Evolution

If Last and First Men is the most spectacular, panoramic view of the future of life in our Solar System, Evolution runs it a close second. It begins 65 million years in the past, with early mammals struggling to survive in Africa; it ends 500 million years in the future, after the extinction of human life, with the beginnings of machine sentience. In between, we witness the course of evolution, both brutal and uplifting, with the death of the dinosaurs, the rise of the Neanderthals, the first tentative explorations of Mars, the consequences of genetic engineering, and the spread of replicator machines taking Humanity’s legacy throughout the Universe. Why it’s on the list: Whatever we may think, the forces of evolution are always likely to be the most important driver in creating what comes after humanity, even if we give evolution a little genetic and mechanical help. And this is a spectacular account of the forces involved.