Foundation For the Future | Walter P. Kistler Book Award 2007


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Search Foundation Website Announcements 2011 Kistler Prize Call for Nominations Deadline: September 30, 2010 Streaming Video Cosmic Origins: From Big Bang to Humankind Where Does Humanity Go from Here? Interview with Dr. J. Craig Venter Planned Events “Water – The Crisis Ahead” Humanity 3000 Workshop April 2010 Peter Ward Lecture Walter P. Kistler Lecture Series June 16, 2010, Seattle (revised date) Young Scholars Inquiry Young Scholars Seminar June 2010 Lecture Walter P. Kistler Lecture Series September 2010 11th Annual Kistler Prize September 2010 Humanity 3000 Seminar November 2010 RECENT Events Brian Fagan Lecture Walter P. Kistler Lecture Series November 2009 10th Annual Kistler Prize October 2009 Donald Johanson Lecture Walter P. Kistler Lecture Series September 2009 Walter P. Kistler Book Award April 2009 Recent Publications Foundation News Vol. 12 Fall 2009 [1.9 MB PDF] “Anthropogenic Climate Change: A Worst-case Scenario” Executive Summary [2 MB PDF] “Future of Planet Earth” Proceedings [28.1 MB PDF] “Energy Challenges” Executive Summary [2 MB PDF] All Foundation publications are available for download from our Publications page.	Awards Walter P. Kistler Book Award HOME \| NOMINATION PROCESS RECIPIENTS 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Eric Chaisson Receives Walter P. Kistler Book Award for 2007 Dr. Chaisson is the 2007 recipient of the Walter P. Kistler Book Award, which recognizes authors of science-based books that make important contributions to the public’s understanding of the factors that may impact the long-term future of humanity. In Epic of Evolution, Eric Chaisson leads the reader through all known forms of evolution, for all of known time, showing how the arrow of time, over billions of years, can be neatly partitioned into seven epochs: particle, galactic, stellar, planetary, chemical, biological, and cultural. “Of all the known clumps of matter in the Universe,” he writes, “life-forms are surely the most fascinating … [but] the arrow of time is not pointing at us.” The next great epoch, Chaisson writes, will likely be “ethical evolution.” The Walter P. Kistler Book Award is given annually to authors of science-based books that significantly increase the knowledge and understanding of the public regarding subjects that will shape the future of our species. It includes a cash prize of US$10,000 and a certificate, and is presented personally by the originator of the award program, Walter Kistler, benefactor of the Foundation. Here is a surprisingly integrated universal history that people of all cultures can understand and embrace – a big-bang-to-humankind story about the awe and majesty of twirling galaxies and shining stars, of buzzing bees and redwood trees, of a Universe that has come to know itself. But it’s also a story about our human selves – our origin, our existence, and perhaps our destiny. As we enter the new millennium, the scenario of cosmic evolution provides a powerful scientific worldview, perhaps even a cosmological imperative, to help us become wise and humane human beings, thus helping us address the many varied challenges along the future arrow of time. —Dr. Eric J. Chaisson, Epic of Evolution Copyright © 1996–2010 Foundation For the Future