Authors at Google: David Brin March 29, 2012

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David Brin is a scientist, speaker, technical consultant and world-known author. His novels have been New York Times Bestsellers, winning multiple Hugo, Nebula and other awards. At least a dozen have been translated into more than twenty languages.

As a speaker, he is best-known as a "futurist" who comments plausibly and entertainingly about trends in technology and society, including some of the challenges that may confront our rambunctious civilization in the decades ahead. One favorite topic: creativity, or helping members of the audience think "out of the box" about both near- and long-term problems.

His 1989 ecological thriller, Earth, foreshadowed global warming, cyberwarfare and near-future trends such as the World Wide Web*. A 1998 movie, directed by Kevin Costner, was loosely based on The Postman.

EXISTENCE - David Brin's bold newest novel (due June 2012) explores the ultimate question.

Billions of planets may be ripe for life, even intelligence. So where is everybody? Do civilizations make the same fatal mistakes, over and over? Might we be the first to cross the mine-field, evading every trap to learn the secret of Existence?

This talk took place at Google LA on March 26, 2012.