The World Without Us - Rilegato

Weisman, Alan

Rilegato

ISBN 10: 0002008645 ISBN 13: 9780002008648

Casa editrice: HarperCollins Publishers, 2007

Riassunto

New Page 1

From five minutes to five billion years: an astonishing vision of Earth without humans

Picture a world from which we all suddenly disappeared. Tomorrow. Noted journalist and professor Alan Weisman does just this in a book that is a tour de force of investigative writing and unputdownable reading.The World Without Us examines what would happen in both the immediate and distant future to the land, the animals (guess what? cockroaches would not survive for long), the oceans, our cities, our art and all manner of things we take for granted. Would the seas again teem with fish? Would our concrete jungles crumble into natural ones? How long, if ever, would it take for our collective footprint to fade away?

Examining the minute, fascinating details of how things deteriorate (or don’t), Alan Weisman describes how seemingly indestructible pipes will be pulverized into rock, why some of our churches may be the last buildings standing and how plastic may be one of our “gifts” that keeps on giving. Much more than a physical cataloguing, however,The World Without Us takes us into places we’ve abandoned, including Chernobyl, the Korean DMZ and an ancient Polish forest, to see how they’ve fared since we left. He talks to numerous scientists, engineers, ecologists, biologists and architects to get a realistic view of our impact on this planet. And he asks, since we’re imagining, why not think of a way for nature to prosper that doesn’t depend on our demise?

At a time when we are seriously examining our impact on the earth, The World Without Us is essential reading. With its irresistible premise, intelligent mix of disciplines and candid tone, this mesmerizing book is a provocative and timely future classic.

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Su questo libro

Recensione:

“The book boasts an amazingly imaginative conceit that manages to tap into underlying fears and subtly inspire us to consider our interaction with the planet.” (Washington Post)

“An excellent springboard for an often fascinating look at our planet’s biology and ecology.” (Toronto Star)

“[No] end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it story . . . is more audacious or interesting than Alan Weisman’s The World Without Us.” (Boston Globe)

“A refreshing, and oddly hopeful, look at the fate of the environment.” (BusinessWeek)

“Alan Weisman has produced, if not a bible, at least a Book of Revelation.” (Newsweek)

“Grandly entertaining.” (Time)

“Brilliantly creative. An audacious intellectual adventure. His thought experiment is so intellectually fascinating, so oddly playful, that it escapes categorizing and clichés.” (Salon.com)

“The World Without Us gradually reveals itself to be one of the most satisfying environmental books of recent memory, one devoid of self-righteousness, alarmism or tiresome doomsaying ” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

“An astonishing mass of reportage that envisions a world suddenly bereft of humans.” (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

“One of the most ambitious ‘thought experiments’ ever.” (Cincinnati Enquirer)

L'autore:

ALAN WEISMAN, author of An Echo in My Blood and Gaviotas, has written for The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times Magazine and many others. He has been a contributing editor to The Los Angeles Times Magazine. A former Fulbright Senior Scholar in Colombia, he has received many awards, including a Los Angeles Press Club Award for Best Feature Story and a Robert F. Kennedy citation for reporting on the disadvantaged. He teaches international journalism at the University of Arizona.

Su questa edizione

• Editore: HarperCollins Publishers
• Data di pubblicazione: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0002008645
• ISBN 13: 9780002008648
• Rilegatura: Copertina rigida
• Numero di pagine: 336