Thinking about the future is not a normal human activity.

Since we first came down out of the trees, most of our waking hours have been preoccupied with staying alive - life expectancy was so short, it was hard to seriously plan ahead. The religions we concocted taught us that the future was in the hands of our gods and we should concentrate mainly on the afterlife.

Future Perfect is a book for those who believe we can shape the future of our earth, and that there is a moral responsibility for us to do just that. It's difficult to disembark once you're here, after all. Written in Robyn Williams' characteristically whimsical and provocative style, it conjures up the possibilities before us in our cities, our employment, our transport and even our sex lives. It confronts the challenges before us and does not shrink from the hard answers.

Witty and immensely entertaining, informative and didactic, Future Perfect will fuel many an argument.