Conventional wisdom tells us that things are bad and getting worse. Yet despite dire predictions, scientists see many good things on the horizon. John Brockman, publisher of Edge (www.edge.org), the influential online salon, recently asked more than 150 high-powered scientific thinkers to answer a vital question for our frequently pessimistic times: What are you optimistic about

Spanning a wide range of topicsfrom string theory to education, from population growth to medicine, and even from global warming to the end of worldWhat Are You Optimistic About taps into an impressive array of world-class minds.

Contributors include Brian Greene (The Hidden Reality) on humanitys capacity to solve problems, Jared Diamond (The World Until Yesterday) on the evolutionary advantage of good choices, Sam Harris (Lying) on moral progress, Walter Isaacson (Steve Jobs) on the importance of the printed word, Richard Dawkins (An Appetite for Wonder) on a new scientific enlightenment, Steven Pinker (The Better Angels of Our Nature) on the decline of violence, Lisa Randall (Knocking on Heavens Door) on the value of truth, Ray Kurzweil (How to Create a Mind) on the power of information technology, and George Smoot (Nobel Prize-winning author of Wrinkles in Time) on the pleasures of the present, among many others.