Bank Square Books and Savoy Bookshop & Café present a Journey to the Future author talk and Q&A with authors Kathryn Hulick (Welcome to the Future) and Kelly Weinersmith (Soonish).

This event is free, but registration is required. Registration details are at the bottom of this page.

The New York Times bestseller Soonish and the newly released kids’ book Welcome to the Future both take readers on a journey through technologies that may transform our world. The authors of these two futuristic titles will talk about the future and answer your questions in an event that is perfect for families. Older teens and adults will love the humor and insightful visions of Soonish, created by Kelly Weinersmith, a biologist who studies parasites, and her husband Zach Weinersmith, who is a cartoonist and the creator of Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal Comics. Kids and teens in middle school and high school will enjoy the fascinating technology and deep questions posed by Welcome to the Future, written by Kathryn Hulick and illustrated by Marci Wolski.

About Welcome to the Future
Have you ever wondered what the future may look like? In this book, you’ll explore 10 ways technology could alter our way of life. The challenge for you is to decide which changes you want for yourself and the world.

In the future, will we teleport from place to place, keep dinosaurs as pets, or 3D-print our dinner? Will we live on Mars or upload our brains to computers? Could we solve climate change by making all our energy from mini stars we build here on earth? In this book, you’ll meet the scientists working to bring science fiction to life and learn how soon we might have amazing new technology. You’ll also delve deep into questions about right and wrong. Just because we can do something doesn’t mean we should. How can we build the best possible future for everyone on Earth?

About Soonish
From a top scientist and the creator of the hugely popular web comic Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, a hilariously illustrated investigation into future technologies — from how to fling a ship into deep space on the cheap to 3D organ printing
What will the world of tomorrow be like? How does progress happen? And why do we not have a lunar colony already? What is the hold-up?

In this smart and funny book, celebrated cartoonist Zach Weinersmith and noted researcher Dr. Kelly Weinersmith give us a snapshot of what’s coming next — from robot swarms to nuclear fusion powered-toasters. By weaving their own research, interviews with the scientists who are making these advances happen, and Zach’s trademark comics, the Weinersmiths investigate why these technologies are needed, how they would work, and what is standing in their way. New technologies are almost never the work of isolated geniuses with a neat idea. A given future technology may need any number of intermediate technologies to develop first, and many of these critical advances may appear to be irrelevant when they are first discovered. The journey to progress is full of strange detours and blind alleys that tell us so much about the human mind and the march of civilization.

To this end, Soonish investigates ten different emerging fields, from programmable matter to augmented reality, from space elevators to robotic construction, to show us the amazing world we will have, you know, soonish.

About Kathryn Hulick
Kathryn Hulick is an author, freelance writer, and former Peace Corps volunteer. She writes regularly for Science News for Students and Muse magazine. Her books cover topics such as video games, artificial intelligence, dinosaurs, and more. STRANGE BUT TRUE (Quarto, 2019) explores the science behind paranormal mysteries. Hulick’s favorite part of writing about science is getting to speak with researchers in many different fields. Once, she spoke with an expert on parallel universes while he was shoveling snow from his driveway. Another time, she called a biologist who was out in the field in Africa, watching a herd of elephants. In addition to writing, she enjoys hiking, gardening, painting and reading. Hulick lives in Massachusetts with her husband, son and dog.

About Kelly Weinersmith
Dr. Kelly Weinersmith received her PhD in Ecology at the University of California Davis, and is an adjunct faculty member in the BioSciences department at Rice University. Kelly studies parasites that manipulate the behavior of their hosts, and her research has been featured in The Atlantic, National Geographic, BBC World, Science, and Nature. When she isn’t studying Nature’s creepiest wonders, Kelly is writing books with her husband, Zach Weinersmith (creator of Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal Comics). Their first book, Soonish: Ten Emerging Technologies That’ll Improve and/or Ruin Everything, was a NYTimes Bestseller. Their next book is about the future of humans in space, and will be published through Penguin Press.