Address:
One East 60th Street
New York, NY 10065
Phone: 215 873 8299
Description: By the year 2050 a projected 9 billion people will inhabit the planet. With no increase in arable land, and with harsher growing conditions expected, some experts predict the world food supply cannot sustain this population.
Matt Ridley, author of The Rational Optimist, will deliver a keynote address making the case for optimism in spite of these dire forecasts.
About the speaker:
Matt Ridley’s books have sold over 800,000 copies, been translated into 27 languages and been short-listed for six literary prizes. In 2004 he won the National Academies Book Award from the U.S. National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine for Nature via Nurture. In 2007 he won the Davis Prize from the U.S. History of Science Society for Francis Crick.
At TEDGlobal 2010, Ridley showed how, throughout history, the engine of human progress has been the meeting and mating of ideas to make new ideas. It’s not important how clever individuals are, he says; what really matters is how smart the collective brain is.
