Whole Earth Discipline Hardback - 2009

by Brand, Stewart

An icon of theenvironmentalmovement outlinesa provocativeapproach forreclaiming ourplanet

According to Stewart Brand, a lifelong environmentalist whosees everything in terms of solvable design problems, three profoundtransformations are under way on Earth right now. Climatechange is real and is pushing us toward managing the planet asa whole. Urbanization-half the world's population now lives incities, and eighty percent will by midcentury-is altering humanity'sland impact and wealth. And biotechnology is becomingthe world's dominant engineering tool. In light of these changes,Brand suggests that environmentalists are going to have to reversesome longheld opinions and embrace tools that they have traditionallydistrusted. Only a radical rethinking of traditional greenpieties will allow us to forestall the cataclysmic deterioration of theearth's resources.

Whole Earth Discipline shatters a number of myths and presentscounterintuitive observations on why cities are actually greenerthan countryside, how nuclear power is the future of energy, andwhy genetic engineering is the key to crop and land management.With a combination of scientific rigor and passionate advocacy,Brand shows us exactly where the sources of our dilemmas lie andoffers a bold and inventive set of policies and solutions for creatinga more sustainable society.

In the end, says Brand, the environmental movement mustbecome newly responsive to fast-moving science and take up thetools and discipline of engineering. We have to learn how to managethe planet's global-scale natural infrastructure with as light atouch as possible and as much intervention as necessary.