A stellar cast of thinkers tackles the really big questions facing scientists in a book developed from pieces that first appeared on the web forum Edge.

A leading role is given to the computer and the potential for machine intelligence.

The cutting-edge thinkers include Ray Kurzweil on the Singularity, Steven Pinker on human nature, Martin Rees on the future of the universe, Rodney Brooks on robots that have properties of living systems, Hans Moravec on programs that implement humanlike intelligence, David Deutsch on quantum computation, Marvin Minsky on developing commonsense knowledge in computers, and Seth Lloyd on Moore’s Law and the ultimate laptop.