It Matters That One Should Understand The Provenance Of This Important And Disturbing Book.It Is Not Another Futurological Diatribe Saying That The End Is Nigh, But A Lucid, Calm, Profoundly Well-Informed Work By A Distinguished Scientist, Whose Humanity Evidenced By A Serious Ethical Commitment And A Quiet Sense Of Humour- Balances The Dispassionate Logic With Which He Surveys His Subject: The Multitude Of Threats Facing Humanity In The Twenty-First Century From Error And Terror In The Nuclear, Biological And Environmental Spheres. Literary Review