The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth

Book Description

In this daring work, Edward O. Wilson proposes an alliance between science and religion to save Earth's vanishing biodiversity.

Dear Pastor:
We have not met, yet I feel I know you well enough to call you friend. First of all, we grew up in the same faith. Although I no longer belong to that faith, I am confident that if we met and spoke privately of our deepest beliefs, it would be in a spirit of mutual respect and goodwill. I write to you now for your counsel and help. Let us see if we can, and you are willing, to meet on the near side of metaphysics in order to deal with the real world we share. I suggest that we set aside our differences in order to save the Creation. The defense of living Nature is a universal value. It doesn't rise from nor does it promote any religious or ideological dogma. Rather, it serves without discrimination the interests of all humanity.

Pastor, we need your help. The Creation—living Nature—is in deep trouble.

The Creation is E. O. Wilson's most important work since the publications of Sociobiology and Biophilia. Like Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, it is a book about the fate of the earth and the survival of our planet. Yet while Carson was specifically concerned with insecticides and the ecological destruction of our natural resources, Wilson, the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner, attempts his new social revolution by bridging the seemingly irreconcilable worlds of fundamentalism and science. Like Carson, Wilson passionately concerned about the state of the world, draws on his own personal experiences and expertise as an entomologist, and prophesies that half the species of plants and animals on Earth could either have gone or at least are fated for early extinction by the end of our present century.

Astonishingly, The Creation is not a bitter, predictable rant against fundamentalist Christians or deniers of Darwin. Rather, Wilson, a leading "secular humanist," draws upon his own rich background as a boy in Alabama who "took the waters," and seeks not to condemn this new generations of Christians but to address them on their own terms. Conceiving the book as an extended letter to a southern Baptist minister, Wilson, in stirring language that can evoke Martin Luther King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail," tells this everyman minister how, in fact, the world really came to be. He pleads with these men of the cloth to understand the cataclysmic damage that is destroying our planet and asks for their help in preventing the destruction of our Earth before it is too late. Never a pessimist, Wilson avers that there are solutions that may yet save the planet, and believes that the vision that he presents in The Creation is one that both scientists and pastors can accept, and work on together in spite of their fundamental ideological differences. 25 line drawings.

Customer Reviews:

Plea to protect nature.......2007-10-15

'"The Creation" represents Ed Wilson's writing at once at its simplest and yet most magnificent. I read it with approximately the same sense of urgency as that with which I jump off railroad tracks when I hear a train whistle. My sense of urgency is similar to that with which I have read half a dozen of Wilson's previous books--generated by the remote sense that I had very much wanted to write such if I were a decent writer myself. This is not said to detract in the least from Wilson's vision, method or perspicacity. He and I have indeed shared many of the same greatest friends and parallel experiences, but Ed Wilson has gone on to participate in true scholarship and refined education, while I have gone my own much lesser way.

More than that, we have both watched the ascendancy of molecular studies TO THE TRAGIC DETRIMENT OF environmental and field studies for over forty years; watched with growing anxiety the developing gap between what was NEEDED from field studies to make adequate societal decisions and what was available financially to provide such information. We have both watched, helpless, while education in natural history has been eroded by the molecular imperative--based solely on the notion that (now that scientists admit that biology is all reducible to chemistry and physics) all society really needs to teach in our colleges is chemistry and physics! Absurd notion when first stated in 1963 by Jim Watson (Harvard, pers com), and equally preposterous in 2006 at Wilson's writing. I personally and repeatedly have tried to disabuse several molecular biologists of this egotistic fantasy, but obviously to no avail.

As a scholar, Ed Wilson stands uniquely able to bridge the gap between religious conservatism and scientific conservation. Raised a Baptist in Alabama, he correctly has identified the deeply rooted spiritual connections between the naturalist, loving and studying nature, and the nature-connected religious fundamentalist. Speaking at once informed by his spiritual beliefs and by his profound--almost unique--understanding of the natural world, he eloquently pleads for a cease fire--a new cooperation between science and religion, (such as the Bush administration has fervently sought to abolish). Wilson makes it clear we are at a critical juncture, this is truly for the sake of all future generations.

First, Wilson establishes the fact and the rationale for the emotional links between our psyches and Nature, writ large. We have evolved to possess, he explains, a sense of natural kinship based on evolution during the long (pre-agricultural revolution) hunting-gathering period--likely a period of many million years. Then, Wilson eloquently details our deeper needs, for wholesome self-realization, to commune with a more complex nature than that provided by the suburban lawn or by the urban park. Here, I needed no convincing.

Then Wilson provides the urgency of species loss, of a radical decrease in diversity, globally. He cites numerous studies indicating hundreds-thousands of species dying irrevocably before even being described and cataloged. The solution? Several steps: For religious and scientific leaders to join forces to preserve "The Creation", the ecology that, largely unseen, provides actual support for our fragile human ecosystem.

Lastly, Wilson, award-winning teacher (never mind writer, published naturalist, or author of the socio-biology paradigm-shift), provides thoughtful teaching principles for providing a student with a real foundation in nature studies--ones with which many experienced teachers wilI certainly concur. Early, almost primal contact is urged, with nature and curiosity, tools and self-directed inquiry. Wilson, perhaps characteristically, reaches out, finally, in respect and humility, for help in his reverence to study this "little-known planet." Wilson cites numerous recent studies where experts and amateurs combine forces in concerted volunteer efforts to obtain the missing data--many one-time local population censuses of diverse plant and animal groups.

As a book, I rate this as a "must-read", but after watching the political-religious manipulations of millions of voters for six years with lies on pseudo-issues, I doubt this heroic effort by a genuine scholar will have much affect on those who deliberately self-proclaim their ignorance. At the same time I hope to be proven dead wrong!

Great Read -- But pay attention.......2007-10-05

It took me a couple of weeks to read this book, because the biology in it requires you to really pay attention. But Wilson's chapter on extinctions is scary and saddening.

A Passion for Life on Earth.......2007-09-13

It seems that Edward O. Wilson's goal in this book as an open letter to a southern Baptist minister was a persuasion to an enthusiasm in the enjoyment of the diversity of life, to use this to protect "The Creation" which is the biological riches that are still here, and indirectly to share his belief in evolution. Other than the last goal I felt his eloquent writing and passion was quite persuasive. He made me feel a bit guilty for not continuiing on as a biology teacher.

Wilson does mention evolution in the book but his mentioning is not part of an overall arguement in defense of it. I imagine some people that either do not believe in evolution or do and would like it well defended were disappointed in this aspect of the book. I did not feel that it was the main point, despite the title and it's near play on creationism, and I think Wilson's writing and avidity for the diversity of life are the substance of this book.

There are plenty of biological gems illuminated in "The Creation" and I think anyone would be interested and fascinated by such information as the existence of over 700 species of bacteria in the average person's mouth or details of the underground biosphere that could continue existing even with a complete scorching of the earth's surface. Wilson's has learned much about the life of the earth and this small book is a distillation of his learning and thoughts from a life of study. I would recommend it to anyone.

" a title" ! What do you mean? explain.......2007-08-08

Very detail analysis of issues. I hope our leaders are required to read such material

Not the Fittest.......2007-06-09

The book didn't quite live up to its billing. I'd expected something that was not at all incendiary or overtly driven by scientific (evolution theory dogmatic) beliefs. Instead, the book came across much more as smelling of sarcasm with tones of "surely everyone knows this stuff". This is certainly scientific apologetics, without apology to its supposed intended audience. Staunch marcoevolutionists will smirk at the veiled selfaggrandizement. Creationists will find nothing new in the "others'" view. Those with feet in both camps still await the Rosetta Stone that bridges the gulf.

The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight: Revised and Updated: The Fate of the World and What We Can Do Before It's Too Late

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If this is the answer, we are doomed.
If there is a more important and powerful book out there, I haven't found it.
Everyone should READ THIS
A wake up call
Good read.

The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight: Revised and Updated: The Fate of the World and What We Can Do Before It's Too Late
Thom Hartmann
Manufacturer: Three Rivers Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1400051576
Release Date: 2004-04-27

Book Description

While everything appears to be collapsing around us -- ecodamage, genetic engineering, virulent diseases, the end of cheap oil, water shortages, global famine, wars -- we can still do something about it and create a world that will work for us and for our children’s children. The inspiration for Leonardo DiCaprio’s web movie Global Warning, The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight details what is happening to our planet, the reasons for our culture’s blind behavior, and how we can fix the problem. Thom Hartmann’s comprehensive book, originally published in 1998, has become one of the fundamental handbooks of the environmental activist movement. Now, with fresh, updated material and a focus on political activism and its effect on corporate behavior, The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight helps us understand--and heal--our relationship to the world, to each other, and to our natural resources.

Customer Reviews:

If this is the answer, we are doomed. .......2007-09-23

As a biology teacher, I bought this book because I thought it would be a scholarly analysis of the current environmental crisis. Instead, it is largely a diatribe against all the "evils" of Western civilization, followed by plenty of New Age mumbo.

Here are a few gems of the author's "analysis":

--All human civilizations throughout history can be divided into just two groups: Old Cultures and Young Cultures. Old Cultures universally loved each other, lived in peace, respected the earth, helped old ladies cross the street and lived sustainably. Young Cultures (Europe, USA) rape and pillage, are resource-extracting, and practice despicable acts like ownership of property and buying and selling things in an economy, rather than communally sharing all the resources.

--To get back to Old Culture, you should leave your job, home and 401k and join with small bands of like-minded individuals to buy enough rural land to build basic shelters, grow crops, and grab your own solar energy. This will re-create the small, sustainable, "tribes" of the past.

--The author proposes walking outside with the book and attempting to talk to plants and animals, waiting until they talk back. At one point, he caresses a tree and apologizes to it.

--Just by thinking good thoughts you can effect planetary change. Since the entire planet is interconnected by a "morphic energy field" any good thoughts dumped into it will improve the whole "cosmic soup."

--If you get to the end of the book, the afterword tells you that you are an exceptional person (literally, a "Chosen One") and that you should run out and buy 10 more copies of the author's other books to distribute to friends.

If this is the "strategy" of the new environmental movement, we are doomed. The author is clearly passionate about the issue and is attempting to drive deep cultural change to solve the problem, but his prescriptions are hopelessly utopian. I don't see how aboriginal mysticism is going to scrub the carbon dioxide out of our air or invent a better fuel cell.

Instead of buying 10 copies of this book, try Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs and Steel" or "Collapse."

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed

If there is a more important and powerful book out there, I haven't found it........2007-09-02

Better than anyone I've ever read or heard, Hartmann explains the cultural and environmental crises we have wrought, how we got there, and what we can do to overcome them. It is full of factual evidence and well-thought-out insights.
Hartmann is a brilliant and prolific writer as well as an Air America radio host. If everyone would read it, there would be a lot more hope for our future.

Everyone should READ THIS.......2007-08-01

A brilliant book, very well researched and taking us thru the times in a very easy to read style. It is not fiction but feels like a good thriller at times with a cannot put down flavour to it. It is educational and informative and moves thru the subjects systematically with a deep spiritual element towards the end and finalising with an action plan and on a positive note that all is not lost. I initially borrowed this from my library but decided I want to add this to my collection of books - it is so good ! Happy reading and please share what you have read with others so that there is a world movement to improve our environment for this earth belongs not only to humans but to all other living creatures and plants as well.

A wake up call.......2007-07-23

This is a great book that addresses a number of critical issues, and it provides a good springboard to look at our future and how we must change to survive. Disappointing to some is that he doesn't reach any conclusions, however the purpose of the book is not to be "A idiots guide to survival" rather to force the reader to draw his own conclusions.

I feel that he either missed some research or simply left it out. Two cases in point are tribalism and democracy. What he said about ancient tribes is mostly correct, however there are strong indications that some ancient tribes that pre-dated modern civilization were exceedingly warlike and did kill their neighbors, just because they were not of the same tribe. I admit that they were the exception, but they did exist and perhaps they are the root of the modern civilization of dominance.

The other issue that could have been explored is the difference in democracies between republics and confederations. Republics always consolidate power and historically have failed as he points out. However he doesn't take a look at confederations which by his definitions are more tribal in outlook. I lived in Switzerland for many years and they are the oldest surviving democracy in the world at more than 700 years. The government was influenced by the Allemanes (sic) a German tribe that had a very grass roots form of democracy. I have lived all over the world in many different countries and the only place I have lived that had a genuine democracy that represented the individual was Switzerland. Interesting to note is that they are also the "greenest" country that I have ever lived in, recycling and environmental consciousness is a part of the culture with few exceptions.

Good read........2007-07-14

I found Thom's book a very interesting read. His science was a bit basic but he is trying to get through to the average couch potato who is more interested in American Idol than what is really happening to the world around them. Thom's out look on the world is a bit melancholy but he has good reason to be. For the average person who feeds their mind with junk T.V and their body with junk food then they might learn something by having a read of Thom's books. Although I don't agree with everything Thom is saying I think his heart is in the right place and he really wants to see a better world for all of us. This is a good read and a good wake up call!!

Evening Thoughts: Reflecting on Earth as Sacred Community

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'God' created the entire world
Crucial Thoughts for Our Time
In comparison, our cultural thinking is dead.
Thomas Berry is a true genius

Evening Thoughts: Reflecting on Earth as Sacred Community
Thomas Berry
Manufacturer: Sierra Club Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1578051304

Book Description

Among the contemporary voices for the Earth, none resonates like that of noted cultural historian Thomas Berry. His teaching and writings have inspired a generation's thinking about humankind's place in the Earth community and the universe, engendering widespread critical acclaim and a documentary film on his life and work.
This new collection of essays, from various years and occasions, expands and deepens ideas articulated in his earlier writings and also breaks new ground. Berry opens our eyes to the full dimensions of the ecological crisis, framing it as a crisis of spiritual vision. Applying his formidable erudition in cultural history, science, and comparative religions, he forges a compelling narrative of creation and communion that reconciles modern evolutionary thinking and traditional religious insights concerning our integral role in Earth's society.
While sounding an urgent alarm at our current dilemma, Berry inspires us to reclaim our role as the consciousness of the universe and thereby begin to create a true partnership with the Earth community. With Evening Thoughts, this wise elder has lit another beacon to lead us home.

Customer Reviews:

'God' created the entire world.......2007-08-23

Fr. Thomas Berry emphasizes that all things and beings have a place in Creation. It is a stimulating relief to have such a well respected scholar support what is my heart's understanding of the world I know. He is calm and accepting of the concept 'inclusiveness'. Science and spirituality are shown to be not only compatible but inseperable. The Universe Story tells us how our world was formed and comes alive. Thomas Berry emphasises appreciation of the beauty and strength found all around us. We are told we are moving into a new geologic time called the 'ecozoic' by the author. This book will help smooth our moves into the next chapter of the Creation.

Crucial Thoughts for Our Time.......2007-01-11

Outstanding brief introduction to the thoughts of Thomas Berry, one of the visionary thinkers of our time in terms of ecology, impact of the human on the earth, and providing a promising larger vision of the possibilities for the future. The collection of thoughts will appear a bit repetitive at first glance, but I found the repetition of the key thoughts from different perspectives useful. Highly recommended. Rated 4 star instead of 5 due only to the repetitiveness.

In comparison, our cultural thinking is dead. .......2006-10-09

The perspective I have come to is that for most of my life I lived in a human world which has not been able to offer in any comprehensive way, what really matters.

What is going on is that the sources of human survival, imagination, knowledge and emotional balance have been diminished, distanced, ignored and replaced by an enslaving, stale and insulting world views.

Enter Thomas Berry who after a lifetime of scholarship on human cultures has received the gifts of the scientific community and relit our human drama and our personal value. We are fortunate to be born into a community that knows how to survive through amazing trials. We are fortunate to be born into a school that has incomprehensible libraries and teachers to access. We are made with genes already experienced in phenomenal truth, art, music, flexibility and openness to diversity and enhancing possibility. There is nothing in the vast developing universe that is really foreign to us--it is our home and at this time in human history, we have a dinguished role to play. You'll have to read him to see what these remarks mean.

There is no one I have ever met, heard or read who comes close to explaining the grief and chaos of our times and to offering a healing of being and living as does Thomas Berry.

This is what children need to learn. This is the heroic task that young adults yearn to be presented. This is the good news that will bring a sign of contentment to more than our hopes. This is the story that provides a standard for every profession but especially education, economics, religion and government. At last we begin to hear what really matters.

Thomas Berry is a true genius .......2006-09-21

Every politician should read this book and then look into their hearts. I must say that Mary Tucker's Editorial Preface says everything about Thomas Berry and his desire to enhance human beings' relationship to Earth. His writing is accessible and undaunting. The gift of his genius, still going strong at 90 years of age is expressed again in this book and the message will bring you into the fold of his views with keen insight and compassion. I am so grateful for his gifts and just want you to read it and give it to everyone else you know.

A Vision of a Living World: The Nature of Order, Book 3

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A practical approach to reinventing human habitats

A Vision of a Living World: The Nature of Order, Book 3
Chris Alexander
Manufacturer: Center for Environmental Structure
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0972652930

Book Description

In Book 3 of this four-volume work, Alexander presents hundreds of his own buildings and those of other contemporaries who have used methods consistent with the theory of living process.

Nearly seven hundred pages of projects, built and planned in many countries over a thirty-year period, illustrate the impact of living process on the world. The book provides the reader with an intuitive feel for the kind of world, its style and geometry, which is needed to generate living structure in the world and its communities, together with its ecological and natural character.

The projects include public buildings, neighborhoods, housing built by people for themselves, public urban space, rooms, gardens, ornament, colors, details of construction and construction innovation. The many buildings shown, and the methods needed to design and build these buildings, define living structure in a practical way that can be understood and copied.

". . . Alexander's approach presents a fundamental challenge to us and our style-obsessed age. It suggests that a beautiful form can come about only through a process that is meaningful to people. It also implies that certain types of processes, regardless of when they occur or who does them, can lead to certain types of forms."-Thomas Fisher, former editor of Progressive Architecture.

Christopher Alexander is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, architect, builder, and author of many books and technical papers. He is the winner of the first medal for research ever awarded by the American Institute of Architects, and Emeritus Professor of Architecture at the University of California, Berkeley, where he taught for 40 years.

Customer Reviews:

A practical approach to reinventing human habitats.......2005-04-15

Alexander's long-awaited third book in the four-volume Nature of Order series finally provides a practical guide to creating great places based on his concepts of "centers", "wholeness" and "structure-preserving transformations."

Page after page of photos and diagrams give weight to Alexander's process-oriented approach to building.

This tome should be required reading for anyone who has wondered whether there is a way to reinvent our cities and suburbs away from "sprawl" and into vibrant, living places.

Watersheds 4: Ten Cases in Environmental Ethics

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Compelling cases, interesting reading
****************************

Watersheds 4: Ten Cases in Environmental Ethics
Lisa H. Newton , Catherine K. Dillingham , and Joanne H. Choly
Manufacturer: Wadsworth Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0534521266

Book Description

Environmental issues can be complex. You need an environmental ethics textbook that you can actually understand. WATERSHEDS 4: TEN CASES IN ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS provides ten fascinating case studies of real-life environmental conflicts and explains the principles involved in an easy-to-understand, impartial way.

Customer Reviews:

Compelling cases, interesting reading.......2007-09-16

This book discusses various ethical situations regarding environmental issues, which could be rather dry material. However, the author writes in a more down-to-earth style, which makes it more enjoyable. The topics are certainly thought-provoking, and made for many interesting discussions at the dinner table.

****************************.......2007-09-02

This book is nice if you're looking for nice little vignettes on varied environmental subjects. But it is overtly biased politically, asides and analogies that have a left leaning are used throughout the text unnecessarily. Otherwise the information is pretty broad and it is not a bad little book.

Average customer rating:

Other Books
Earth as an Organism
Not even good science
Brilliant hypothesis, poorly presented
Gaia: A Libertarian Manifesto

Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth
James Lovelock
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0192862189

Book Description

In this classic work that continues to inspire its many readers, Jim Lovelock puts forward his idea that life on earth functions as a single organism. Written for non-scientists, Gaia is a journey through time and space in search of evidence with which to support a new and radically different model of our planet. In contrast to conventional belief that living matter is passive in the face of threats to its existence, the book explores the hypothesis that the earth's living matter air, ocean, and land surfaces forms a complex system that has the capacity to keep the Earth a fit place for life. Since Gaia was first published, many of Jim Lovelock's predictions have come true and his theory has become a hotly argued topic in scientific circles. In a new Preface to this reissued title, he outlines his present state of the debate.

Customer Reviews:

Other Books.......2007-09-03

A really interesting book, and hypothesis. I first noticed this theory, funnily enough, after watching the excellent miniseries 'Edge of Darkness' and some of the writing involved with talking about that show. Well worth a look. The Earth as 'living' in the sense of a being a system, where life and the planet exist in a relationship. This is definitely a thought provoking piece of work.

Earth as an Organism.......2006-08-19

Lovelock is certainly an out-of-the-box thinker. The main point Lovelock drives home is that Earth behaves as an organism. The aim is to get the reader thinking that Earth is alive, and does have the same functions an organism. For example, the chemistry of the atmosphere and the ocean are controlled by life for the purposes maintaining the planet as a haven for life's continuance.

Life does appear to drive the planet away from the expected chemical equilibria. To this I give Lovelock credit for drawing a brilliant parallel that makes the book worth reading. There is a sort of alternate equilibrium under life's influence that hasn't been studied enough. The book really can change the way one looks at Earth. I'm not perfectly convinced with the precision here, but this is far better than picturing random life trying to survive on a otherwise dead world.

However, there were some chapters in the second half that were weak, and seemingly off-the-point. The role of mankind isn't supported as claimed. I'd give this 3 and a half stars if I could.

Not even good science.......2006-04-26

I ordered this book hoping for some scientific evidence supporting what I already knew from personal experience; that there is a gestalt emerging from all of the beings in the universe. An emergent property that some call `the spirit that moves through all things' and some call `god' and I was hoping that this book would call it Gaia. Bah! The author totally ignores the metaphysical evidence and misrepresents the impact of civilization on the natural world. He also misrepresents the relationship tribal aka primitive cultures had with the natural world. Furthermore, this isn't even good science. Typically I pass books on to friends or trade them at a used bookstore. The best thing about this book was how easily the pages tore out to become kindling for my fire. If I could I would give it a negative rating -- don't pollute your mind with this trash.

Brilliant hypothesis, poorly presented.......2005-10-27

In essence, Lovelock says that since evolution started eons ago, all forms of life evolved together resulting not only in balance among themselves and their surroundings, but also in such a way that they regulate the environment, controlling the atmosphere, the salinity of the seas and the temperature. This complex eco-system is presumably an inevitable consequence of the algorithm of evolution running successfully. Want to know if there is life on another planet? Easy, look at the atmosphere.
This comes out in the book, but it is a bit bizarre. Lovelock seems to go from anthropomorphism (the world learning to breath and making decisions) to using scientific terms that the average non-science reader will have to look up. He presents a table on page 63 that I think is incomprehensible unless you understood the work that went into it, which is not presented. He finishes with a plea not to hunt whales, which seems like a strange non-sequester to the book as whole.
As a consequence of this he seems to have appealed to crystal-swinging, horoscope-reading new age wo-wos rather than hard scientists. This is a shame, because the idea is brilliant (thus 4-stars), and could result in decades of research, added to which Gaia is a great name. It seems self-evident that we are part of and completely dependent upon the environment around us. Lovelock has such faith in the self-regulating mechanisms, he rather pooh poohs our ability to mess with it too much. However, it seems to me that evolution and balance takes time - we do things incredibly fast - our ability to warm the globe has only been for a couple of hundred years. We could easily give Gaia a fever, by overcoming her ability to make gentle regulations. If this happens, we do not know what the results will be, but we almost certainly will not benefit from them. As they say; "nature bats last".
Everyone should read this book and, despite its faults, it is readable.

Gaia: A Libertarian Manifesto.......2005-04-30

James Lovelock's book "Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth" reads like a libertarian manifesto. No doubt, many well-intentioned liberal environmentalists will be turned off by his laissez-faire approach to polution, as he believes that Gaia (the Earth-organism) can, and has handled much worse than our man-made pollution of the present day. Likewise, self-absorbed capitalists and fiscal conservatives may feel redeemed by some of Lovelock's claims, and may quote passages of this book to their liberal family members to score points in some future debate.

However, it would be wrong to interpret Lovelock as condoning pollution and the misdeeds of mankind. Lovelock instead implores us to participate in Gaia from a Taoist perspective, by learning to work with, rather than against the ways of the Earth. He believes (as do I) that we can only do this when we fully understand how the Earth has changed throughout history (including the environmental holocausts that the Earth has already endured), and how it presently changes to maintain a global homeostasis.

After reading this book I felt encouraged by the strength and mother Earth, and impressed by her ability to adapt to a wide range of near-cataclysmic events. My only critique of the book is that Lovelock sometimes makes certain leaps in his explanations, which at times left me (a lay scientist) confused as I was reading through them.

Environmental Ethics: An Introduction to Environmental Philosophy

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Interesting topics, very thought provoking
Environmental Ethics: An Introduction to Environmental Philosophy
Well written outlines of major ideas
Thinking Deeply about the Environment, and Why it Matters

Environmental Ethics: An Introduction to Environmental Philosophy
Joseph R. Des Jardins
Manufacturer: Wadsworth Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0534520847

Book Description

How can you use philosophical to make progress toward solving environmental problems? ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS: AN INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL PHILOSOPHY introduces you to ethical theory in new and easily understood ways. But most of all, this environmental ethics textbook shows you how we can work together to build a better future.

Customer Reviews:

Interesting topics, very thought provoking.......2007-09-16

I purchased this book for an environmental ethics class, and found it to be very interesting! The many changes in our environment are truly thought-provoking, and to look at them through the eyes of an ethicist was enjoyable. The reading is compelling, and good fodder for many interesting dinner table conversations.

Environmental Ethics: An Introduction to Environmental Philosophy.......2007-03-14

Book arrived in great shape and in a very timely fashion

Well written outlines of major ideas.......2003-09-13

This review is based on the 2nd edition. This book presents a good introduction to the major ideas of ethical thinking about the environment. He presents ideas on how rights might be derived as a gradation from purely human interest, rights based on whether animals suffer, and nature with its own right. Throughout the book questions of individual versus community rights are discussed. Each chapter starts with a short essay that highlights some of the complexities; for example whether Mountain Goats should be introduced or eliminated in Olympic National Park. Each chapter is concluded with discussion questions that also help the reader grapple with the issues.

He presents many of the major ideas and criticisms of animal rights, energy use, the land ethic, deep ecology, and ecofeminism. Particularly in the areas of deep ecology he presents the diversity of views. Perhaps he is weak in presenting third world views and the impact that "Deep ecology" might have on poor and agrarian populations. He is lacking discussion of religious based environmental ethics ("Theocentric ethics"). Christian Ecology seeks to develop a stewardship view, and Native American, and Eastern religions center on respect for nature. I think this book works best when read with selections from the authors discussed; for example read some of Leopold's "Sand County Almanac", then read the chapter on "The Land Ethic."

Thinking Deeply about the Environment, and Why it Matters.......2001-08-18

I read the first edition of this book (1993) and have no doubt that the third edition will surpass its scope and clarity. In a few hundred pages, Joseph Des Jardins unspools the thread of western philosophical tradition and makes it relevant for today's urgent environmental issues. Each chapter begins with a timely case study--salmon and economic develoment, nuclear waste and the rights of future generations to a clean environment--then develops the philosophical arguments required to more deeply understand just what is at stake in these and similar issues. Des Jardins' style is easy-going and eminently accessible. He wastes no words, gets to heart of the matter, and leaves the reader wanting more. Footnotes and additional readings lead to original material if the reader wants to delve more thoroughly into the topics. But you can just stop with Des Jardins if you are not a scholar, and still gain a firm grasp on how the big thinkers of western philosophy brought us to a critical divide in our environmental future. Edition One included late-breaking news from the social environmental and eco-feminist fronts, and I am confident the 2000 edition will be just as current.

Hope's Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet

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2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner featured in the book
Hope Gained From Insight and Diligence
Be gentle on the earth
Goes into my life's top 5
Honest Hope

Hope's Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet
Frances Moore Lappe , and Anna Lappe
Manufacturer: Tarcher
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

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Tanita BC533 Glass Innerscan Body Composition Monitor

ASIN: 1585422371
Release Date: 2003-04-24

Amazon.com

Thirty years after Frances Lappe's Diet for a Small Planet changed eating habits around the world, she and her daughter Anna bring us a new round of iconoclastic recommendations that break overwhelming issues down to a simple matter of personal choice. Hope's Edge presents many of the same issues of the original title, but it also provides a wealth of new discoveries and possibilities in this era of genetically engineered foods, worldwide famine, and growing rates of obesity-related health issues.

Beyond discussing a wide range of reasons to become a vegetarian (and that means no fish or chicken either, folks), the authors introduce you to a number of individual reasons for hope--Bob, the Wisconsin cheese maker; Jean-Yves, the farmer from Brittany who created the Sustainable Agriculture Network; and Muhammad Yunas, who has changed the lives of countless living in poverty with his remarkable microcredit programs. Along with these stories and the theories they're based on, you'll also find luscious recipes calling for grains, fruits, vegetables, and a handful of dairy products that will delight your taste buds and your conscience.

The Lappes firmly believe that the choices of low-level consumers have the potential to make positive changes, both in the world economy and in our physical health. By eating a vegetarian diet, shopping with care, and cooking with love, we might all brighten our future tremendously. --Jill Lightner

Book Description

Hope's Edge follows the author of the classic Diet for a Small Planet and her daughter as they travel the world, discovering practical visionaries who are making a difference in world hunger, sometimes one village at a time.

Thirty years ago, Frances Moore Lappé started a revolution in the way Americans think about food and hunger. Now Frances and her daughter, Anna, pick up where Diet for a Small Planet left off. Together they set out on an around-the-world journey to explore the greatest challenges we face in the new millennium. Traveling to Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Europe, they discovered answers to one of the most urgent issues of our time: whether we can transcend the rampant consumerism and capitalism to find the paths that each of us can follow to heal our lives as well as the planet.

Featuring nearly seventy recipes from celebrated vegetarian culinary pioneers-including Alice Waters, Mollie Katzen, Laurel Robertson, Nora Pouillon, and Anna Thomas-Hope's Edge highlights true trailblazers engaged in social, environmental, and economic transformations.

Customer Reviews:

2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner featured in the book.......2006-10-13

This is a very interesting book. It features in one part a detailed description of 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank, who used microloans to help Bangladeshis, especially women, get out of poverty and earn for themselves. By issuing very small loans, the people of Bangladesh are able to build their businesses or working conditions and change their lives. I recommend this book.

Hope Gained From Insight and Diligence.......2006-08-16

Thirty years after the publication of the highly acclaimed "Diet For A Small Planet", Frances and her daughter Anna Lappe have come out with a potent sequel and a beautiful statement of hope for a more equitable world through the world-wide spread of organic and sustainable agriculture techniques and locally controlled "fair" market modalities now challenging the status quo of chemical fed, toxic pesticide/GMO laden crops, and the lopsided "free" market capitalist WTO agenda that has been reaping havoc on the environment and small farmers everywhere.

The Lappes traveled to 5 continents while researching this book and their travels are both fascinating and uplifting as they report on people all over the world demonstrating that going organic and controlling their own markets are reaping major benefits in healthy, abundant food production while cleaning up the environment.

The Lappes do not reject world trade or capitalism, rather, they demonstrate how unregulated "free" markets monopolized by huge international corporations have been inadvertently causing food scarcity, bankrupting and polluting people all over the world, yet with an injection of regulation in the form ethics, strict fair trade measures, etc., they believe capitalism can "evolve" to a more sustainable, equitable, and healthy method of food distribution- a similar optimistic view shared by Lovins and Hawken in their book, "Natural Capitalism".

The inefficiencies of nutrient and food distribution is brought home in quantifying the huge amount of crops, water, and land required to feed cattle. The amount of energy necessary to produce an ounce of meat could feed hundreds of people on a much healthier vegetarian diet, hence, the myth of food scarcity and the need to grow more food to feed the world.

Every chapter finishes with a recipe and there are many more at the end of the book along with several pages of resources and contact information on a host of organizations advocating social responsibility.

Be gentle on the earth.......2006-02-22

Good copy. Excellent vegetarian recipes. Explains why we need to eat lower on the food chain. If we do, we can feed the world's hungry people.

Goes into my life's top 5.......2004-11-21

I won't say much here, because the other reviewers have described the book well. All I will say is that this is one of the very best books I have ever read. Not only does Lappe have an incredible way with words, but she summarizes her profound insights in such a way that really organizes one's thoughts for genuine reflection. Add to that a well-documented and researched approach, as well as fascinating stories of different communities around the world which they themselves visited.

Honest Hope.......2004-05-25

Hope's Edge is a Must Read for Everyone! The book puts it all together in an easy-to-understand, personal and honest fashion: the connection between consumerism, 'brainwashing', oppression, global economy, poverty, exploitation etc. etc. The concepts presented in this book are sophisticated and have depth. I liked the personal tone of the book, the story telling. The book is very honest, the stories told utterly inspiring. Frances and Anna never 'whitewash' the porlbmes the projects they are describing are facing. This truth-telling makes the stories even more impressive, more credible. The very existence of these projects defy the global systems as we know them. The way they do 'business' defies the global system of exploitation and competition. This book makes us take an honest look at ourselves, our values, the daily choices we make, what we consume, how we live. This is not just 'about food' or poverty or world hunger, this is truly food for thought and inspiration of how to create a better world."

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Outstanding!

Genius Loci
Christian Norberg-Schulz
Manufacturer: Rizzoli
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0847802876
Release Date: 1991-06-15

Customer Reviews:

Outstanding!.......2004-06-09

One of the finest works written on Architectural Theory ever.
This masterful text by the late Christian Norberg-Schulz is used as compuslory literature around the world, especially in the architectural curricula in United States. It should get another printing definately.

Regulating Toxic Substances: A Philosophy of Science and the Law (Environmental Ethics and Science Policy Series)

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Regulating Toxic Substances: A Philosophy of Science and the Law

Regulating Toxic Substances: A Philosophy of Science and the Law (Environmental Ethics and Science Policy Series)
Carl F. Cranor
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0195113780

Book Description

The proliferation of chemical substances in commerce poses scientific and philosophical problems. The scientific challenge is to develop data, methodologies, and techniques for identifying and assessing toxic substances before they cause harm to human beings and the environment. The philosophical problem is how much scientific information we should demand for this task consistent with other social goals we might have. In this book, Cranor utilizes material from ethics, philosophy of law, epidemiology, tort law, regulatory law, and risk assessment, to argue that the scientific evidential standards used in tort law and administrative law to control toxics ought to be evaluated with the purposes of the law in mind. Demanding too much for this purpose will slow the evaluation and lead to an excess of toxic substances left unidentified and unassessed, thus leaving the public at risk. Demanding too little may impose other costs. An appropriate balance between these social concerns must be found. Justice requires we use evidentiary standards more appropriate to the legal institutions in question and resist the temptation to demand the most intensive scientific evaluation of each substance subject to legal action.

Customer Reviews:

Regulating Toxic Substances: A Philosophy of Science and the Law.......2007-07-25

Regulating Toxic Substances: A Philosophy of Science and the Law provides a sophisticated and educational analysis of the complexities associated with regulating, assessing and conceptualizing toxic substances. Cranor does an impressive job at dissecting and disentangling the perplexing relationship between scientific risk assessment analysis as it pertains to Tort law, regulatory agencies and their epistemic and philosophical considerations. Theories of distribution and variants of Rawls's concept of Utilitarianism provide an atypical way of conceptualizing ethical justifications for the regulation of carcinogens and other toxic substances. The universal consideration taken by Cranor is the relationship between scientific assessment of toxic substances and public-healthcare policy efficiency. Of particular value, the last four appendices discuss the theoretic and scientific cancer potency estimates in the California Department of Health Sciences (CDHS) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Models of risk act as a function of Alpha and Beta values, statutes authorizing the regulation of carcinogens, and derivation of TD50 (tumorigenic dose) potency values. Regulating Toxic Substances: A Philosophy of Science and the Law will be best suited for those who are interested in the toxic Tort litigation and familiar with moderate to advanced statistic models of risk assessment and public-healthcare policy. Clanor puts together a cohesive evaluation of the synergetic relationship between toxic substances, policy and scientific method.

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