Whole Earth Discipline - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1843548151 ISBN 13: 9781843548157

Publisher: Atlantic Books

Synopsis

Three profound transformations are under way on Earth: climate change, urbanization and biotechnology. Climate change is finally pushing us towards recognizing the need to manage the planet as a whole. With half the world's population now living in cities - a figure that is rising fast - urbanization is altering profoundly humanity's land impact and wealth. And biotechnology is becoming the world's leading engineering tool. In response to these seismic changes - and the challenges they create - Brand argues that the environmental movement must reverse some of its long-held opinions, and embrace tools and disciplines that it has traditionally distrusted - such as science and engineering - in order to forestall the cataclysmic deterioration of the earth's resources. Whole Earth Discipline shatters a number of environmental myths, and presents some radical, counterintuitive observations - cities are actually greener than the countryside, nuclear power is the future of energy, and genetic engineering is the key to crop and land management. With a combination of scientific rigor and blazing advocacy, Brand reveals us exactly where the sources of our dilemmas lie and offers a bold and creative set of policies and solutions for producing a more sustainable society.

About this title

About the Author:

Stewart Brand trained originally as an ecologist. His legendary Whole Earth Catalogue (1968-1985) won the US National Book Award in 1972. Brand, whose previous books include The Media Lab, How Buildings Learn, and The Clock of the Long Now, is president and cofounder of the Long Now Foundation and co-founder of the Global Business Network.

From Publishers Weekly:

Brand, co-author of the seminal 1969 Whole Earth Catalog, compiles reflections and lessons learned from more than 40 years as an environmentalist in this clumsy yet compelling attempt to inspire practicable solutions to climate change. Brand haphazardly organizes his manifesto into chapters that address environmental stewardship opportunities, exhorting environmentalists to become fearless about following science; his iconoclastic proposals include transitioning to nuclear energy and ecosystem engineering. Brand believes environmentalists must embrace nuclear energy expansion and other inevitable technological advances, and refreshingly suggests a shift in the environmentalists' dogmatic approach to combating climate change. Rejecting the inflexible message so common in the Green movement, he describes a process of reasonable debate and experimentation. Brand's fresh perspective, approachable writing style and manifest wisdom ultimately convince the reader that the future is not an abyss to be feared but an opportunity for innovative problem solvers to embrace enthusiastically. (Oct.)
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About this edition

• Publisher: Atlantic Books
• ISBN 10: 1843548151
• ISBN 13: 9781843548157
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 325