Look the Future Straight in the Eye does exactly what it says on the cover. It is by far the best overview I have seen of the challenges facing the human race and where we are likely to find ourselves in the future. The challenges reviewed range from the end of cheap oil to terrorism and from super-volcanoes to asteroid collisions. In exploring how we can respond, Tom Riley neatly splits the problems into two categories; the current clear and present dangers versus challenges too big to be solved by anything we can develop in our life-times.

The current challenges are those that can and must be tackled by people alive to day if we are to give future generations the framework in which to tackle those more distant challenges. Fortunately the author points the way to the kinds of tools that are going to be needed to overcome today's challenges, not least the need for a new vision for success in which the heroes are people making leaps forward towards the solution of massive problems. He recognises that current western education systems produce two types of thinkers; the technical and the language experts, but few who are brilliant at both. Given this as a starting point another of the tools identified is better ways to allow the two groups to understand each other.

Considering the author's background in helping young people to fulfil their potential, it did not surprise me that this book was often clearly a call to arms for young people to break away from ideas of a future of doom, grim computer games and Hollywood generated gloomy future visions. Instead they are called upon to start imagining, start programming and start communicating for a bright new world.

Looking way off into the future, Tom Riley gives away both his NASA and Star Trek backgrounds in his thoughts for future space colonisation, but even this he does with great logic and leaves us with a long term and fortunately phaser free future.

What was not so good about the book? If Tom Riley were a medical doctor I feel the hospitals would be calling him in to do difficult diagnosis on patients with multiple life threatening conditions. However, having done this with great skill there would always be concern over his bedside manner! This book is not going to suit all. A lot of people just do not want to think about the future or do not want to think about things outside of their neighbourhood. Very soon it seems they will have little choice as the global issues are likely to get more pressing if we are waiting for our new heroes to understand the issues and help us all to work together in sorting things out.

This book is a must for anyone interested in the future for the next generation and believes they may make a contribution to making it a bright one.

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