“A human mind-melded to a rat could move with the rodent, and smell and feel what it sensed…” Shutterstock/Linda Bestwick
In T. H. White’s series of novels The Once and Future King, the wizard Merlyn turns the young Arthur, future king of England, into a variety of animals. As a small fish, Arthur swims in a moat and is terrorised by a stronger pike; as a hawk, Arthur learns to respect the dominant old falcon. In giving him these experiences, Merlyn aims to educate Arthur and make him a good king.
By the 2040s, it had become possible, to a…
