The Media Lab: 2inventing the Future at M.I.T.

Brand, creator-editor of the Whole Earth Catalog, here offers serious-minded readers a close-up view of what research scientists at MIT's $45-million Media Lab are dreaming up for the coming century. The lab, under founder-director Nicholas Negroponte, has gathered together such scientific giants as Marvin Minsky, Seymour Papert and Jerome Wiesner among other lesser-known creative minds committed to working on the horizons of the computer world. This is visionary material, demanding reading even for those knowledgeable about the communications revolution. Brand focuses on Media Lab specificsresearch projects by teams developing concepts such as synthetic holograms, e-mail, personal newspapers and an astonishing Connection Machine using over 65,000 processors in parallel. The technologies described are stunning, but perhaps even more intriguing are Brand's discussions of newly emerging concepts, and his vision of ""humanism through machines.'' Photos. 60,000 first printing; author tour. (September)