Iosif Shklovsky

Iosif Samuilovich Shklovsky (1916 – 1985) was a Soviet astronomer, astrophysicist and futurist. He co-authored Intelligent Life in the Universe with Carl Sagan in 1966.

He made the following statement regarding prospects for the future of humanity:

''Profound crises lie in wait for a developing civilization and one of them may well prove fatal. We are already familiar with several such critical situations:''


 * Self-destruction as a result of a thermonuclear catastrophe or some other discovery which may have unpredictable and uncontrollable consequences.
 * Genetic danger.
 * Overproduction of information.
 * Restricted capacity of the individual's brain which can lead to excessive specialization, with consequent dangers of degeneration.
 * A crisis precipitated by the creation of artificial intelligent beings.

He also proposed a stellar engine called a Shklovsky Mining Graser.