It seems foolish, if not downright irresponsible to feel good about the future in 2010. The disasters of the last decade piled up fast, and apocalyptic fear is now a standard ingredient in the morning commute. But what should one prepare for first? September 11-style attacks, oil spills, climate change, the death of languages, the last days of the polar bears, or the dark, multifarious effects of globalization?

In The Rational Optimist bestselling science writer Matt Ridley has an answer to all this: chill out. It may be six minutes to midnight on the doomsday clock, but it is time to dare