Blending real science with big imagination, Peter Solomon’s story 100 Years to Extinction: The Tyranny of Technology and the Fight for a Better Future follows teens who make a promise to save humanity after learning of Stephen Hawking’s prediction: that humans might vanish within a century. As they face pandemics, climate collapse, runaway AI, and even the dream of space travel, these young heroes find friendship, love, and purpose in a world teetering on the edge.
Why did you write this book?
Science has produced marvelous technology benefits to humanity over the last 200 years. But there are downsides to the technologies. Our society rushes to claim the benefits, often ignoring the risks. As a tech developer and educator, I feel badly that I didn’t do more to spread awareness of the dangers of technology and devote more time to their control. Hence the book is a warning cry.
These events added up to create the realization that we need a warning: The cases of ChatGPT purposely lying; The prediction of an eleven foot rise in sea-level from global warming; The warnings of AI danger by the experts including Geoffrey Hinton and Stephen Hawking; The use of genetic engineering by hobbyists; The lies and deep fakes on the Internet; The recent threats to use nuclear weapons; Two wars raging.
How can this book spark conversations with young adults about the role of tech in our lives?
The book is about three members of Generation Z who become aware of the threats posed by our technology and make a promise to do at least one thing to help save humanity. So my characters are role models for young people and the things the characters do in the book present paths for the readers to follow.
Why is it important for teens to be engaged in their communities?
Because the future of our Planet Earth and the survival of humanity is in their hands. School curricula should be modified to present the dangers of technology and what can be done to mitigate them.
How can families help teens find ways to advocate for issues that matter to them?
Teens should be encouraged to be more politically aware, to support organizations like Greenpeace, Fridays for Future, Nuclear Threat Initiative, Sierra Club, Extinction Rebellion, etc., Young people should encourage the individual organizations to expand their message to all threats and to collaborate to create a MAKE EARTH GREAT AGAIN movement.
ABOUT PETER SOLOMON, PH.D.: Dr. Peter Solomon is a scientist, educator, successful entrepreneur, and author. His current mission: to warn the next generation about the threats posed by unchecked science and technology.
After earning his Ph.D. in physics from Columbia University, Dr. Peter Solomon launched a distinguished career at the United Technologies Research Center before founding five companies — Advanced Fuel Research, Inc., On-Line Technologies, Inc., Real-Time Analyzers, Inc., Image Insight, Inc., and TheBeamer LLC. The technologies included clean fuels, process measurement, radiation detection, and science education. Four of those companies — are still thriving today, and he successfully sold one, for $23 million that was merged into MKS Instruments. Over his career, Dr. Solomon has been awarded 20 patents, authored more than 300 scientific publications, and served as Principal Investigator on over $25 million in U.S. government research contracts and grants across two decades.
In 1991, Dr. Solomon won the American Chemical Society (ACS) National Henry H. Storch Award in Fuel Chemistry, recognizing accomplishments in energy-related solutions that address global energy and chemical challenges. He was the Keynote Speaker at the Fourth Australian Coal Science Conference in 1990 and the 1991 International Coal Science Conference.
“I believe that astrophysicist Stephen Hawking’s dire prediction of human extinction on Planet Earth by 2117 may be right, writes Dr. Solomon. “The rapid pace of science and technology has far outrun our civilization’s social and political capabilities to control them, making for an uncertain future. The 18th and 19th centuries’ ingenious fossil fuel technology produced today’s global warming crisis. The 20th century’s brilliant nuclear technology created atomic weapons. The 21st century’s dangers are from AI, genetic engineering, social media, and plastic pollution. Over the next decade, my mission is to raise awareness and urgency in humanity’s effort to confront the technological threats that Stephen Hawking warned could lead to our demise.”
Science and technology will shape the future of humanity—and my passion is making their complexities understandable to all. I believe the most powerful way to reach non-scientists is through storytelling. As part of my commitment to science education, I secured grants from the National Science Foundation and authored two award-winning books for students in grades 7–12. The Stardust Mystery and The Race to the Big Bang both received first-place honors for Best STEM Book at the 2021 Purple Dragonfly Children’s Book Awards. Now, I’m turning to older audiences with my forthcoming novel, 100 Years to Extinction—inspired by Hawking’s warning about the future of humanity. It’s written for both adults and young people who are deeply concerned about the world they will inherit.
My novel 100 Years to Extinction explores the urgent threats—scientific, technological, and geopolitical—that could lead to humanity’s downfall, and the possible solutions that still lie within our reach. My goal is to raise awareness of the real dangers we face on Planet Earth and inspire action. If we are to avoid extinction, we must come together as one global community—what I call the EARTHLING TRIBE. It’s time to MAKE EARTH GREAT AGAIN.
Humans must change the way they think about the planet and our possible extinction before it is too late.
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