Starting from the dominant perspective of historical sociology, this book looks into the future instead and asks vital questions about the futures we face at the societal and global levels. The authors project what we can expect relating to the future of human knowledge, ideas and expectations, prognostic and futurological conceptions, transformations reflected by social geography and demography, and disputes on environmental issues. It also looks at civilizational issues, religion, economic and political development, and changes in human settlements and lifestyles. Finally, it looks at important issues relating to planetary defence and space settlement in the not-so-distant future. The book offers readers an intellectual basis for understanding historical and contemporary processes at work in the world around us that are shaping the contours of what the world of the future will be built upon.