Malthus predicted declining life styles as the population of the Earth soared. Others believe that innovation is limited only by the number of innovators.

We'd like science and engineering to solve our resource constraints. This has worked in the past, but each solution brought new and more potent problems. Our energy needs are still growing. We could easily consume ten to one hundred times more energy than current sources provide. Unlimited energy will create vast opportunities and could solve poverty forever. We can also count on new problems. These will each have to be faced in its own time. There is no beatitude that says "the fearful will dominate the earth."

Biological science is poised to overcome vast challenges. Replacement parts, precisely targeted drugs, powerful diagnostic tools, genetic engineering, longevity research all present opportunities for this and future generations.

Understanding the human brain with its capacity and mechanisms for storing, organizing and accessing information is growing. Understanding the disorders of the brain and developing effective treatments and maybe even solutions will surely follow. Could happiness be found?

Our computers and networks have expanded worldwide. They deliver torrents of information. They improve productivity. They communicate information across space and time. They make the routine, trivial. Someday they might even make the simple, easy. We are making good progress in creating autonomous machines to serve our needs.

The physical sciences are no laggards. We've mastered the electromagnetic force and discovered three more. The Standard Model puts all we know together. Gravity is hard to explain, fit with the others and ultimately engineer. A Grand Unified Theory including gravity would be elegant but remains elusive. Could gravity be an anomaly of geometry (mass distorts space) and not a fundamental force at all? Time remains a frontier of its own (can you say "time flies like an arrow"). Particle science digs ever deeper to discover the elemental and what is discovered is always more layers. Space is much emptier than we ever guessed.