Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
by Jared M. Diamond
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In Jared Diamondâ??s follow-up to the Pulitzer-Prize winning Guns, Germs and Steel, the author explores how climate change, the population explosion and political discord create the conditions for the collapse of civilization. Diamond is also the author of Upheaval: Turning Points for Nations in CrisisEnvironmental damage, climate change, globalization, rapid population growth, and unwise political choices were all factors in the demise of societies around the world, but some found show more solutions and persisted. As in Guns, Germs, and Steel, Diamond traces the fundamental pattern of catastrophe, and weaves an all-encompassing global thesis through a series of fascinating historical-cultural narratives. Collapse moves from the Polynesian cultures on Easter Island to the flourishing American civilizations of the Anasazi and the Maya and finally to the doomed Viking colony on Greenland. Similar problems face us today and have already brought disaster to Rwanda and Haiti, even as China and Australia are trying to cope in innovative ways. Despite our own societyâ??s apparently inexhaustible wealth and unrivaled political power, ominous warning signs have begun to emerge even in ecologically robust areas like Montana.
Brilliant, illuminating, and immensely absorbing, Collapse is destined to take its place as one of the essential books of our time, raising the urgent question: How can our world best avoid committing ecological suicide?br / show less
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CGlanovsky Books investigating decision-making through history, especially instances of catastrophically poor decision-making.
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* Review in swedish *
Jag började läsa Diamonds bok då jag har ett intellektuellt intresse för samhällen som kollapsar (och så har jag läst hans "Vete, vapen och virus" tidigare också). Och kollapsande samhällen är det gott om i boken. Sex äldre samhällens kollaps och fyra moderna samhällen med allvarliga miljöproblem beskrivs i boken. Just miljöproblem, eller människors hantering av de resurser som finns tillgängliga i naturen, är det genomgående temat i beskrivningen av olika samhällen. Diamond hävdar inte att alla samhällen som kollapsat har gjort det av miljöskäl, men han pekar ut ett antal samhällen där det är han tycker det är den rimligaste hypotesen. Han är dock noga med att påpeka vikten av hur show more samhällen reagerar inför miljöhot. Om samhällen vidtar åtgärder för att bemöta hoten är de i de allra flesta fall överkomliga hot.
Den bästa delen av boken är samlingen kapitel som beskriver gångna tiders kollapser. Det känns som det finns ett gediget forskningsarbete bakom av (i väldigt stora delar) andra än Diamond som han kan sammanfatta och lägga fram i ett sammanhängande narrativ. Och han är väldigt bra på att skriva sådana narrativ. Diamond fastnar inte i detaljer utan lyckas ge beskrivningar av samhällen som gör att en känner att en förstår dem. Hans förklaringar till varför samhällena kollapsade (eller hur Tokugawas Japan och hur samhällen i Nya Guinea lyckades undvika kollaps) verkar rimliga.
Dispositionen kan ifrågasättas lite. Grönland i all ära, men varför samhället där var värt tre kapitel medan alla andra samhällen fick nöja sig med ett är för mig oklart. Det är också noterbart att förutom den kollapsande Maya-samhället och Japan som undvek kollaps är alla samhällen som behandlas väldigt små där folkmängden totalt uppgår till några tusen personer som mest. Jag uppskattar att Diamond inte tar in till exempel Västromerska riket och försöker att få det att passa in i tesen om miljökollaps, men beskrivningarna förlorar lite i relevans. När de samhällen han beskriver är så små som i något fall inte ens 100 personer, så blir det svårare att dra paralleller till vårt idag globala samhälle med biljoner invånare.
Men även om relevansen för idag ibland kan kännas oklar dras jag in i kapitlen och finner det lättläst och väldigt intressant.
Kapitlen om de moderna samhällena är också bra, men inte lika bra. Jag tänker att det beror på att det finns mycket mer information om dagens samhällen vilket gör urvalet svårare. Hans tes om till exempel hur miljöproblem/överbefolkningsproblem var en stor orsak till folkmordet i Rwanda känns inte lika underbyggda som hans diskussion om gångna tiders samhällen. Men med det sagt finns det så klart intressanta delar även i dessa kapitel och jag uppskattade speciellt kapitlet om Australien.
Sen påpekar Diamond helt korrekt att vi inte på samma sätt idag kan förvänta oss samhälleliga kollapser av de slag vi såg till exempel på Påskön då vi idag har en mycket mer integrerad värld. Enskilda samhällen kan tillfälligt sjunka ner/"kollapsa" men det lär komma stöd från omvärlden för att underlätta krisen. Men däremot finns ju idag risken för en global samhälleliga kollaps (som kan sträcka sig över flera decennier).
Den sista delen med sammanfattande slutsatser och vägar framåt för att komma till rätta med dagens (boken gavs ut 2005) miljöproblem är den svagaste och drar ner betyget en stjärna för mig. Men jag uppskattar ändå att Diamond vill dra slutsatser från gångna tiders samhällen för ur vi ska kunna komma till rätta med våra miljöproblem. Men jag finner hans argument rätt tunna ofta.
Sammanfattningsvis en väldigt läsvärd bok om samhällskollapser och miljöproblem. show less
Jag började läsa Diamonds bok då jag har ett intellektuellt intresse för samhällen som kollapsar (och så har jag läst hans "Vete, vapen och virus" tidigare också). Och kollapsande samhällen är det gott om i boken. Sex äldre samhällens kollaps och fyra moderna samhällen med allvarliga miljöproblem beskrivs i boken. Just miljöproblem, eller människors hantering av de resurser som finns tillgängliga i naturen, är det genomgående temat i beskrivningen av olika samhällen. Diamond hävdar inte att alla samhällen som kollapsat har gjort det av miljöskäl, men han pekar ut ett antal samhällen där det är han tycker det är den rimligaste hypotesen. Han är dock noga med att påpeka vikten av hur show more samhällen reagerar inför miljöhot. Om samhällen vidtar åtgärder för att bemöta hoten är de i de allra flesta fall överkomliga hot.
Den bästa delen av boken är samlingen kapitel som beskriver gångna tiders kollapser. Det känns som det finns ett gediget forskningsarbete bakom av (i väldigt stora delar) andra än Diamond som han kan sammanfatta och lägga fram i ett sammanhängande narrativ. Och han är väldigt bra på att skriva sådana narrativ. Diamond fastnar inte i detaljer utan lyckas ge beskrivningar av samhällen som gör att en känner att en förstår dem. Hans förklaringar till varför samhällena kollapsade (eller hur Tokugawas Japan och hur samhällen i Nya Guinea lyckades undvika kollaps) verkar rimliga.
Dispositionen kan ifrågasättas lite. Grönland i all ära, men varför samhället där var värt tre kapitel medan alla andra samhällen fick nöja sig med ett är för mig oklart. Det är också noterbart att förutom den kollapsande Maya-samhället och Japan som undvek kollaps är alla samhällen som behandlas väldigt små där folkmängden totalt uppgår till några tusen personer som mest. Jag uppskattar att Diamond inte tar in till exempel Västromerska riket och försöker att få det att passa in i tesen om miljökollaps, men beskrivningarna förlorar lite i relevans. När de samhällen han beskriver är så små som i något fall inte ens 100 personer, så blir det svårare att dra paralleller till vårt idag globala samhälle med biljoner invånare.
Men även om relevansen för idag ibland kan kännas oklar dras jag in i kapitlen och finner det lättläst och väldigt intressant.
Kapitlen om de moderna samhällena är också bra, men inte lika bra. Jag tänker att det beror på att det finns mycket mer information om dagens samhällen vilket gör urvalet svårare. Hans tes om till exempel hur miljöproblem/överbefolkningsproblem var en stor orsak till folkmordet i Rwanda känns inte lika underbyggda som hans diskussion om gångna tiders samhällen. Men med det sagt finns det så klart intressanta delar även i dessa kapitel och jag uppskattade speciellt kapitlet om Australien.
Sen påpekar Diamond helt korrekt att vi inte på samma sätt idag kan förvänta oss samhälleliga kollapser av de slag vi såg till exempel på Påskön då vi idag har en mycket mer integrerad värld. Enskilda samhällen kan tillfälligt sjunka ner/"kollapsa" men det lär komma stöd från omvärlden för att underlätta krisen. Men däremot finns ju idag risken för en global samhälleliga kollaps (som kan sträcka sig över flera decennier).
Den sista delen med sammanfattande slutsatser och vägar framåt för att komma till rätta med dagens (boken gavs ut 2005) miljöproblem är den svagaste och drar ner betyget en stjärna för mig. Men jag uppskattar ändå att Diamond vill dra slutsatser från gångna tiders samhällen för ur vi ska kunna komma till rätta med våra miljöproblem. Men jag finner hans argument rätt tunna ofta.
Sammanfattningsvis en väldigt läsvärd bok om samhällskollapser och miljöproblem. show less
Fascinating. Depressing. A tiny bit hopeful at the end. A must-read for anyone who thinks our society is immune to changing climate, political unrest, and over-exploitation of resources. Jared Diamond relentlessly details how catastrophe has overtaken past and present cultures, why it happened, how it happened, and what we can do to keep it from happening again.
The clock is ticking...
The clock is ticking...
We all heard about the tragic history of Easter Island, and how a people were so irresponsible that they completely deforested a land rich in trees while it was their main resource. We all know, too, how such deforestation led, not only to the destruction of a whole ecosystem, but, also, meant no more wood for warmth and build fishing boats, besides an erosion of their soils to such a point that they became useless to cultivate. We all know, then, how a small people, lost on a Pacific Island, put itself under pressure and so collapsed into chaos and its own downfall. The Moais, these gigantic, stone-made statues ruling over such a desperate landscape, remain therefore a sad warning to what happen when mankind mishandle its own show more environment.
Was this an extreme and isolated case? Not at all! Jared Diamond, here, takes us for a journey through time (and across the globe) to show that such ecological suicides were more common than thought. Deforestations, poor water management, introducing of foreign species, over-hunting, over-fishing, over-population... These destructive and self-destructive behaviours are not embedded in a faraway past either, as he illustrates, too, with more recent examples ranging from Rwanda to China, and from Haiti to Australia.
Despite its gloomy topic, this book remains, nevertheless, deeply optimistic. Jared Diamond, after all, isn't one of these caricatural environmentalists, yelling that the end of the world is near! The thing is that it all depends upon choices: if the Innuits were able to adapt to Greenland and not the Vikings, and, if certain societies survived despite their environment unsuitable for their high population density (e.g. Iceland, Japan, New Guinea...) it's because, well, there are reasons that it would be wise from us all to learn from! More to the point, if he denounces, of course, the irresponsible and suicidal practices of certain industries (mining, fishing, oil) he also scores a touchdown: as we are living in a global age, we have a sharp advantage over these past 'collapsed' societies, that were isolated in their time. And indeed, if he isn't naive about the tragedies that interdependence can bring about, he also shows that catastrophes such as Exxon Valdez, Piper Alpha, or, again, Bophal, have contributed to certain industries otherwise part of the problem until then to be at the forefront of environmental preservation (e.g. Chevron in Papua New Guinea).
Here's a brilliant and enlightening book, as usual with Jared Diamond (undeniably one of the greatest intellectual around), despite its rather messy structure. We jumped indeed from a continent to another, a civilisation to another, and an issue to another in a rather confusing narrative, but, nevertheless, the point is made very starkly: if we have to survive, then we ought to respect our natural resources; and the harshness or not of an environment is irrelevant. As with everything else written by Diamond: highly recommended! show less
Was this an extreme and isolated case? Not at all! Jared Diamond, here, takes us for a journey through time (and across the globe) to show that such ecological suicides were more common than thought. Deforestations, poor water management, introducing of foreign species, over-hunting, over-fishing, over-population... These destructive and self-destructive behaviours are not embedded in a faraway past either, as he illustrates, too, with more recent examples ranging from Rwanda to China, and from Haiti to Australia.
Despite its gloomy topic, this book remains, nevertheless, deeply optimistic. Jared Diamond, after all, isn't one of these caricatural environmentalists, yelling that the end of the world is near! The thing is that it all depends upon choices: if the Innuits were able to adapt to Greenland and not the Vikings, and, if certain societies survived despite their environment unsuitable for their high population density (e.g. Iceland, Japan, New Guinea...) it's because, well, there are reasons that it would be wise from us all to learn from! More to the point, if he denounces, of course, the irresponsible and suicidal practices of certain industries (mining, fishing, oil) he also scores a touchdown: as we are living in a global age, we have a sharp advantage over these past 'collapsed' societies, that were isolated in their time. And indeed, if he isn't naive about the tragedies that interdependence can bring about, he also shows that catastrophes such as Exxon Valdez, Piper Alpha, or, again, Bophal, have contributed to certain industries otherwise part of the problem until then to be at the forefront of environmental preservation (e.g. Chevron in Papua New Guinea).
Here's a brilliant and enlightening book, as usual with Jared Diamond (undeniably one of the greatest intellectual around), despite its rather messy structure. We jumped indeed from a continent to another, a civilisation to another, and an issue to another in a rather confusing narrative, but, nevertheless, the point is made very starkly: if we have to survive, then we ought to respect our natural resources; and the harshness or not of an environment is irrelevant. As with everything else written by Diamond: highly recommended! show less
I decided a long time ago that the best way for me to maximize my learning was to make a conscious effort to read books that did not simply reinforce my own opinions. You only learn when you encounter difference.
And, every once in a while in the process of escaping your box, you run across someone like Jared Diamond. I must admit, having read Diamond's "Big Three," that I've found him thoroughly engrossing...even when I vehemently disagreed as I did in his analysis of the social uses and accompanying value of religion.
In a sense, this work is probably the most "preachy" of his books; he is very pointed in his analysis of areas where WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialized, rich, democratic) societies have gone amiss. The range of show more issues addressed is broad: from elder and child-care to social justice to food sourcing and preparation. This breadth gives the book a slight "piece-meal" feeling...as if we may be reading a collection of chapters that were cut from his other two books by a myopic editor. However, it IS cleverly brought together.
So, why would I-a Christian who rejects the theory of atheistic evolution-find so much...well...pleasure in reading Jared Diamond? Well, for one thing, many of his theories about social development are plausible if you simply "unplug" his chronology (e.g. think "thousands of years" when he writes "billions"). But the real reason is Diamond's gift of writing: he thinks clearly within the parameters of his assumptions but is able to express those ideas with astounding simplicity. Few academic writers achieve the clarity that seems so natural in Diamond's work. Even if you don't agree with WHAT he thinks, you must admire HOW he thinks. And how he challenges you to express with equal force your own views. show less
And, every once in a while in the process of escaping your box, you run across someone like Jared Diamond. I must admit, having read Diamond's "Big Three," that I've found him thoroughly engrossing...even when I vehemently disagreed as I did in his analysis of the social uses and accompanying value of religion.
In a sense, this work is probably the most "preachy" of his books; he is very pointed in his analysis of areas where WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialized, rich, democratic) societies have gone amiss. The range of show more issues addressed is broad: from elder and child-care to social justice to food sourcing and preparation. This breadth gives the book a slight "piece-meal" feeling...as if we may be reading a collection of chapters that were cut from his other two books by a myopic editor. However, it IS cleverly brought together.
So, why would I-a Christian who rejects the theory of atheistic evolution-find so much...well...pleasure in reading Jared Diamond? Well, for one thing, many of his theories about social development are plausible if you simply "unplug" his chronology (e.g. think "thousands of years" when he writes "billions"). But the real reason is Diamond's gift of writing: he thinks clearly within the parameters of his assumptions but is able to express those ideas with astounding simplicity. Few academic writers achieve the clarity that seems so natural in Diamond's work. Even if you don't agree with WHAT he thinks, you must admire HOW he thinks. And how he challenges you to express with equal force your own views. show less
Collapse is a fitting work to accompany Guns, Germs, and Steel. Although not obvious from either the cover or the blurb, this book has a strong focus on environmental factors affecting societies; in particular, how societies cause and react to changes in their environment.
It begins with a summary of broad factors which cause societies to collapse. Then cycles through ancient and modern case studies to demonstrate those factors in action. As usual, Diamond's evidence spans a range of disciplines and methods in archaeology: palynology (study of pollen), carbon dating, midden (waste) analysis, soil chemical / nutrient analysis, isotope analysis. Some remarks seem unresearched or obsolete; for example, the statement metals are more volatile show more than oil (as an explanation for why mining is harder for businesses to practise ethically). Generally, though, Diamond's arguments are compelling.
The studies I found most interesting: isolated Easter Island; the disparate futures of the Greenland Norse and Inuits; political history of Haiti; environmentally deprived Australia and its colonial attachment to Britain. Diamond often resorts to comparative history: he believes anthropology is a science, but one where existing and historic events must be analysed systematically in place of experiments. He adds colour via personal encounters and observations. I found the written records of interaction between the Greenland Norse and Inuits (or another society of the era) insightful.
The last quarter of the book, which until then was captivating, borders on didactic. Technology is treated more a distant distraction or a net liability than a tool which can inform and drive environmental protection today. To that end, there's little focus on energy efficiency, conceptually or in practice. Hybrid cars are deemed irrelevant given the rise in gas-guzzling SUVs. I would also have liked to see genetic research figure more in his arguments; likely it would supply further evidence to support his views.
I was offended by Diamond's belief that third world countries should not aspire to first world benefits while condoning current levels of consumption in first world countries. There's an implicit argument that massive US per capita consumption is broadly irreversible and a requirement to maintain standards of living. While Diamond concedes we must ask ourselves which values we can forego in order to survive on this planet, he doesn't place rampant consumerism as such a value. There's no mention of the Western obesity epidemic, or the health and environmental benefits of vegetarianism. Diamond fails to contemplate lower consumption in first world countries as a desirable proposition to safeguard a happy and fulfilling future. For this, I dock a star. show less
It begins with a summary of broad factors which cause societies to collapse. Then cycles through ancient and modern case studies to demonstrate those factors in action. As usual, Diamond's evidence spans a range of disciplines and methods in archaeology: palynology (study of pollen), carbon dating, midden (waste) analysis, soil chemical / nutrient analysis, isotope analysis. Some remarks seem unresearched or obsolete; for example, the statement metals are more volatile show more than oil (as an explanation for why mining is harder for businesses to practise ethically). Generally, though, Diamond's arguments are compelling.
The studies I found most interesting: isolated Easter Island; the disparate futures of the Greenland Norse and Inuits; political history of Haiti; environmentally deprived Australia and its colonial attachment to Britain. Diamond often resorts to comparative history: he believes anthropology is a science, but one where existing and historic events must be analysed systematically in place of experiments. He adds colour via personal encounters and observations. I found the written records of interaction between the Greenland Norse and Inuits (or another society of the era) insightful.
The last quarter of the book, which until then was captivating, borders on didactic. Technology is treated more a distant distraction or a net liability than a tool which can inform and drive environmental protection today. To that end, there's little focus on energy efficiency, conceptually or in practice. Hybrid cars are deemed irrelevant given the rise in gas-guzzling SUVs. I would also have liked to see genetic research figure more in his arguments; likely it would supply further evidence to support his views.
I was offended by Diamond's belief that third world countries should not aspire to first world benefits while condoning current levels of consumption in first world countries. There's an implicit argument that massive US per capita consumption is broadly irreversible and a requirement to maintain standards of living. While Diamond concedes we must ask ourselves which values we can forego in order to survive on this planet, he doesn't place rampant consumerism as such a value. There's no mention of the Western obesity epidemic, or the health and environmental benefits of vegetarianism. Diamond fails to contemplate lower consumption in first world countries as a desirable proposition to safeguard a happy and fulfilling future. For this, I dock a star. show less
An excellent and fascinating book about how past societies have collapsed, mostly through human destruction of their resources, and Malthusian dilemmas. Easter Island, the Norse settlement of Greenland, the Anasazi and the Maya -- all are treated with careful scholarship, objectively, unsentimentally. There is no fantasy that primitive societies all flourished in ecological harmony until disrupted by evil colonizers. On the contrary, Diamond makes the chilling point that no human society that first inhabited an area within the past 50,000 years failed to quickly bring to extinction all local megafauna. Of course, the theme is parallels to the modern world, with its implacable trend toward unsustainability. The book should be depressing, show more but Diamond is a cautious optimist about the potential for humanity rationally to avert catastrophe. He's quite a fascinating and good-humored Jeremiah, and the book is both gripping and very important for our times. I read this as an audio-book; narrator Michael Prichard is excellent, just the right tone of avuncular reasonableness. show less
As you'd expect this book is filled with depressing facts, but by far the most depressing fact is shown before the book even begins. I am talking about it's publication year - 2004. If your first idea is that a book on ecology already 15 years old can't be relevant to today's problems/solutions, I'm telling you that sadly its very relevant. The issues Jared talks about are even more predominant now than at the time of writing and the solutions have barely been brought up for debate.
My main takeaway from this is how the mindset of creating sustainable solutions through tech and recycling is mostly a red soon-to-be-extinct herring pushed by those who have the most to gain from a world focused on consumption rather than a changed world show more where we try to live more sustainably. Nobody gains from us choosing water over soda or bikes over cars so those solutions are being actively undermined.
My favorite quote goes something along the lines of "the planet's pollution issues will eventually become solved... whether we help or not".
I see other reviews saying this book is not as good as his magnum opus G,G&S but it baffles me one would even compare them. One is anthropology and the other is ecology.
I wish for a world where this book would become outdated, but sadly its subject and ideas are much more pressing and important than even at the time of it's publication. show less
My main takeaway from this is how the mindset of creating sustainable solutions through tech and recycling is mostly a red soon-to-be-extinct herring pushed by those who have the most to gain from a world focused on consumption rather than a changed world show more where we try to live more sustainably. Nobody gains from us choosing water over soda or bikes over cars so those solutions are being actively undermined.
My favorite quote goes something along the lines of "the planet's pollution issues will eventually become solved... whether we help or not".
I see other reviews saying this book is not as good as his magnum opus G,G&S but it baffles me one would even compare them. One is anthropology and the other is ecology.
I wish for a world where this book would become outdated, but sadly its subject and ideas are much more pressing and important than even at the time of it's publication. show less
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ThingScore 67
Taken together, ''Guns, Germs, and Steel'' and ''Collapse'' represent one of the most significant projects embarked upon by any intellectual of our generation. They are magnificent books: extraordinary in erudition and originality, compelling in their ability to relate the digitized pandemonium of the present to the hushed agrarian sunrises of the far past. I read both thinking what literature show more might be like if every author knew so much, wrote so clearly and formed arguments with such care. All of which makes the two books exasperating, because both come to conclusions that are probably wrong. show less
Mr. Diamond -- who has academic training in physiology, geography and evolutionary biology -- is a lucid writer with an ability to make arcane scientific concepts readily accessible to the lay reader, and his case studies of failed cultures are never less than compelling.
added by jlelliott
Human behaviour towards the ecosphere has become dysfunctional and now arguably threatens our own long-term security. The real problem is that the modern world remains in the sway of a dangerously illusory cultural myth. Like Lomborg, most governments and international agencies seem to believe that the human enterprise is somehow 'decoupling' from the environment, and so is poised for show more unlimited expansion. Jared Diamond's new book, Collapse, confronts this contradiction head-on. It is essential reading for anyone who is unafraid to be disillusioned if it means they can walk into the future with their eyes open. show less
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Author Information
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Jared Mason Diamond is a physiologist, ecologist, and the author of several popular science books. Born in Boston in 1937, Diamond earned his B.A. at Harvard and his Ph.D. from Cambridge. A distinguished teacher and researcher, Diamond is well-known for the columns he contributes to the widely read magazines Natural History and Discover. Diamond's show more book The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal was heralded for its accessibility and for its blending of science and social science. The interdisciplinary Guns, Germs and Steel--Diamond's examination of the relationship between scientific technology and economic disparity--won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize. Diamond has won a McArthur Foundation Fellowship in addition to several smaller awards for his science and writing. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
- Original title
- Collapse : How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
- Original publication date
- 2005
- Important places
- Australia; China; Dominican Republic; Easter Island; Greenland; Haiti (show all 14); Iceland; Japan; Montana, USA; New Guinea; Pitcairn Island; Rwanda; Tikopia; Asia
- Epigraph
- I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip and sneer of... (show all) cold command,
Tell that it's sculptor well those passions read,
Which yet survive, stampt on these lifeless things,
The hand that mockt them and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away."
"Ozymandias," by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1817) - Dedication
- To Jack and Ann Hirschy, Jill Hirschy Eliel and John Eliel, Joyce Hirschy McDowell, Dick (1929-2003) and Margy Hirschy, and their fellow Montanans: guardians of Montana's big sky
- First words
- A few summers ago I visited two dairy farms, Huls Farm and Gardar Farm, which despite being located thousands of miles apart were still remarkably similar in their strengths and vulnerabilities.
- Quotations*
- Aquellos desmoronamientos del pasado tenían tendencia a seguir cursos en cierto modo similares que constituían variaciones sobre un mismo tema. El aumento de población obligaba a las personas a adoptar medios de producció... (show all)n agrícola intensivos (como el regadío, la duplicación de cosechas o el cultivo en terrazas) y a extender la agricultura de las tierras óptimas escogidas en primer lugar hacia tierras menos rentables con el fin de alimentar al creciente número de bocas hambrientas. Las prácticas no sostenibles desembocaban en el deterioro medioambiental de uno o más de los ocho tipos de acabamos de enumerar, lo cual significaba que había que abandonar de nuevo las tierras poco rentables.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)My hope in writing this book is that enough people will choose to profit from that opportunity to make a difference.
- Publisher's editor
- Wolf, Wendy; McGrath, Stefan; Turney, Jon
- Blurbers
- Karr, James R.; Waterman, Robert H.; Bellwood, Peter; Putterman, Louis; Redman, Charles; Lewis, Bill (show all 7); Ehrlich, Paul R.
- Original language
- English
- Canonical DDC/MDS
- 304.2809
- Canonical LCC
- HN13
- Disambiguation notice
- Unknown if book or documentary film
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
- Genres
- Anthropology, History, General Nonfiction, Sociology, Science & Nature, Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 304.2809 — Society, government, & culture Social sciences, sociology & anthropology Factors affecting social behavior Human ecology
- LCC
- HN13 — Social sciences Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform Social history and conditions. Social problems.
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 13,431
- Popularity
- 575
- Reviews
- 189
- Rating
- (3.94)
- Languages
- 19 — Chinese, Czech, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian (Bokmål), Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 77
- UPCs
- 2
- ASINs
- 38