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owheeler's review
5.0
The most important book of the year. Read it twice and give it to all your friends. And let's reincarnate wooly mammoths!!
yates9's review against another edition
5.0
If you are concerned about the future of human life on this planet from an ecosystem point of view this is a key book to read. Stuart Brand brings up issues that will be controversial to ecologists, conservationists and lay people alike but approached pragmatically as contributors to ecosystem stability. Some of the key ideas and references in this text are the most well thought out, practical, internally consistent I have ever found collected in one place.
The biggest question is that we may need to rethink the idea of man vs. ecosystem in the sense that we may need to engineer it for our own long-term survival. That to assume that the environment is resilient enough to sort things out on its own might be a dangerous existential view.
The biggest question is that we may need to rethink the idea of man vs. ecosystem in the sense that we may need to engineer it for our own long-term survival. That to assume that the environment is resilient enough to sort things out on its own might be a dangerous existential view.
daviest's review
4.0
Definitely worth a read, even if the Author is slightly self congratulatory at times, with a tendency to ramble on about past exploits in the environment space.
That said, I read this book on Kindle, and highlighted more on this book than I have in any other book. It seems to be well cited and has lots of interesting/thought provoking viewpoints.
That said, I read this book on Kindle, and highlighted more on this book than I have in any other book. It seems to be well cited and has lots of interesting/thought provoking viewpoints.
blairconrad's review
4.0
An interesting look into Brand's thoughts and feelings about our world and its current warming plight. I learned an awful lot about the merits of genetic engineering and about nuclear power (relative other "clean" alternatives). At times I felt like Brand was focusing on the positive aspects of the solutions he prefers, to the exclusion of the downsides, but he's hardly the only one to do that and he, at least, labels his book as a manifesto - we're here to get his opinions.
Some things I enjoyed about the book:
Brand occasionally refers other authors (and researchers), but without fail he treats them politely and fairly, unlike some others that I've read - it was a breath of fresh air. Also, he makes it clear which techniques he'd prefer to pursue to help fight global warming and to be "Green", but pragmatically discusses approaches (specifically planetary engineering) that may be necessary in the short term, in order to buy us the time to let the more desirable ones work. The chapter notes are at sbnotes.com, keeping me from having to flip, flip, flip between the middle and end of the book, and allowing Brand to add to and correct them at need. Oh, yeah, the proposed herds of elephants (or mammoths!) roaming across North America would be very cool, whether they have merit or not.
Some things I enjoyed about the book:
Brand occasionally refers other authors (and researchers), but without fail he treats them politely and fairly, unlike some others that I've read - it was a breath of fresh air. Also, he makes it clear which techniques he'd prefer to pursue to help fight global warming and to be "Green", but pragmatically discusses approaches (specifically planetary engineering) that may be necessary in the short term, in order to buy us the time to let the more desirable ones work. The chapter notes are at sbnotes.com, keeping me from having to flip, flip, flip between the middle and end of the book, and allowing Brand to add to and correct them at need. Oh, yeah, the proposed herds of elephants (or mammoths!) roaming across North America would be very cool, whether they have merit or not.
tristanpej's review
5.0
There is a lot I like about this book, and a lot to question. Stewart Brand is my favourite type of thinker, he is sceptical, non-ideological, and sees things in the long term. This books is simply another iteration in his philosophy.
Whole Earth Discipline is about taking a pragmatic, holistic, and non-ideological approach to the climate crisis. His major chapters of meat are investigations of avenues to tackle climate change that the green movement has irrationally opposed. I think the most poignant idea I took away from the book is his discussion on engineers and romantics. How we need to abandon our romantic view of nature, and instead become engineers.
My criticisms of Brand are minor, but most come from the ideological bias. He claims to be acting as a completely non-political entity in his approach to climate change, but there is plenty of evidence in the book that he is still locked in the ideological boundaries of the liberal capitalist world. His engineering approach skirts around the social issue of climate change. Namely, how the way our economy works fundamentally, and the way we relate to each other has its role. I know that for the sake of selling a book he wouldn't be able to say that part of the problem is fundamental issues with capitalism as an idea, but I consider it another holistic angle we need to take in order to face this crisis. If we invent our way out of the climate crisis, then the next crisis brought about by capitalism's need for constant growth on a finite planet will show itself.
Still, many of the things Brand says in this book are important, and need to be shouted from the rooftops worldwide. If you are interested in really tackling the crisis of our era, and overcoming the major hurdle between a type 0 and type 1 civilization, you should read this book.
Whole Earth Discipline is about taking a pragmatic, holistic, and non-ideological approach to the climate crisis. His major chapters of meat are investigations of avenues to tackle climate change that the green movement has irrationally opposed. I think the most poignant idea I took away from the book is his discussion on engineers and romantics. How we need to abandon our romantic view of nature, and instead become engineers.
My criticisms of Brand are minor, but most come from the ideological bias. He claims to be acting as a completely non-political entity in his approach to climate change, but there is plenty of evidence in the book that he is still locked in the ideological boundaries of the liberal capitalist world. His engineering approach skirts around the social issue of climate change. Namely, how the way our economy works fundamentally, and the way we relate to each other has its role. I know that for the sake of selling a book he wouldn't be able to say that part of the problem is fundamental issues with capitalism as an idea, but I consider it another holistic angle we need to take in order to face this crisis. If we invent our way out of the climate crisis, then the next crisis brought about by capitalism's need for constant growth on a finite planet will show itself.
Still, many of the things Brand says in this book are important, and need to be shouted from the rooftops worldwide. If you are interested in really tackling the crisis of our era, and overcoming the major hurdle between a type 0 and type 1 civilization, you should read this book.
quercus707's review
4.0
I was definitely part of the target audience for this book - a traditional liberal Green who maybe needed a bit of a kick in the seat of the pants to examine some commonly held assumptions about population, especially urban population, nuclear power, genetic engineering, and active restoration vs. rewilding. As the unexamined life is not worth living, I found reading this book a worthwhile challenge to reconsider and dig deeper into what the science tells us. Excellent to-read list at the back of the book! I'll be reading many of these suggestions next.
ben_sch's review
3.0
A political book to convince members of his group (environmentalists) to be more more pro-science.