A Natural History of the Future: What the Laws of Biology Tell Us about the Destiny of the Human Species

Dunn, Rob

ISBN 10: 1541603125 / ISBN 13: 9781541603127

Published by Basic Books, 2022

About this Item

Great shape! Has a publisher remainder mark. paperback Used - Very Good 2022.

Seller Inventory # IM-10119860

Bibliographic Details

• Title: A Natural History of the Future: What the Laws of Biology Tell Us about the Destiny of the Human Species
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Publication Date: 2022
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1541603125
• ISBN 13: 9781541603127
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

“An arresting vision of this relentless natural world” (New York Times) by a leading ecologist, who urges us to heed nature’s iron laws 

Our species has amassed unprecedented knowledge of nature, which we have tried to use to seize control of life and bend the planet to our will. In  A Natural History of the Future, biologist Rob Dunn argues that such efforts are futile. We may see ourselves as life’s overlords, but we are instead at its mercy. In the evolution of antibiotic resistance, the power of natural selection to create biodiversity, and even the surprising life of the London Underground, Dunn finds laws of life that no human activity can annul. When we create artificial islands of crops, dump toxic waste, or build communities, we provide new materials for old laws to shape. Life’s future flourishing is not in question. Ours is. 

As ambitious as Edward O. Wilson’s Sociobiology and as timely as Elizabeth Kolbert’s The Sixth Extinction, A Natural History of the Future sets a new standard for understanding the diversity and destiny of life itself. 

About the Author

Rob Dunn is Reynolds Professor in the Department of Applied Ecology at North Carolina State University and in the Center for Evolutionary Hologenomics at the University of Copenhagen. He is also the author of seven books. He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina.