By David Nagel, THE Journal
Michio Kaku — theoretical physicist, author and pop science celebrity — has an emphatic message for educators: We are rapidly entering what he terms the “fourth-wave” of scientific advancement, and it’s the duty of educators to prepare young people to survive and thrive in the radically different milieu that portends. By Kaku’s reckoning, science is the engine of economic prosperity and has been for hundreds of years. Steam power ushered in the first wave of prosperity enabled by scientific advancements that had a direct impact on the way we live. The harnessing of electricity brought the second wave. The third wave, the one in which we live now, is powered by computers and communication. Each of these waves has brought revolutionary changes to the way humanity lives and interacts. And that will continue into the fourth wave, one driven by nanotechnology, biotechnology and artificial intelligence.
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