The World Without Us
In The World Without Us, Alan Weisman offers an utterly original approach to questions of humanity?s impact on the planet: he asks us to envision our Earth, without us.In this far-reaching narrative, Weisman explains how our massive infrastructure would collapse and finally vanish without human presence; which everyday items may become immortalized as fossils; how copper pipes and wiring would be crushed into mere seams of reddish rock; why some of our earliest buildings might be the last architecture left; and how plastic, bronze sculpture, radio waves, and some man-made molecules may be our most lasting gifts to the universe.The World Without Us reveals how, just days after humans disappear, floods in New York?s subways would start eroding the city?s foundations, and how, as the world?s cities crumble, asphalt jungles would give way to real ones. It describes the distinct ways that organic and chemically treated farms would revert to wild, how billions more birds would flourish, and how cockroaches in unheated cities would perish without us. Drawing on the expertise of engineers, atmospheric scientists, art conservators, zoologists, oil refiners, marine biologists, astrophysicists, religious leaders from rabbis to the Dali Lama, and paleontologists---who describe a prehuman world inhabited by megafauna like giant sloths that stood taller than mammoths---Weisman illustrates what the planet might be like today, if not for us.From places already devoid of humans (a last fragment of primeval European forest; the Korean DMZ; Chernobyl), Weisman reveals Earth?s tremendous capacity for self-healing. As he shows which human devastations are indelible, and which examples of our highest art and culture would endure longest, Weisman?s narrative ultimately drives toward a radical but persuasive solution that needn't depend on our demise. It is narrative nonfiction at its finest, and in posing an irresistible concept with both gravity and a highly readable touch, it looks deeply at our effects on the planet in a way that no other book has.
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Smarter Choice
by Alan Weisman. ISBN13: 9780312347291. ISBN10: 0312347294. Published by MPS. Edition: 07 Used
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The World Without Us (Books)
Earth Sciences - General Science - Starting with the chilling premise of our sudden extinction, Alan Weisman combines... |
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The World Without Us
A penetrating, page-turning tour of a post-human Earth. In The World without Us, Alan Weisman offers an utterly... |
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The World Without Us
Used
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The World Without Us
Pages: 336, Hardcover, Thomas Dunne Books |
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Hardcover, The World Without Us
Weisman, an award-winning journalist, offers readers a penetrating--and sometimes terrifying--take on how the planet... |
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ProductReviews79/100 (100 Reviews)
Recent Reviews
- 4/5
- From: Amazon
- Posted: Jan-23-2009
- Yoooooohoo! Anybody home?
"Worldwide, every four days human population rises by 1 million." - Author Alan Weisman in THE WORLD WITHOUT USBut, what if the Earth's humans disappeared? This is the premise of THE WORLD WITHOUT US, a book version of what you may have...
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- 5/5
- From: Amazon
- Posted: Jan-21-2009
- Excellent book - highly recommended
Very well written book - the research and effort that went into writing this book is truly remarkable to say the least. Starts slow but rapidly moves into the "hard to put down" category.. I highly recommend this book!!
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- 5/5
- From: Amazon
- Posted: Jan-19-2009
- Beguiling, apocalyptic thought experiment
This is beautiful lay science writing, drawing the reader along from the first lines with the current of the author's fluid prose. I find myself wishing I could award more stars because I have reviewed several other books at five and...
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- 4/5
- From: Amazon
- Posted: Jan-14-2009
- Simpler Times
What would happen if all every human being suddenly ceased to exist? Alan Weisman hypothesizes this very idea in his book The World Without Us. Weisman paints a world without the human race, imagining what would happen to the...
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Selected Reviews
- 4/5
- From: Amazon
- Posted: Jan-23-2009
- Yoooooohoo! Anybody home?
"Worldwide, every four days human population rises by 1 million." - Author Alan Weisman in THE WORLD WITHOUT USBut, what if the Earth's humans disappeared? This is the premise of THE WORLD WITHOUT US, a book version of what you may have...
- read full review | report as inappropriate
- 3/5
- From: Amazon
- Posted: Jan-01-2009
- I Should Have Just Read The Essay
The World Without us is a fascinating concept book. Looking at how the earth would reclaim the urban sprawl is utterly compelling and fairly depressing. Through exploring this concept the book also deals with deep environmental issues...
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- 1/5
- From: Amazon
- Posted: Jan-02-2009
- Illumanist bootlicker
I loved Weisman's "Gaviotas," as a story of hope and possibilities, but romanticizing the Illumanist agenda of killing off all or all but 500,000 (closely-related) humans is hardly laudable. True, humanity has utterly lost its way. The...
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