| The Human Age: The World Shaped by Us Contributor(s): Ackerman, Diane (Author) |
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ISBN: 0393240746 ISBN-13: 9780393240740 Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company OUR PRICE: $25.16 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: September 2014 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Nature | Environmental Conservation & Protection - General - Science | Environmental Science (see Also Chemistry - Environmental) - Science | Global Warming & Climate Change |
| Dewey: 304.2 |
| LCCN: 2014027691 |
| Physical Information: 1.09" H x 6.61" W x 9.52" (1.42 lbs) 352 pages |
| Themes: - Topical - Ecology |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Ackerman is justly celebrated for her unique insight into the natural world and our place in it. In this landmark book, she confronts the unprecedented reality that one prodigiously intelligent and meddlesome creature, Homo sapiens, is now the dominant force shaping the future of planet Earth. Humans have subdued 75 percent of the land surface, concocted a wizardry of industrial and medical marvels, strung lights all across the darkness. We tinker with nature at every opportunity; we garden the planet with our preferred species of plants and animals, many of them invasive; and we have even altered the climate, threatening our own extinction. Yet we reckon with our own destructive capabilities in extraordinary acts of hope-filled creativity: we collect the DNA of vanishing species in a frozen ark, equip orangutans with iPads, and create wearable technologies and synthetic species that might one day outsmart us. With her distinctive gift for making scientific discovery intelligible to the layperson, Ackerman takes us on an exhilarating journey through our new reality, introducing us to many of the people and ideas now creating--perhaps saving--our future and that of our fellow creatures. A beguiling, optimistic engagement with the changes affecting every part of our lives, The Human Age is a wise and beautiful book that will astound, delight, and inform intelligent life for a long time to come. |
Contributor Bio(s): Ackerman, Diane: - Diane Ackerman has been the finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction in addition to many other awards and recognitions for her work, which include the best-selling The Zookeeper's Wife and A Natural History of the Senses. She lives in Ithaca, New York. |