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A review by sevenlefts
Second Nature: Scenes from a World Remade by Nathaniel Rich
3.0
The alarming glowing green bunny on the cover really grabbed my attention, but it's not addressed until the final chapter, and turns out it doesn't glow green under normal light at all. Which kind of sums up this book for me?
Rich writes about range of topics with the common theme of how humanity has altered our world in ways that can't be undone, focusing on the players -- sometimes people who want to minimize the damage, others who are plunging full steam ahead. In this book we meet jellyfish researchers trying to extend human life. Also, a lawyer who sues a major chemical company and whose client list in his class action lawsuit, it turns out, is every living thing on the planet. One subject is obsessed with bringing back the passenger pigeon. Rich also writes about how New Orleans' 9th Ward was sacrificed and the mess we've made of the Mississippi delta.
For me, this books was a bit all over the place. Some chapters seemed very focused, but others had so many facts, dates and characters that I thought they should have been books in their own right. So, while I liked this book well enough, I don't think it will stick with me.
Rich writes about range of topics with the common theme of how humanity has altered our world in ways that can't be undone, focusing on the players -- sometimes people who want to minimize the damage, others who are plunging full steam ahead. In this book we meet jellyfish researchers trying to extend human life. Also, a lawyer who sues a major chemical company and whose client list in his class action lawsuit, it turns out, is every living thing on the planet. One subject is obsessed with bringing back the passenger pigeon. Rich also writes about how New Orleans' 9th Ward was sacrificed and the mess we've made of the Mississippi delta.
For me, this books was a bit all over the place. Some chapters seemed very focused, but others had so many facts, dates and characters that I thought they should have been books in their own right. So, while I liked this book well enough, I don't think it will stick with me.