ROM presents an up-to-date international overview of futures studies and applied foresight. Students at the University of Houston, Clear Lake, futures program voted the Knowledge Base of Futures Studies "the best available resource in the field. A great futurist tool in an innovative format." Order from www.ForesightInternational.com.

Leadership and Futuring: Making Visions Happen (Second Edition)
by John R. Hoyle. Corwin Press. 2006. 122 pages. Paperback.
Today, the world needs leaders who can improve systems to enrich the lives of others more than ever. This resource is intended to explain the relationship between leadership and futuring, describe seven visionary leaders, link motivation research to contemporary organizations, offer inspirational stories about successful visionaries, provide step-by-step futuring techniques for workshops, and show how leaders create, communicate, and put forth a service vision. According to FUTURIST editor Edward Cornish, "What makes Leadership and Futuring a really important book for all who aspire to leadership is that it squarely confronts the extraordinary challenge that the current global transformation poses for leaders, and it suggests constructive ways to deal with it through futuring." Check price/buy book.

Now in Paperback
Lessons for the Future: The Missing Dimension in Education
by David Hicks.  Foreword by Wendell Bell. Trafford Publishing. 2006. 145 pages. Paperback.
The study of the future is largely absent from school curricula. Futures scholar Hicks examines the importance of preparing young people for the future in a series of essays on seizing opportunities for creating successful personal futures and identifying responsible futures that affect the global human family. Chapters offer thought-provoking classroom activities, stories of hope, holistic learning techniques for studying global issues, and much more.  Check price/buy book.

Memoirs of the Future
by W. Warren Wagar. Global Publications. 2001. 259 pages. Paperback.
This intellectual autobiography traces the life and work of futures historian W. Warren Wagar of Binghamton University. Concludes with warnings for the Third Millennium. Check price/buy book.

The Next Hundred Years... Then and Now
by Robert H. Cartmill. Xlibris Corporation. 2002. 245 pages. Paperback. Illustrated.
How right were predictions made in 1900? What will today's predictions say about us 100 years from now? Futurist Cartmill presents a fascinating tour of scientific, technologic, economic, societal, and other predictions made in 1900 and in 2000. Historical and present-day accounts illustrate how far we've come—and how far we've yet to go. Check price/buy book.

Out Of The Blue: How to Anticipate Big Future Surprises
by John L. Petersen.  Madison Books. New Edition. 1999. 214 pages. Paperback.
Futurist John L. Petersen, author of The Road to 2015, examines the potential impacts of such "wild card" events as an asteroid collision, the collapse of the U.S. dollar, a shift in the Earth's axis, and the perfection of techniques for cloning humans. This rapid ride through scores of scenarios is designed to get you to think "out of the box" and learn how to manage surprises. Check price/buy book.

Predicting The Future: An Introduction to the Theory of Forecasting
by Nicholas Rescher. SUNY Press. 1998. 315 pages. Paperback.
The future is obviously important to us: We need some degree of foresight in order to make useful plans for our lives, careers, and other important affairs. Philosophy professor Nicholas Rescher examines which areas it is possible to make predictions in and which areas it is not, and why. Check price/buy book.

Predictions: 10 Years Later
by Theodore Modis. Growth Dynamics. 2002. 335 pages. CD-ROM or PDF.
A dozen years ago, systems theorist Theodore Modis presented a model, the S-shaped curve, for predicting the growth patterns of a variety of phenomena. Now, he looks back on how well his previous forecasts did. In this new volume, Modis reports a range of impressive success stories. For instance, he predicted that nuclear accidents would drop from five major accidents seen in three years to one expected in five years. Outcome: There have been no significant accidents reported in the last five years.
To order: CD-ROM ($15 plus shipping) or e-mailed PDF file $12 contact author Theodore Modis, e-mail TModis@compuserve.com, Web site www.growth-dynamics.com.

Principles Of Forecasting: A Handbook for Researchers and Practitioners
edited by J. Scott Armstrong. Kluwer. 2001. 849 pages. Paperback.
This comprehensive textbook summarizes the techniques used in forecasting (e.g., Delphi studies, econometrics, extrapolation) and demonstrates how those techniques may be applied in a wide range of fields. The volume also includes an invaluable, 56-page Forecasting Dictionary and a Forecasting Standards Checklist for evaluating formal forecasting procedures. Check price/buy book.

Qualitative Futures Research for Innovation
by Patrick van der Duin. Eburon Delft. 2006. 284 pages.
In this thesis, Duin examines the modern history of futures research and explores what role futures research can play in helping organizations refine their practices. Some of the topics covered include futures research at Daimler Chrysler, road-mapping at Phillips Medical Systems, and methods of trend analysis. Order from the publisher, www.eburon.ni.

Questioning the Future: Futures Studies, Action Learning, and Organizational Transformation
by Sohail Inayatullah. Tamkang University. 2002. 240 pages. Paperback.
Futures researcher and educator Sohail Inayatullah has compiled a valuable overview of the methods, theories, and concepts underlying the study of the future. In addition to a comprehensive annotated bibliography, the author has provided some 40 pages of appendices outlining the main approaches to studying the future, key methods in forecasting, and more. Intended as a practical workbook for managers and social activists, this text is likely to find greater use in the classroom as an introduction to futures studies.
To order: Send $20, plus $5 postage and handling, by international bank check to: Tamkang University, Center for Futures Studies, 151 Ying-Chuan Road, Tamsui, Taiwan, 251 (for more information, e-mail: Future@mail.tku.edu.tw). Or send order to Sohail Inayatullah, 29 Meta Street, Mooloolaba, 4557, Queensland, Australia (for more information, e-mail s.inayatullah@qut.edu.au).

The Scenario Planning Handbook: Developing Strategies in Uncertain Times
by Ian Wilson and William K. Ralston Jr. Thompson. 2006. 272 pages.
Uncertainty characterizing the global marketplace mandates that companies change the way they think and plan for the future. This book explains what scenarios are and are not, why they are needed, and their uses and benefits. It also outlines the cultural and structural changes that organizations should be prepared to make to maximize the benefits of scenario-based planning. Check price/buy book.

Scenario Planning: Managing for the Future
by Gill Ringland. Foreword by Peter Schwartz. Wiley. 1998. 407 pages.
The rapid changes in today's business environment require much more sophisticated techniques than planners have used in the past. Forecasts based on current trends grow obsolete all too quickly. This book describes scenario planning techniques that will enable anyone to think about uncertainty in a structured way, offering a detailed method for identifying early indicators of directions and possible courses of action, as well as helpful dos and don'ts that tell you what works when and why. Check price/buy book.

A Short History Of The Future (Third Edition)
by W. Warren Wagar. University of Chicago. 1999. 324 pages. Paperback.
This classic tale of the future by leading futures historian Warren Wagar serves as a powerful warning of a future seized by megacorporations and superstates. "The early decades of the new millennium will test us well," Wagar writes. Check price/buy book.

Strategic Foresight: The Power of Standing in The Future
by Nick Marsh, Mike McCallum, and Dominique Purcell. Crown Content. 2002. 299 pages.
Integrating strategic planning, future studies, and organizational development, the concept of strategic foresight brings planning current with the pressing requirements of the "knowledge age." For CEOs, strategy managers, and thinking men and women in business and government eager to learn about managing forward-thinking change in their organization. Check price/buy book.

Tackling Tomorrow Today Volume 1, Futuristics: Looking Ahead
edited by Arthur B. Shostak. Chelsea House. 2004. 252 pages. 
This book, the first in what is sure to be a timely and important series, features 14 original essays on futuristics and futures studies. Probing such diverse topics as trend extrapolation, history, wild-card analysis, computer modeling, and even poetry,Tackling Tomorrow Today is an essential component to any high school futuristics curriculum and a wonderful addition to any futurist's library. Check price/buy book.

Technology in Context: Technology Assessment for Managers
by Ernest Braun. Routledge. 1998. 165 pages. Paperback.
This comprehensive and accessible analysis of technology assessment defines and describes its role in the strategic management of firms. Topics: key concepts for the management of technology, information gathering for supporting strategic decision making, technology's wider social implications, and problems associated with technology, from the danger of environmental degradation to impacts on employment and skills. Check price/buy book.

Technophobia! Science Fiction Visions of Posthuman Technology
by Daniel Dinello. University of Texas Press. 2005. 329 pages. Paperback.
According to many scientists working in the field of technology, the future is blissfully bright. We will merge with our machines to transcend all pain, hardship, and death. According to many science-fiction authors, however, posthuman evolution will mark the loss of all freedom, values, and identity. In this book, film professor and culture critic Dinello examines the dramatic conflict between the techno-utopia promised by real-world scientists and the techno-dystopia predicted by science fiction.  Check price/buy book

Thinking Utopia: Steps into Other Worlds
edited by Jörn Rüsen, Michael Fehr, and Thomas W. Rieger. Berghahn Books. 2005. 304 pages.
The scholars contributing their work to this collection seek to initiate a new dialogue on utopian thought beyond a post-communist political context. By broadening the perspectives of utopian studies, these essays enable the reader to reconstruct scholarly paradigms and strategies for reaching utopia. Topics discussed include "visions of the future," "utopia, construction, human rights," and "trauma: a dystopia of the spirit." Check price/buy book.

2025: Scenarios of U.S. and Global Society Reshaped by Science and Technology
by Joseph F. Coates, John B. Mahaffie, and Andy Hines.  Oakhill Press. 1996. 516 pages.
What will the world look like in the year 2025? This penetrating look at the future offers 15 scenarios that will help you anticipate the dramatic effects of science and technology on the world to come. Based on a three-year research project, these scenarios cover over 50 fields of science, technology, and engineering. Check price/buy book.

Thinking About the Future: Guidelines for Strategic Foresight 
edited by Andy Hines and Peter Bishop. Social Technologies. 2007. 253 pages. Paperback.
Thinking about the Future distills the expertise of three dozen senior foresight professionals into a set of essential guidelines for carrying out successful strategic foresight. Presented in a readable and personable style, each guideline includes an explanation and rationale, key steps, a case example, and resources for further study. The 115 guidelines are organized into six sequential categories that mirror the phases of a strategic foresight activity, namely Framing, Scanning, Forecasting, Visioning, Planning, and Acting. Contributors to Thinking About the Future include many familiar and influential members of the international futurist community, such as Cornelia Daheim, Jack Gottsman, Ian Pearson, Rohit Talwar, and Joseph Coates. Check price/buy book.

Utopia: The Search for the Ideal Society in the Western World
edited by Roland Schaer, Gregory Claeys, and Lyman Tower Sargent. The New York Public Library/Oxford University Press. 2000. 386 pages. Paperback.
This gorgeously presented volume includes insightful essays and beautiful reproductions of utopian (and dystopian) images throughout history, from maps of utopia to the model of the robot used in Fritz Lang's film Metropolis. Check price/buy book.

The Utopia Reader
edited by Gregory Claeys and Lyman Tower Sargent. New York University Press. 1999. 421 pages. Paperback.
History's greatest thinkers—from Plato and Thomas More to Edward Bellamy and B.F. Skinner—have reflected on the prospects of creating a perfect society. This unique and inspiring anthology encompasses a spectrum of utopian writing, offering a compelling argument for humanity's need to imagine and construct a better future. Check price/buy book.

Viable Utopian Ideas: Shaping a Better World
edited by Arthur B. Shostak. M.E. Sharpe. 2003. 295 pages. Paperback.
Futurists, scholars, writers, and other imaginers of better worlds have been rallied here to provide more than 40 thought-provoking essays on an emerging, more-practical concept of utopia. Topics include altruism, democracy, online communities, city planning, public and higher education, world governance, and personal actions. Useful resources include recommended Web sites, books, and videos. Check price/buy book.

A View From The Year 3000: A Ranking of the 100 Most Influential Persons of All Time
by Michael H. Hart. Poseidon Press. 1999. 430 pages. Paperback.
This unique and imaginative compendium places "biographies" of future persons together with real persons of the past (e.g., Confucius, Columbus, and Einstein), vividly demonstrating what makes people "influential" over the ages. Among future persons of note are Mugali Singh (born 2316, died 2701), an Indian scientist who developed techniques for cleaning ocean pollution; Bantu Ujiji (born 2410 and still living), a "culinator," or food artist; and game designer Roberto Ferruchio, born 2047, died 2086, revived 2240 after cryopreservation. Check price/buy book.

What the Future Holds: Insights from Social Science
edited by Richard N. Cooper and Richard Layard. MIT Press. 2002. 289 pages. Paperback.
Nine eminently readable essays on the difficulty of predicting the future of human life and improving the world. Using a variety of approaches taken from the social sciences, the authors cover such topics as population, energy, climate, work, government, and monetary policy. The final essay places futurology in its intellectual and historical context and looks at the accuracy of predictions made for the year 2000. Check price/buy book.

The World of Herman Kahn: The Intuitive Science of Thermonuclear War
by Sharon Ghamari-Tabrizi. Harvard University Press. 2005. 387 pages. 
One of the principal pioneers of scenario planning as applied to policy, Herman Kahn is best known as the world's foremost nuclear strategist of the 1960s. This eloquently penned biography of "our first Virtuoso of the unknown unknowns" displays both the wit of Kahn as well as his dark genius. Check price/buy book.

Futurist Fiction

The Artilect War: Cosmists vs. Terrans
by Hugo de Garis. ETC Publications 2005. 254 pages. Paperback.
If "who owns capital" was the primary question of the previous century, "what owns capital" will be the great concern of the present one, according to Hugo de Garis. A future war between man and machine has largely been the domain of bad scriptwriters, of late. But as de Garis suggests, the possibility of a human–artificial conflict in this century is anything but remote. This scenario for what might happen is as captivating as it is disturbing. Check price/buy book.

The Boy Who Would Live Forever: A Novel of the Gateway
by Frederik Pohl. Tor Books. 2004. 384 pages.
The sixth book in the "Heechee" series. Two young people must contend with the threat of a man whose blind loathing of the Heechee fuels an insane desire to destroy them and every living being in the galaxy. Futurist issues explored include artificial intelligence, immortality through cybernetics, and space colonization Check price/buy book.

The First Immortal
by James L. Halperin. DelRey Press. 1998. 418 pages. Paperback.
Celebrated author and futurist James L. Halperin spins an enlivened story of human immortality through cryonics, called "so detailed and plausible that you find yourself expecting to wake to it the next day," SF Revu. Check price/buy book.

Platinum Pohl
by Frederik Pohl. Tor Books. 2005. 448 pages.
A collection of great stories from one of science fiction’s premier authors. Includes a never-before-published "Heechee" story of an alien culture of the future. Check price/buy book.

The Rocket Company
by Patrick J.G. Stiennon and David M. Hoerr. The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. 2005. 300 pages.
This illustrated book from two experienced aerospace engineers is a fictionalized account of the challenges faced by a group of seven investors and their engineering team in developing a low-cost reusable, space vehicle. Comment: "There is no better way to understand the aerospace engineering process than to read a design case study. Since we don't have any factual case studies of reusable launch vehicle developments to learn from, the next best thing is The Rocket Company." Gary Hudson, HMX, Inc. Check price/buy book.

The Sentinel
by Arthur C. Clarke. I Books. 2004. 304 pages. Paperback.
This anniversary edition of a volume originally published in 1983 offers 10 of Clarke’s highest caliber short fiction, including the story that inspired 2001: A Space Odyssey. Check price/buy book.

2001: A Space Odyssey
by Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick. ROC. 2005. 236 pages. Paperback.
The twenty-fifth anniversary edition of the classic science-fiction novel that changed the way we look at machine intelligence, space travel, the starsand ourselves. Check price/buy book.

The Truth Machine
by James L. Halperin. DelRey Press. 1997. 395 pages. Paperback.
In this vivid and captivating scenario, in which truth can be decided mechanically, and guilt determined automatically a man must outwit his own creation or face execution. A sort of Frankenstein meets Brave New World, James L. Halperin’s The Truth Machine has been called "profound" by the Associated Press. Check price/buy book.

General Interest

A Brief History of the Smile
by Angus Trumble. Basic Books. 272 pages.
Art historian Trumble traces the history of smilingincluding causes and types of smilesthrough art and across cultures. Subjects covered include decorum, lewdness, desire, mirth, wisdom, deceit, and happiness, including the evolution of the open smile. He examines the enigmatic quality of the Mona Lisa, the jolly joviality of Hals's Laughing Cavalier, the posed grin of the Cheshire Cat, and the saintly smile of the Buddha. He also looks at future advancements in cosmetic surgery and dentistry that promise more smiling faces in the future. Check price/buy book.

American Generations: Who They Are. How They Live. What They Think (Fourth Edition)
by Susan Mitchell. New Strategist. 2002. 520 pages.
Who lives alone? Who lives in a mobile home? Who moonlights? Who buys vitamin and mineral supplements? This encyclopedic sourcebook compares and contrasts the demographics and spending patterns of five generations of Americans: Millennials, Generation X, Baby Boomers, the Swing Generation, and World War II Generation. Check price/buy book.

The American Marketplace: Demographics and Spending Patterns (Fifth Edition)
edited by the editors of The New Strategist. 2001. 544 pages.
This comprehensive reference book on American lifestyles and spending habits is divided into eight topic areas: education, health, income, labor force, living arrangements, population, spending, and wealth. Trends in American lifestyles and attitudes, gleaned from federal data and other sources, are easy to identify in this accessible and up-to-the-moment volume. Check price/buy book.

All Connected Now: Life in the First Global Civilization
by Walter Truett Anderson. Westview Press. 2001. 291 pages.
Globalization is the driving trend in economics, politics, culture, and biology, leading to a new "age of open systems," according to Anderson. Even anti-globalization protesters are global. But rather than one entity dominating this new globalization, we are seeing a radically uncentralized new civilization. Check price/buy book.

The Baby Boom: Americans Aged 35 to 54 (Third Edition)
by Cheryl Russell.  New Strategist Publications.  2001. 416 pages.
Demographer Cheryl Russell provides an insightful analysis of the trends connected to the baby-boom generation, now entering middle age or "mid-youth." Charts and brief essays explore boomer families and households, incomes, wealth and spending, jobs, health, fitness, and education-everything you need to know to understand this huge and influential generation. Check price/buy book.

Bad Predictions
by Laura Lee. Elsewhere Press. 2000. 310 pages. Paperback.
"Man will never fly." "The chemical purity of the air is of no importance." "There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home." Why do rational, educated, enlightened people make such bad predictions? Journalist Laura Lee has compiled a wide range of prognostications gone awry in science, society, medicine, the media, and other areas, exploring the various blinders—optimism, pessimism, and simple myopia—that keep us from seeing the future more clearly. Check price/buy book.

The Best That Money Can't Buy: Beyond Politics, Poverty, & War
by Jacque Fresco. Global Cybervisions. 2002. 164 pages. Paperback. Illustrated.
Inventor and engineer Jacque Fresco offers a comprehensive vision of a global civilization in which science and technology are used to secure, protect, and encourage a more humane world. Stunning photographs of models from Fresco's Venus Project, a proposed cybernated city in Florida, highlight this elegantly presented volume. Check price/buy book.

A Brief History of the Human Race
by Michael Cook. W.W. Norton. 2003. 385 pages.
A comprehensive history of the world, covering all the continents, their peoples, and their contributions to the story of humanity. Beginning in the Paleolithic period, historian Cook covers Islamic civilization, European expansion, the modern world of haves and have-nots, and the exploration of Jupiter. The author uses anthropology, archaeology, genetics, and ethnography to ask and answer questions about human development and cultural diversity. Check price/buy book

The Clock Of The Long Now: Time and Responsibility
by Stewart Brand. Basic Books. 1999. 190 pages. Paperback.
Civilization is imperiled by its pathologically short attention span, argues influential futures thinker Stewart Brand, editor of CoEvolution Quarterly and The Whole Earth Catalog. To correct this myopia, Brand offers the metaphor of the millennial clock, a slow computer that will keep perfect time for the next 10,000 years. By thinking in terms of a "long now," we can learn to accept our long-term responsibilities. Check price/buy book.

Dictionary Of The Future
by Faith Popcorn and Adam Hanft. Hyperion. 2001. 414 pages.
What words can describe the world we'll be living in? This fascinating compendium organizes trends and forecasts into 35 areas such as aging, computers, cities, jobs, religion, space, and transportation, offering insight into the new vocabularies we'll need: Nowherians, people born in one place who move all over the world in their lifetimes; network farming, a hub-and-spoke agricultural production and marketing plan; national parent permits, licenses to bear children. Check price/buy book.

The First Measured Century: An Illustrated Guide to Trends in America, 1900-2000
by Theodore Caplow, Louis Hicks, and Ben J. Wattenberg. AEI Press. 2001. 308 pages. Paperback. Illustrated.
This detailed examination of the last century—a companion volume to a recent PBS documentary—serves as a comprehensive guide to the major social, economic, environmental, and technological trends that are shaping the century ahead. Among the surprising trends revealed: Americans are reading more, not less; spending more time with their children, not less; participating in elections more, not less; and moving less often, not more. Check price/buy book.

Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in the Markets and in Life
by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. Texere. 2001. 203 pages.
If your neighbor makes a fortune on the stock market, is because he's a genius or just lucky? When we mistake luck for skill, we are "fooled by randomness," warns mathematician and hedge-fund manager Nassim Taleb. He offers a wise and readable guide to clearer thinking, drawing insights from thinkers ranging from George Soros to Yogi Berra. Check price/buy book.

The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy
by William Strauss and Neil Howe.  Broadway Books. 1997. 382 pages. Paperback.
The authors of the best-selling Generations argue that history moves in cycles. Each cycle has four parts or "turnings." By examining history's seasonal rhythm of growth, maturation, entropy, and rebirth, we can identify the phase we are currently experiencing and know where we are headed. They predict that America is roughly a decade away from its next era of crisis and change. Check price/buy book.

The Future Ain't What It Used To Be: The 40 Cultural Trends Transforming Your Job, Your Life, Your World
by Vickie Abrahamson, Mary Meehan, and Larry Samuel. Riverhead Books. 1998. 270 pages. Paperback.
The three principals of Iconoculture, a market-trend consulting firm, offer an energy-charged glimpse of the impacts of such cultural trends as "extreme" sports, body piercing, organlegging (stealing human organs), and bunkering (keeping close to home as a sanctuary and fortress). Check price/buy book.

Future Cinema: The Cinematic Imaginary after Film
edited by Jeffery Shaw and Peter Weibel. MIT Press. 2003. 634 pages. Paperback.
Drawing on a broad range of scholarship, this colorful, illustrated collection examines the shift from Hollywood spectacles to cinematic works probing the possibilities of interactive, performative, and Internet-based cinemas. Based on an exhibition organized by the ZKM Institute for Visual Media, this book presents an international anthology of current video, film, and computer-based work embodying and anticipating new cinematic techniques and modes of expression. The editors offer a comprehensive look at the evolution of cinema, and the merger of montage, traditional cinema, experimental literature, television, video, and the Internet into exciting new art forms. Check price/buy book

The Future Factor: The Five Forces Transforming Our Lives and Shaping Human Destiny
by Michael G. Zey. McGraw-Hill. 2000. 289 pages.
This optimistic vision of the human future argues that unprecedented opportunities for growth are emerging from breathtaking innovations in biotechnology, computing, robotics, medicine, energy development, and space technology. Powerful new forces altering society and the global economy include cybergenesis, the merging of humans and smart machines, and biogenesis, the harnessing of genetic technologies to improve ourselves. Check price/buy book.

The Future Of Food
by Brian J. Ford. Thames & Hudson. 2000. 120 pages. Paperback.
Food—its safety and its abundance—is critical to our future. Biologist Brian Ford examines food-borne diseases, genetically modified foods, food allergies and intolerances, nutrients, diet, and culture, revealing many misconceptions in popular thinking about food. Includes a useful list of Web sites covering a wide range of food, health, and agricultural topics. (Part of the Prospects for Tomorrow series.) Check price/buy book.

Generation X: The Young Adult Market (Third Edition)
by Susan Mitchell. 2001. 376 pages.
The "twenty-something" generation of American consumers is gaining more and more influence. This comprehensive statistical examination of Generation X covers attitudes, education, health, wealth, living arrangements, and more. Check price/buy book.

Greetings, Carbon-Based Bipeds! Collected Essays, 1934-1998
by Arthur C. Clarke. St. Martin's. 1999. 558 pages. Paperback. 29 black-and-white photographs.
Sir Arthur C. Clarke—perhaps best known for the story on which the film 2001: A Space Odyssey was based and as the futurist who predicted satellite communications—is one of the twentieth century's most visionary and versatile thinkers. This volume collects his nonfiction writings, including new introductions for each decade of his work. Clarke offers both personal reflections and historical scope to his predictions and observations. Check price/buy book.

H.G. Wells: Traversing Time
by W. Warren Wagar. Wesleyan University Press. 2004. 334 pages.
History professor and Wells scholar Wagar delves into Wells's obsession with the history and future of humankind in this comprehensive biography. Going beyond such seminal futurist visions as The War of the Worlds and The Time Machine, Wagar traces Wells's work on utopia vs. dystopia, war, romance, education, and modernism, as well as his novel writing and creative processes. Check price/buy book.

High Tech * High Touch: Technology and Our Search for Meaning
by John Naisbitt, with Nana Naisbitt and Douglas Philips. Broadway Books. 1999. 274 pages. Paperback.
What role will technology play in our accelerated search for meaningful lives? The author of Megatrends here examines the saturation of technology in everyday life and how it may affect our children, our culture, and our very humanity. Among the diverse thinkers interviewed for this project are bioethicist Arthur Caplan, Swatch CEO Nicholas Hayek, technoartist Natalie Jeremijenko, alternative-medicine advocate Andrew Weil, and documentary filmmaker Ken Burns. Check price/buy book.

Inevitable Surprises: Thinking Ahead in a Time of Turbulence
by Peter Schwartz. Gotham Books. 2003. 247 pages.
Global Business Network Chairman Schwartz describes a sweeping range of scenarios shaped by demographic, economic, technological, and political forces that are discernible today. For instance, despite the post-dot-com-bust economic malaise, the long-term trends suggest that an economic boom is "still inevitable," Schwartz assures us. There will be many more surprises ahead, to be certain, but we will be better equipped as a society to anticipate and prepare for them. Check price/buy book.

It's Getting Better All The Time: 100 Greatest Trends of the Last 100 Years
by Stephen Moore and Julian L. Simon. Cato Institute. 2000. 294 pages. Paperback.
We're eating far better food and spending far less money for it than a century ago. More of our neighbors are becoming millionaires. And humans just keep getting stronger and stronger—as witnessed by the constant shattering of athletic records. These are just a few of the trends that made the late economist Julian L. Simon one of the most optimistic of futurists. This book provides concise summaries and colorful charts outlining the positive trends of the past that the authors believe will lead to a glorious future. Check price/buy book.

The Life and Death of Planet Earth: How the New Science of Astrobiology Charts the Ultimate Fate of Our World
by Peter D. Ward and Donald Brownlee. Times Books. 2003. 240 pages.
Geologist Ward and astronomer Brownlee describe the evolution of the earth in terms of human cycles of birth, life, and death, and make some astonishing predictions about the planet’s future. On the "Clock of Life," they hypothesize that we are at 4:30 a.m. and inexorably turning toward noon—that time billions of years away when the sun will consume the planet. Ward and Brownlee describe the path that life will take before then: coming ice ages, intense heat, human extinction, and eventually de-evolution to the simplest microbial life-forms. A fascinating "biography" of the planet. Check price/buy book

Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution
by Neil deGrasse Tyson and Donald Goldsmith. W.W. Norton. 2004. 336 pages.
Origins explores science's new insights into the formation and evolution of our universe. Origins covered include those of the universe, galaxies, stars, planets, and life, concluding with a search for the human in the cosmos. Drawing on current advancements in geology, biology, and astrophysics, scientists Tyson and Goldsmith explore dark energy, life on Mars, and the mysteries of space and time. Check price/buy book.

Our Final Hour
by Martin Rees. Basic Books. 2003. 228 pages.
Rees, one of Britain’s foremost scientific scholars, believes there is only a 50% chance that humankind will survive to the end of the twenty-first century. Describing the dark side of scientific advancement, Rees predicts that terror, error, and environmental disaster will take their toll on humankind’s future, and there will be little anyone can do to reduce these risks without taking away personal freedoms or information. Far from being a doomsayer, Rees offers discussion and solutions for guarding against the worst risks. Check price/buy book

The Macmillan Atlas Of The Future
edited by Ian Pearson. Macmillan Reference. 1998. 128 pages. Illustrated. Paperback.
Full-color maps and graphics provide a clear, vivid, and authoritative overview of where we are headed in the next millennium. Drawing from the most up-to-date research, an international team of leading analysts predicts developments in such areas as space exploration, economics and finance, life expectancy, artificial intelligence, biodiversity, democracy, military strength, nanotechnology, and more.  Check price/buy book.

Mars on Earth: The Adventures of Space Pioneers in the High Arctic
by Robert Zubrin. Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin. 2003. 351 pages.
Astronautical engineer Zubrin weaves the incredibly true story of Mars Society stalwarts undertaking unique missions in the Arctic to replicate the challenges faced by space travelers on the Martian landscape. Zubrin takes a fascinating and first-hand look at the technology and enthusiasm that make space exploration possible. Color photographs taken during this earthbound odyssey bring the tale to life. Check price/buy book

Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation
by Neil Howe and William Strauss. Vintage. 2000. 415 pages. Paperback.
The generation of Americans born between 1982 and 1998 promises to change the face of culture even more than their baby boomer parents, according to historians Howe and Strauss, whose previous books include Generations and The Fourth Turning. Based on their surveys and analyses of historical trends, the authors conclude that the Millennials (don't call them "generation Y") will reject the values and pop culture forced on them by the boomers and Gen X'ers. Ultimately, they'll prove themselves to be worthy descendents of the last "great generation," the veterans of World War II. Check price/buy book.

The Next 500 Years: Life in the Coming Millennium
by Adrian Berry. W.H. Freeman. 1996. 352 pages.
What will life be like for humans 14 generations from now? Optimistic predictions based on current developments in agriculture, space, electronic technology, economics, religion, and more. Check price/buy book.

Next: Trends for the Near Future
by Ira Matathia and Marian Salzman. Overlook. 1999. 414 pages. Paperback.
Marketers will focus on the elder culture rather than the youth culture; the middle manager will make a comeback; and mail-order catalogs will offer profiles of sperm and egg donors for prospective parents. Trend watchers and market analysts Matathia and Salzman offer a host of predictions for business, technology, and lifestyle changes in the years just ahead. Check price/buy book.

Thinking Today As If Tomorrow Mattered: The Rise of a Sustainable Consciousness
by John Adams. Eartheart. 2000. 171 pages. Paperback.
Massive changes are needed now in how we live and think if we are to ensure a sustainable future. This book strives to integrate several disciplines into a broad, systemic perspective on the roots of today's challenges in the environment, population, and the global economy. The author concludes that increased dialogue, networking, and cooperation will increase the likelihood of generating new ideas and finding sustainable solutions.   Check price/buy book.

The Twentieth Century
by Albert Robida. Wesleyan University Press. 2004. 397 pages. Paperback.
This is the first English translation of one of science fiction's pioneering works, first published in 1882. At times prescient, at times farcical, French visionary Robida imagined a 1950s world of flying machines, fantastical fashions, and futuristic fantasy stemming from his observations of the bourgeoisie of the Third Republic. No aspect of Parisian society was overlooked: art, law, war, government, entertainment, agriculture, female emancipation, telecommunications, and catering. Robida's original illustrations are reproduced. Check price/buy book.

The Venus Project: The Redesign of a Culture
by Jacque Fresco. Global Cyber-Visions. 1995. 56 pages. Illustrated. Paperback.
By integrating technology into the social system, people could be freed from the abusive patterns of the work-a-day world and have time to make society more humane. (A video about the Venus Project is also available. Order from the Futurist Bookstore.) Check price/buy book.

The World As It Shall Be
by Émile Souvestre, translated by Margaret Clarke. Wesleyan University Press. 2004. 276 pages.
This is the first English translation of one of science fiction's pioneering works, first published in 1846. An extraordinarily imaginative work of future fiction, The World As It Shall Be is set in A.D. 3000, where Switzerland is a theme park and steam machines have charge over the children. Though fanciful, Souvestre's vision stands as a warning against the abuses of technology, anticipates the social consequences of unrestrained capitalism, and demonstrates the miseries that follow from man's inhumanity to man. Included are 87 original illustrations.