Masters of the Universe

Kenneth Silber from the January 1998 issue

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Yet even if technology follows a more unpredictable--and politically volatile--path than the one glimpsed in Visions, the book's strengths readily outweigh its weaknesses. Kaku's predictions are intelligent and thought-provoking, and his technological optimism never veers into an unconvincing techno-utopianism. Moreover, no one can accuse him of thinking small. Looking beyond the 21st century, Kaku sketches out a bold future of galactic colonization and more.

Drawing upon categories devised by Russian astronomer Nikolai Kardashev, Kaku sees technological civilizations advancing through several phases: Types I, II, and III. Type I refers to a global civilization, the masters of a single planet. A Type II civilization utilizes the resources of an entire solar system; such a society might even build a vast shell or "Dyson sphere" around its star. A Type III civilization operates on a galactic scale, occupying numerous solar systems. In this scheme of things, humanity is currently a backward society, or Type 0, but is on the verge of attaining Type I status.

Becoming a Type II civilization will take many centuries, according to Kaku, and achieving galactic Type III status requires many millennia. But it's worth the effort: Civilizations of Types II and III are invulnerable to asteroid impacts, supernova explosions, and other natural disasters.

Toward the book's end, Kaku launches into a discussion of wormholes, superstrings, and other exotica of modern cosmology. After billions of years, even galactic civilizations are doomed, as the universe freezes in a Big Chill or collapses in a Big Crunch. But on the book's last page a new category is introduced: the Type IV civilization, masters of space and time. Such beings might be able to build tunnels to parallel universes. Here, then, is Kaku's ultimate statement of technological optimism: Intelligent life might survive the end of our universe.