The Body Electric: An Anatomy of the New Bionic Senses

The Body Electric: An Anatomy of the New Bionic Senses

by Geary James (Author)

Synopsis

Marie, a 63-year-old Belgian woman, has been totally blind since the age of 57. But now, thanks to electrodes implanted around her right optic nerve, she can see lights, shapes and colours again. Marie is just one of a handful of people around the world who have had computer chips implanted in their bodies to extend, enhance or repair their senses. Drawing on fields as diverse as artificial intelligence and biology, THE BODY ELECTRIC provides an exciting synthesis of the people and technology making this convergence possible, while addressing the psychological, social and philosophical implications of these startling developments. Are you any less 'you' after a bionic implant? If all our senses are electronically enhanced, how will we tell the difference between virtual reality and the actual world? How can privacy be ensured when computers are watching and listening to everything we do and say?

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 224
Edition: New edition
Publisher: Phoenix
Published: 07 Nov 2002

ISBN 10: 0753813807
ISBN 13: 9780753813805
Book Overview: THE BODY ELECTRIC is as much about the 'here-and-now' as it is about the future - real people doing fascinating work on innovations that will soon touch all of our daily lives (e.g. 'Breakthrough in artificial sight for the blind', FINANCIAL TIMES, 17 Jan) First popular book dealing exclusively with this subject SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN magazine recently published a special supplement devoted to 'Your Bionic Future'

Media Reviews
Once Geary lures you in, the real fantastical hook is wondering how we failed to notice that the bionic age has already arrived. THE SCOTSMAN It's a remarkablly fertile, imaginative read. FOCUS Thankfully, the techonology still needs some tweaking. THE GUARDIAN This is a fairly fascinating survey byTime magazine journalist James Geary of the current state of cybernetics, that frontier science where biology and technology are merging. THE INDEPENDENT
Author Bio
James Geary is the author of El Mundo en Una Frase: A Brief History of the Aphorism. He lives in London with his wife and three children.