We wouldn't expect a uniform doubling of human knowledge within a 5-year timeframe, right? Even if this is a law as inexorable as Moore's (and that doesn't seem as inexorable as it once was, or am I reading the Dell ads wrong?), one would reasonably expect that human knowledge would advance a little in some areas and a lot in others. You with me?
Given what the world's attention has been focused on since 2002, here are some of the areas where I think human knowledge should have increased fastest:
- Epidemiology, thanks to SARS and Avian flu
- Biofuels
- Vaccines
- Proteome
- Oil extraction from rock and shale
- Mars
- Genetically Modified Organisms
- Fishery management
- Global warming
- Solar activity
- The Long Tail
- Stem cell cultivation
- Infectious diseases
I will treat this as a proxy list of subject areas to explore. I'm going to be digging around to see if we've seen dramatic advances in any or all of these. I'll probably dedicate a few posts to each of them. Got any suggestions?