Review : Designer death

It is hard to read Tomorrow’s War by David Shukman (Harcourt Brace,
$26, ISBN 0 15 100198 7) without being appalled at the human race’s
infatuation with destruction. Advanced weapons were glimpsed in the Gulf War,
but ideas for future ones include smoke that stops aircraft in flight, dazzle
guns that blind combatants, artificial insects that attack soldiers—even
“mind bombs” are a serious possibility. Such weapons could be made by any
industrialised nation. The book is dispassionately and lucidly written,
increasing its impact. This is a portrait of technology with a skull for a
face.